Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi All,

Recently picked up a 330 used for a pretty good price, as it had been neglected for a while. Was pretty grody, a couple of bridge screws missing and one pickup not working. The latter was sorted easily, just a broken solder joint but this is what I was greeted with when I looked under the hood.

Some of those solder joints don't look original to me and as for those caps...well they seem rather over spec'd so surely they aren't original.

Pots date to 1986 and 1984 so they ain't recent, at least, but dunno if they are the originals either.

What do you all think?

You can get some close ups of the control cavity by looking in the Rickenbacker Gallery and using the drop down menus for 330 and 1996. An example is provided below but you can do a more thorough search than I did. BTW, what is the manufacture date of your 330?

admin wrote: Thu May 07, 2026 2:45 pmBTW, what is the manufacture date of your 330?

Well, its a Z serial which is 1986 but the RIC serial lookup states that its a replacement plate. So not sure what the deal is there.

Its got the correct features for the period mid-late 80's though- Rotomatics, paddle headstock, no model number on TRC, no dual use bobbin etc.

Adrian: I suspect that somewhere along the line, the original jackplate with the stamped serial number was either damaged or parted-out by someone who wanted to sell a faker for the real thing. The owner at the time likely contacted RIC for a replacement plate to validate the instrument as genuine.

With proper validation, Rickenbacker did issue replacement plates to prevent counterfeiting and protect the resale value of genuine instruments. The policy has been to have owners return their old plate for a replacement that guaranteed that the instrument was genuine and the date of manufacture legitimate.The Factory would be able to speak to this practice more formally and may have a record of the replacement. Others here, who have gone through the process may be able to provide more detail.

My two cents.