Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Under the electronics on my 360-12 on the body (in green marker), it says "360-12-C". I just saw a 360-12 on eBay with the designation "360-12-S".

Does anyone know what that final letter means?

standard ?

Special!

Here's one that's marked "366 12 R"

http://www.tblair.com/ebay_366.htm

Could the letter (C, S or R) indicate the color of finish? The date of manufacture? The person who assembled it?

Looks like '346 12 R' to me.
That same number is also written upside down in a lighter shade of black.
Definately a project.....

It's a private code indicating which day the instrument was painted so that we knew when it had sufficient dry time prior to buffing. The codes varied depending on the finish department supervisor's whim. Don't ask me why they didn't just date it.

If one was to take literally what some of these"codes" meant, based on the number and letter figures, you'd have some pretty wild instruments. A buddy of mine had an odd '66 330-12, which somehow came from the factory with the Front of the body only bound in white, as well as the soundhole! But the "code" inside read;345 12 S
Excuse me, but that would be a 3 PU 12 string, with a vibrato!?Anyway, these things are just one more of the quirks we come to love and debate on our Ricks.

John: Does the same line of same reasoning apply to the bit of masking tape with initials on it sometimes seen inside the truss-rod cavity under the nameplate with regard to current models?

Sort of. But it really means that someone forgot to pull the tape off.

On the V63 that I just bought the serial number indicates Jun 89, but the sticker inside the cavity has a date of 3/21/98. Are the stickers applied in the very beginning of construction to keep track of instruments?

Time travel, cool!

That's Jun 98 and 3/21/98 ...

The stickers are the very first part of the guitar produced- they're almost what triggers the wood shop to cut something. The three months is to allow time to produce the instrument as well a provide a significant grace period before the warranty is triggered.

Often the guitar is on the wall of the store or sold before the production date on the card (which is on the other half of the same sticker), to give dealers and consumers the benefit of any doubt.

Thanks John, I figured that the sticker has first, it seems like a good system to track the production as well. I'm assuming that the instruments are tracked by a database during production using these stickers?

Yes, it's all bar coded so that as scanned, the items are tracked in production. We have experimented with various RFID devices as well (which are great since the paint doesn't bother them and are not so easily lost) but you can't beat the price of a sticker.