481?

[rickde]

Has anyone ever played one of these before? What are they like? Looks a little whack.

http://www.rickbid.com/item.php?id=6f5aee9eab078a01a7d1c5ce88be99a2&PHPAUCTIONXL_SESSION=b9d76f790f5fcb80fb50f4b27e0864c9

[melibreits]

I have one.... It's a pretty cool guitar, although mine still needs a little work--I haven't really made working on it a priority, as I have plenty of other Rics to play with right now! The slant frets feel really nice for double-bar chords, but it is definitely a weird Ric. Mine is missing one of the nut-and-bolt combos that hold the pickup on the pickguard. I tried contacting the Ric factory about getting a replacement, but they no longer carry them, as the 481 is a discontinued model, and was the only model that had that type of pickup mounting system. I need to make a few other calls so I can get it fixed, but just haven't gotten around to it yet! Will be cool once it's playable again, although mine is banged up enough that I might consider getting it refinished. There's another thread about this guitar with a photo somewhere way down in this category: "My 481."