NGD: Polynesian in the House!
Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 11:11 pm
I am now the proud owner of the fabled 1958 Rickenbacker Polynesian 325/Combo -- the guitar so rare it has no serial number! Also discussed here: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=405381
I acquired this guitar from the same seller in Japan from whom I acquired the V87 Longbody short scale Capri, via a trade of non-Rickenbacker vintage guitars from my collection. Thanks to Adam Tober of Expat Guitars in Tokyo for facilitating these transactions. Both guitars are shown reunited, below, with a standard-scale 1958 335 added for, erm, scale!
Not much else I can say that hasn’t been said about this guitar, except that in person it’s a little gem, nice and light, wonderful to look at, plays well. Unique in that it closely resembles the 850 Capri body style with German carve top but has a semihollow body with a thin piece of plywood glued to the back, covering even the neck tenon (which shows on an 850). With its short scale and three-toaster configuration, it seems more akin to a 325 Capri than a Combo. It may have been an experiment, incorporating the features of each as Rickenbacker transitioned from Combos to Capris beginning in late ‘57, early ‘58. Wiser heads than mine have weighed in on this guitar and its significance in the prior thread. I have nothing new to offer about its history.
So there you have it.
And no, I am not taking the back off so you can see what’s inside!
For more photos of this guitar, see Register entry at: http://www.rickresource.com/register/vi ... p?id=26244
I acquired this guitar from the same seller in Japan from whom I acquired the V87 Longbody short scale Capri, via a trade of non-Rickenbacker vintage guitars from my collection. Thanks to Adam Tober of Expat Guitars in Tokyo for facilitating these transactions. Both guitars are shown reunited, below, with a standard-scale 1958 335 added for, erm, scale!
Not much else I can say that hasn’t been said about this guitar, except that in person it’s a little gem, nice and light, wonderful to look at, plays well. Unique in that it closely resembles the 850 Capri body style with German carve top but has a semihollow body with a thin piece of plywood glued to the back, covering even the neck tenon (which shows on an 850). With its short scale and three-toaster configuration, it seems more akin to a 325 Capri than a Combo. It may have been an experiment, incorporating the features of each as Rickenbacker transitioned from Combos to Capris beginning in late ‘57, early ‘58. Wiser heads than mine have weighed in on this guitar and its significance in the prior thread. I have nothing new to offer about its history.
So there you have it.
And no, I am not taking the back off so you can see what’s inside!
For more photos of this guitar, see Register entry at: http://www.rickresource.com/register/vi ... p?id=26244
- Poly in Case
- Poly Front
- Poly Neck Heel
- Poly, V87, 335
