Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

On Ebay(click the pick)

Now you're talking.

My Polish Uncle Florian (now deceased) bought one of these new along with an M-10A Maggie, back in '64 or so, and played both in a polka band--along with his "Light Show" banjo, until his death in '96. They're worth a tidy sum these days, despite the absence of a truss rod and no means of adjusting the neck.

I acquired a taste for Maggies (and LSs, too, though not from Flory), but the Nationals never got me too excited. I do like Jack's White Penguin, tho!

They actually play quite well, for having spent much of their time in the "junk guitar" category, along with National reso-glass "Map" shaped guitars.

This one will go for big money, though (for what it is), due to their increased collectibility and celebrity affiliation.

They're also reissed by Eastwood Guitars, who officially hold the "Airline" brand, so the copies are legit:

http://eastwoodguitars.com/

Eastwood has some pretty cool stuff, never seen or played any of it, but I hear it's good.

I saw an Eastwood Mosrite recently that looked pretty cute for the money (under $400), and it played not badly.

The Eastwood stuff is alright. I mean....it's not amazing, it's a chinese guitar---but not a terrible one.

They aren't bad at $400....but some models like this $1300 Airline reissue, seem a bit steep to me, for where they are made etc.

I love the sixties Nationals...

I owned one of these ( a 1964 Studio 66) for years... A great guitar that sounded like a telecaster... Alas long gone...

The first pic is of mine, the rest are from ebay of the same model... The colour was a pinky salmon! Maybe that's a new RIC finish?? Salmon Glo??

My major quibble with Eastwood (and I own a couple) is that their humbucker-equipped geetars all have the same two pickups,either a full-sized hummer or mini-hummer. So, you're getting stuff that looks vintage and offbeat, but a lot of it sounds the same.

I've got one of their old Guyatones (now out of production) with four single-coils, and its sound is very distinctive and variable. I've also got a 27" baritone Mosrite copy with P-90s that has a neat sound, too. I've got it strung with Fender Bass VI strings and tuned an octave lower than standard E. Great "Lonely Surfer" sound.

Is the reissue made of resoglass?

octagon wrote:Is the reissue made of resoglass?

Good question. They should be, otherwise it defeats the purpose of an otherwise proper reissue. hmm...

EDIT: I answered my own ponder.....they are apparently made of "tone chambered mahogany." What a total farce. Why go to the full trouble of securing the "Airline" name if they won't even use the material that made these guitars unique? I'm sure it sounds fine though, mahogany is good stuff....but still!
That's like making Ampeg Dan Armstrongs in wood.....but with the right name on it! (which Ampeg have also done..)

The new line of Harmony reissues have some of the same issues---I have an original Bobkat, and so I had a good basis for comparison with the new Bobkat reissue, and (IMO) the most important part of what makes those old Harmonys cool guitars---the DeArmond pickups---are completely lacking. They have some sort of generic mini-humbucker, which lacks the snarl and kick of the DeArmonds. They are also made with set necks, which is not as big a deal, and I suppose it will make people who pay $600 for a copy of a $100 guitar feel better.

The original DeArmond pickups were used on many cheap junker guitars in the 50s and 60s, so I have to figure they couldn't have been that expensive to make, and they bring fairly decent money on eBay nowadays---I find it hard to believe somebody hasn't come out with an accurate recreation.

chuck_king wrote:The new line of Harmony reissues have some of the same issues---I have an original Bobkat, and so I had a good basis for comparison with the new Bobkat reissue, and (IMO) the most important part of what makes those old Harmonys cool guitars---the DeArmond pickups---are completely lacking. They have some sort of generic mini-humbucker, which lacks the snarl and kick of the DeArmonds. They are also made with set necks, which is not as big a deal, and I suppose it will make people who pay $600 for a copy of a $100 guitar feel better.

The original DeArmond pickups were used on many cheap junker guitars in the 50s and 60s, so I have to figure they couldn't have been that expensive to make, and they bring fairly decent money on eBay nowadays---I find it hard to believe somebody hasn't come out with an accurate recreation.

I've been following the prices of Harmonys and other department store brands, and DeArmond p/u's over the past 2 or 3 years, but not buying (kicks self). Lindy Fralin makes (or made?) a pickup inspired by the DeArmond hershey bar, and they were used on Joseph Yanuziello's guitars. I think Fralin even had them listed on his site at one time, but I don't see them now.

As far as the reissues, I don't like the sound samples of many of Eastwood's guitars, but I do like the Tuxedo model, the clips on Youtube sound good to me.

chuck_king wrote:The new line of Harmony reissues have some of the same issues---I have an original Bobkat, and so I had a good basis for comparison with the new Bobkat reissue, and (IMO) the most important part of what makes those old Harmonys cool guitars---the DeArmond pickups---are completely lacking. They have some sort of generic mini-humbucker, which lacks the snarl and kick of the DeArmonds. They are also made with set necks, which is not as big a deal, and I suppose it will make people who pay $600 for a copy of a $100 guitar feel better.

The original DeArmond pickups were used on many cheap junker guitars in the 50s and 60s, so I have to figure they couldn't have been that expensive to make, and they bring fairly decent money on eBay nowadays---I find it hard to believe somebody hasn't come out with an accurate recreation.

The problem is with Asian manufacture--in general, no matter how accurate or cool the body shape and detailing, you still have a choice of only 5 pickups--2 full-sized hummers which are identical except that one has flat covers, a mini-hummer, a P-90 replica, and an unsophisticated single coil that to my ear sounds best of all.

Some of these nostalgia axes are very close to their inspiration (the Eastwood Mosrite deluxes), others are way off the mark, like the Eastwood Messenger, which doesn't have an aluminum neck, which was the original's main claim to fame.

collin wrote:

octagon wrote:Is the reissue made of resoglass?

Good question. They should be, otherwise it defeats the purpose of an otherwise proper reissue. hmm...

EDIT: I answered my own ponder.....they are apparently made of "tone chambered mahogany." What a total farce. Why go to the full trouble of securing the "Airline" name if they won't even use the material that made these guitars unique? I'm sure it sounds fine though, mahogany is good stuff....but still!
That's like making Ampeg Dan Armstrongs in wood.....but with the right name on it! (which Ampeg have also done..)

Again, Asian manufacture...they're not going to tool up for a different type of production in any of these proprietary guitar factories. So they go for the look. Even if these were Res-O-Glas, the pickups are wrong and the sound is not there.