What makes 73 to 83 the "transition" years?

Transition years of Rickenbacker Guitars from 1973-1983 inclusive

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pocaloc
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What makes 73 to 83 the "transition" years?

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What makes 73 to 83 the "transition" years?
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Danotron
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Re: What makes 73 to 83 the "transition" years?

Post by Danotron »

Hey Matt,

One of the reasons we call these years Transitional is that in early 1973 many of the "Vintage" Rickenbacker features were starting to be phased out and some new models were on the horizon as players' tastes were changing.

Some examples of the features that became less prevalent during these years are full width Crushed Pearl (or acrylic) inlays on the fretboards, Checkered Binding on deluxe models, and "Toaster" pickups, which started giving way to the newer Hi-Gain pickups. An example the newer models introduced in the '70's is the 480 series, which many people love.

It does not in any way mean these guitars are any less great than the older ones, just different. Unlike some other manufacturers, Rickenbacker is not known to have suffered any quality issues during the 1970's I have a '73 4001 bass and a '73 620 and they are two of my favorite instruments.

There were other changes too but those are the ones I think of first.

Dan
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Re: What makes 73 to 83 the "transition" years?

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You can also see some earlier discussion at the following link.

viewtopic.php?f=104&t=405149&start=15

Thanks for your very good question.
Life, as with music, often requires one to let go of the melody and listen to the rhythm

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pocaloc
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Re: What makes 73 to 83 the "transition" years?

Post by pocaloc »

Thanks for the info.
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