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I bought this Frankenbacker today(on Ebay). Sort of a cross between a Rick and a Les Paul. My friend said he would sell me a pair of Rickenbacker 481 humbuckers for it if I want.

Is that a real rickenbacker? or a copy

metalhead384 wrote:Is that a real rickenbacker? or a copy

Yes it is real Rickenbacker 480. It's been modded of course,but I got it for $710 with free shipping so I think it was a good deal.

Oh good lord WHY?

That said, it looks awesome, congrats

Thanks! My friend said he has 2 Rickenbacker 481 humbuckers he will sell me so if I get those I can get a 481 style pickguard and make it in to a 481 with dot inlays and straight frets(most 481's have slanted frets). I don't know if I will do that or just leave it as is. I think it is kinda cool the way it is and a modded Rickenbacker really pisses off alot people for some reason.

HOLY SHIT. I love 480/481s.

That "lestrem" is uglay on this guitar though. I've got a repro ric bridge if you're thinking about restoring it.

Bah. Hot guitar is hot. Nice to know where the "what's this tremolo" question came from.

Considering it has two massive stud holes for the tremolo I don't see any point in trying to "restore" it unless you're after the tones, since it still won't look like a stock 481.

Main thing with any Frankenstein guitar like that is how well it plays/is set up

Viljami wrote:Bah. Hot guitar is hot. Nice to know where the "what's this tremolo" question came from.

Thanks! Yeah, I was trying to concel the identity of the guitar until the auction was over.

Nick wrote:Considering it has two massive stud holes for the tremolo I don't see any point in trying to "restore" it unless you're after the tones, since it still won't look like a stock 481.

Main thing with any Frankenstein guitar like that is how well it plays/is set up

Yeah,I just have to wait until I get the guitar to see if I really need to do anything. I wouldn't be able to restore it to it's original condition but I think it can be made into an awesome player..

What I love about this is how haphazard the mods are on such a rare and expensive guitar. It doesn't make sense, but yet it exists. If someone had a Rickenbacker and wanted a guitar with two humbuckers, TOM, and a tremolo, there are many many guitars out there that do just that out of the box, they could have sold this and bought a guitar that did what they wanted for half the price. But say they really like the look and feel of this particular guitar, and wanted it to be to their specs. They installed mismatched pickups, a gold tailpiece with chrome hardware, and they also replaced the knobs with gold to match the tailpiece....wtf

really makes you contemplate the history of a guitar like this.

Nick wrote:What I love about this is how haphazard the mods are on such a rare and expensive guitar. It doesn't make sense, but yet it exists. If someone had a Rickenbacker and wanted a guitar with two humbuckers, TOM, and a tremolo, there are many many guitars out there that do just that out of the box, they could have sold this and bought a guitar that did what they wanted for half the price. But say they really like the look and feel of this particular guitar, and wanted it to be to their specs. They installed mismatched pickups, a gold tailpiece with chrome hardware, and they also replaced the knobs with gold to match the tailpiece....wtf

really makes you contemplate the history of a guitar like this.

Yeah,there have been some other chopped or modified 480s on ebay recently.Here are a couple

a 1973 Mapleglo 480 which sold for $886.77 (Link)



and this 1977 Jetglo 480 which sold for $900.00 (Link)

If I get the 481 pickups maybe I will get a new pickguard and maybe change the trem to a bigsby like the guitar on the right. But...if I like the way it sounds and plays I will just leave it as it is.

The stud holes will still show if you stick a bigsby on it, but when it has been modified this badly it's questionable as to whether it makes that much difference at this stage. If you do this, will you be selling the Bowen Handle trem? I'd like to call tentative, stupendously early dibs on it if you are

westtexasred wrote:a modded Rickenbacker really pisses off alot people for some reason.

Yep, Ricky peeps are nerds about this sort of thing and unfortunately your particular ricky is one that's only really known by those types of people in the first place... I'd just leave it as is. You paid a lot for just the wood, that should be enough for them.

Thanks! I am gonna just leave it as is.

good find, hb sized p90 swap?

Rare hot Ric is hot!

This just in: The way Fire-Glo is growing on me is rather disturbing.

Saw that on HC. Look like a lot of fun to be had.

Thanks! There is a 480 at a store near me called "Solid Body Guitars" (Link) but that one is priced at $2000

Get yer Serge on!

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is that a real super distortion in the bridge thar?