Rickenbacker vintage dating

There are patent numbers on both sides of the magnets but I would assume that these would not include the serial number.

The former owner claims the guitar was manufactured in 1946 but there are no obvious numbers on the instrument to confirm this.

The first electrics by Ro-Pat-In were introduced in 1932 under the Electro String Instruments trademark, which later became the Electro String Instrument Corporation.

I bought it used in the late ’70s and have played it ever since. Can you tell me a little more about the guitar and if it is trash or treasure? Timothy Phoenix, Arizona Hi Timothy, Cool bass, man, and it’s awesome you’ve been using it for over 30 years now!

(He received the second one made in early 1964.) The 1968 360/12 pictured here has the features most often associated with classic Deluxe Rickenbacker models of the ’60s.

These include a bound maple neck, gloss finished rosewood fretboard with large triangle- shaped inlays, two “toaster” single-coil pickups, a maple body with checkerboard binding on the back, a slash soundhole, and a distinctive “R” tailpiece.

Rickenbacker’s innovative tuner arrangement allows for a smaller headstock and also reduces tuning confusion—tuners for the six standard strings are mounted on the side of the headstock, while the tuners for the octave and doubled top strings are mounted on the back.

RIGHT: The rear-mounted tuners for the doubled top and octave strings.