Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Mark or Peter:
I was wondering if there is any way to find out how many instruments were made at any given year, how many were made in a specific color for that specific year, etc. Maybe there is a pamphlet that could be obtained? I was just wondering about this because it would be interesting to see what percentage of all Ricks out there are actually registered on the Registration Page.

When I worked there we made about 45 per day .

At some point in 1975 we added a swing shift .
I was the night leadman/foreman in the finishing building .

we also were busy and we got an additional 30 guitar made per day .

That swing shift did not last long however ,but the 45 to 50 guitars stayed a long time .
I know that therewas a point before 1972 and after 1968 that production slowed to a trickle and the company was in trouble.
The 'Yes' album and 'Fragile' ended that and things have been great since.
It appears that production has even increased since Brian Carmans time !
Something is working !

"I know that therewas a point before 1972 and after 1968 that production slowed to a trickle and the company was in trouble.
The 'Yes' album and 'Fragile' ended that and things have been great since.
It appears that production has even increased since Brian Carmans time !
Something is working !"
When I started there in June, '72, I asked how many people were working there at the time and I was told somewhere between 40 and 50.There were
8-10 of us in the woodshop area alone, so most of them were in assembly/sanding/finishing. Brian or Dick said that they actually got as low in staffing the factory at one point somewhere between '68-'71 as having like half dozen total; things were that slow.But for 2-3 years right after the British Invasion hit, I was told they had between 75-90 on staff.Yes had just started getting big with "Fragile" and it's hit"Roundabout" in late spring '72,and almost all instruments I worked on were 4001 basses.One day in late July or so, one of my fellow woodshop
buddies came over to my and Marks place, and, somber faced, handed me newly released copies of "Close to the Edge" and "Machine Head".We both realized what "job security " meant at that point!!

Any job openings?

Dr: It's very interesting to hear you and Mark talk about your days at the Rickenbacker factory; it must have been an experience to hear an instrument made at where you worked play an integral part in music history...was it generally that way (highs and lows in production) every time someone used a Rick on a song or in a popular group, such as Rush or Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers? I wonder if it has changed much since then...it seems Rickenbacker products tend to be quite prominant in music today as well as people who have nostalgia for the 'golden age' models like the C-Series models...

"it must have been an experience to hear an instrument made at where you worked play an integral part in music history...was it generally that way (highs and lows in production) every time someone used a Rick on a song or in a popular group,"
Yeah, I'd have to say it was kinda cool knowing you worked for a company with a "rep" like Rick had then[and does now],and while perhaps none of the instruments I myself had anything to do with got used by someone wellknown,it seems ,at least then, that Ricks'
sales of certain instruments went in cycles.John Hall might be able to give more specifics how that's worked over the years.