Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hello, all!

I've come into possession of a lovely all original 330/12 in Mapleglo that was made in 1970.

It's currently with my tech getting a set up as it's been neglected for many, many years. It'll also get a recoil of the bridge pickup, but after that it should be in great shape.I'm in the UK and it had been with the previous owner since 1978 where he bought it second hand in a guitar shop.

My question is an open one... It seems upon research that Rickenbacker did not produce too many guitars within 1970 itself. The registry backs this up but obviously I know there's gotta be more out there (mine isn't registered yet, I'll get around to that with some nice pictures). I read on this great article https://www.rickenbacker101.com/p/timel ... of-the-330 that 1970 was a strange year because of finances. It claims that the factory went from 100 people to 8 people (though it doesn't state its sources). I wonder what this means for quality? With such few guitars, do we think these would have been using 1960's wood, parts? Higher quality due to less people, more time? Better builders? Or the opposite? I'd have imagined if you're going to lay off close to 100 people, you'd keep 8 of the best?

Of the guitars registered from 1970, Roger McGuinn appears to own two which is pretty cool. One is a Lightshow model, the other is a 370/12. Pretty cool!

1970 also marks some interesting changes. We start to see first gen higains (which mine has) appear. Overall I think it's cool to own this and I can't wait to have it back in my hands.

I've always loved the '69-72 period for Rickenbacker.

The low demand and production of guitars in this era opened them up to some very unusual custom orders and one-offs and low-volume models like the 381 and 331 Lightshow.

1970 is especially low production compared to '69 and '71.

As for your note about quality... it's hard to argue that quality was any higher than it was in the mid 60s at Electro String. To be honest, the build quality throughout that entire decade was relatively poor compared to modern standards. It produced some great guitars, but they are plagued with a lot of problems, such as shifting neck angles (with poor fitting neck tenon/mortise joints), poor intonation, truss rod issues and more. Just because there were less people working at the factory didn't improve the build quality in 1970, it's pretty much identical.

I have a soft spot for this period as well. You just never. See. Them.

The state of Rickenbacker’s business in the early 1970s is well documented. As regards the number of employees, that number was cited by Dick Burke, long time shop manager, in a 2005 NAMM interview. More can be read about the transitional era here: https://www.rickenbacker101.com/p/termi ... tional-era