'New' Guitar: 1980 Rickenbacker 480

Modern years of Rickenbacker Guitars from 1984 to the present

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Grey
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'New' Guitar: 1980 Rickenbacker 480

Post by Grey »

Thought I would put up a picture of my Ric to show some love for the 480 series players. :)

A bit of history, if you're interested.
I recently purchased this guitar after looking around for several years, trying to find one in this finish. It was the first time I ever saw one go up and I snagged it about a week ago. Many years ago when I was still new to guitar, I got a brief chance to play one and loved the way it felt and sounded. I've got a soft spot for dotted fretboards, and the single coil pickups all contributed to why I decided to look for a 480 over a 481. I also wanted a very versatile guitar that I could use for any kind of music if the need arised, (I have a couple other guitars) so I decided against the slanted frets. (Save for finding some ridiculously rare un-slanted prototype model which i've only ever seen one picture of, but I still prefer the bite of those Hi-Gain Single's)

It's in a rarer Walnut finish,(not to be confused with Autum Glo) and has a beautiful woodgrain. Everything on the guitar is origional down to the rubber washers on the bridge, except for the Bass Tone Knob silver inlay. The origional was gone and the cavity was painted over white, then haphazardly replaced with the wrong insert. I wanted to keep as much of it origional as possible so I kept the knob itself, and used a replacement from Rickenbacker to transplant a new insert from.

I've been using the origional Deluxe C480 case but i'm probably going to have a hardshell case custom made which is countoured to the body. Partially because I hate rectangular cases and partly because I don't trust the handle and clasps on a 30 year old case.


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kiramdear
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Re: 'New' Guitar: 1980 Rickenbacker 480

Post by kiramdear »

:shock: Wowee Zowee! I never saw one in Walnut before. Simply gorgeous! :shock:

Congrats, Erik, and welcome to the forum! You've made a very nice introduction. 8) :)
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doctorwho
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Re: 'New' Guitar: 1980 Rickenbacker 480

Post by doctorwho »

kiramdear wrote:... Simply gorgeous! :shock:

Congrats, Erik, and welcome to the forum! You've made a very nice introduction. 8) :)
+1! :D I have a 480 in Mapleglo (as well as a 481 in Walnut, your guitar's "evil twin" I guess ... :shock:), so it's always good to see and hear about another 480 fan.
It is better, of course, to know useless things than to know nothing. - Seneca
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Grey
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Re: 'New' Guitar: 1980 Rickenbacker 480

Post by Grey »

doctorwho wrote:+1! :D I have a 480 in Mapleglo (as well as a 481 in Walnut, your guitar's "evil twin" I guess ... :shock:), so it's always good to see and hear about another 480 fan.
Nah, not evil. They're beautiful guitars if you warm up to the slanted frets and are looking for Humbuckers. I already have a pair of Seymour Duncans in my SG so I wanted a complete range of tones with the second guitar. Though it's set to quickly overtake the SG as my Number 1. 8)

And TY. :D
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Re: 'New' Guitar: 1980 Rickenbacker 480

Post by egosheep »

That's just awesome-looking. Congrats.
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ric480
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Re: 'New' Guitar: 1980 Rickenbacker 480

Post by ric480 »

That's a really nice looking finish - and great to hear of another 480 convert !
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cjj
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Re: 'New' Guitar: 1980 Rickenbacker 480

Post by cjj »

NICE! :lol: :lol: :lol:

I've gotta say, the 480/481 are, in my opinion the best looking Rick guitars ever made... 'Course, I'm a bass player, so maybe I'm just a tad biased towards that particular shape...
:roll: :lol: :lol:
I have NO idea what to do with those skinny stringed things... I'm just a bass player...
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jimk
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Re: 'New' Guitar: 1980 Rickenbacker 480

Post by jimk »

Nice score. 8) And welcome to the forum.
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badeggs
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Re: 'New' Guitar: 1980 Rickenbacker 480

Post by badeggs »

Nice one, Erik, congrats! 480s rule!!!

I love my 480:
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Bridge.jpg
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jingle_jangle
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Re: 'New' Guitar: 1980 Rickenbacker 480

Post by jingle_jangle »

Congrats, Eric!

My own 480 is in a very nice lighter Burgudyglo.

It needs a case. So, if you'd like to sell the old case, PM me.
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Grey
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Re: 'New' Guitar: 1980 Rickenbacker 480

Post by Grey »

Thanks for all the comments. :)

About the case. I will certainly keep you in mind when I replace it although chances are I will still keep it simply because it's the origional case for the guitar.

Personally I would reccomend having one made, the price I got quoted was 250$ from http://www.ameritagecases.com
I need to make a tracing of the body and send it in so it can be formed to the shape. They have a flash 'case builder' on thier site where you can play around with different combindations of hardware, color, interior etc. They have a Brown Plush interior which IMO is going to look damn sexy with that Walnut finish.

A quick question: on the pictures of Jeff's i've noticed his pickups have smaller poles, mine are larger round buttons. Is there some point where they switched?
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ajish4
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Re: 'New' Guitar: 1980 Rickenbacker 480

Post by ajish4 »

WELCOME ERIK!

Wow, what a STUNNING GUITAR!!!!!!!!!! :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

I can't get over how beautiful that guitar is.... 8)
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jps
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Re: 'New' Guitar: 1980 Rickenbacker 480

Post by jps »

ajish4 wrote:Wow, what a STUNNING GUITAR!!!!!!!!!! :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

I can't get over how beautiful that guitar is.... 8)
Tony, it just looks like walnut on your monitor, but it is really Jetglo. :mrgreen:
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cjj
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Re: 'New' Guitar: 1980 Rickenbacker 480

Post by cjj »

jps wrote:
ajish4 wrote:Wow, what a STUNNING GUITAR!!!!!!!!!! :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

I can't get over how beautiful that guitar is.... 8)
Tony, it just looks like walnut on your monitor, but it is really Jetglo. :mrgreen:
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
I have NO idea what to do with those skinny stringed things... I'm just a bass player...
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ajish4
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Re: 'New' Guitar: 1980 Rickenbacker 480

Post by ajish4 »

jps wrote:
ajish4 wrote:Wow, what a STUNNING GUITAR!!!!!!!!!! :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

I can't get over how beautiful that guitar is.... 8)
Tony, it just looks like walnut on your monitor, but it is really Jetglo. :mrgreen:
Aw Jeff, better start using color film soon! EVERYTHING you see is Jetglo! :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink: :lol:
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