Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I have what I think is a great Idea..."cosmetic reissues". i.e. a 21 fret 330 with a "F" hole. It would cost the same as a standard (or would be 3 frets cheaper) This would give the guitar buying public more choice and add no extra cost to Rickenbacker and give us ric owners another reason to buy a new guitar.

Dream on, pligrim.

turner wrote: a 21 fret 330 with a "F" hole. It would cost the same as a standard

Good one.

Really though why not? They already have everything. Selling more units makes far more than selling a few higher priced ones. They could do "full vintage spec" for the purists and charge more for those.

I'm not the definitive answer here, but the costs involved with retooling and reprogramming CNC machines would be greater than the profits from increased sales due to the changes. We're not talking high volume here..

Changes cost money and the only way to cover those costs would be by raising the price significantly.... then you're in vintage reissue price levels, so what's the point?

P.S.. Just buy yourself a 1997 reissue and there ya go. Guarantee it'll be cheaper than your fantasy Rick.

Not my fantasy, I just thought it was a good idea to offer more choice to the public. Ric doesn't make any money off of used guitars. I've heard ( I could be wrong) the reason they don't do more vintage reissues is because of capacity/set up time etc... What I'm suggesting is kill 3 frets, or program the Cnc for an f instead of a slash, really nothing else.

I must admit, I've never programmed a Cnc machine. I'm not a high volume builder and I'm certainly not in charge of ric. Just some fun food for thought. People build Cnc with a computer, router, printer components. It's not NASA

aceonbass wrote:Jason, you don't just "kill 3 frets" to make a 21 fret guitar out of a 24 fret one. The neck and fretboard are different, and making those parts just for this guitar wouldn't be cost effective. I certainly wouldn't want less frets on any of my basses, so why do you want 3 less frets on your guitar? I get the F hole though.

IMO, on the Rickenbacker guitars 21 frets looks way better aesthetically than 24 frets. Especially on 3 pickup models.

Jason, the truth is that a lot of people would like to see the return of 21 fret guitars. But for the time being, it ain't gonna happen. That's it.

I meant to post, 21 frets, and OR f hole. Just an f and nothing else would seem IMO easy. They already/still make 21fret necks. The 22,23,and 24th fret are almost superfluous on a 330 style guitar.

If enough people want these things maybe they will listen to the public.

One can hope, but sadly that's all one can do. You can't argue with success.

turner wrote:If enough people want these things maybe they will listen to the public.

Welcome to the forum Jason!

There are plenty of people on here who would love to see f-hole/21 fret guitars return to the RIC product line up either as standard models or with those features as optional extra cost upgrades to standard models. However the factory have consistently maintained the position that it just won't happen. A couple of months back there was some speculation that we might see some accurate Rose Morris reissues next year (which would mark the 50th anniversary of the first exports to Rose Morris in England) but the factory subsequently denied there were any plans to do that. So, as Collin pointed out, your best bet is probably to seek out a nice used example of one of the Rose Morris reissues made a few years ago.

I do want a rose Morris reissue! I even posted in the wanted section, I'm working on it but they could even put a f hole on a regular 24 fret guitar. Program the Cnc to cut every 5th guitar with a f hole (or something like that). Or a 21fret guitar with hi gains...something like that?? Just give more options even if its mostly cosmetic.