A Near Mint January 1967 Rickenbacker 310

1967 Rickenbacker 310 (two pickups 'R' tailpiece)

This exceptionally rare and very beautifully 'shaded' Fireglo, January 1967 Model 310 weighs just 5.20 lbs. Asymetrical double cutaway, 13 inch wide, 1 1/2 inch deep maple body with a single f-hole (running at 1 o'clock) on the top. Maple neck with a nut width of just under 1 5/8 inches, a short (three-quarter) scale length of 21 1/4 inches and a wonderful medium-to-thick profile. Rosewood fretboard with 21 original 0.08 Jumbo frets and white dot inlays. White opaque plastic truss-rod cover, lettered in black "Rickenbacker" & "Made in U S A" secured by three slot-head screws. Individual double-line Kluson Deluxe tuners with oval metal buttons & "D-169400/Patent No." stamped on the underside. Two Rickenbacker "toaster" pickups with chrome covers and strong outputs of 7.25k and 8.30k. Split-level two-piece white plastic pickguard secured by four screws. Five controls (two volume, two tone, and a blend control) plus a three-way pickup selector switch. The potentiometers are stamped "137 6617" (CTS, April 1966). Seven-sided black plastic knobs with metal tops with black lettering. Rickenbacker bridge and Rickenbacker "R" tailpiece. Serial number "GA / 286" (January 1967) stamped on jack input plate.

Now lets be super critical about this near mint guitar - there are a few miniscule marks on the back (nothing through the finish) and one tiny little indentation on the top edge - six inches south of the tailpiece screw - again not through the finish. There is some natural finish loss on the treble-side of the fretboard from the seventeenth to the twenty-first fret. There is a small area of wear on the treble-side of the neck just above the but - most certainly caused by hanging on a guitar wall hook. Taking into account the aforementioned, this fifty-six year-old exceptionally rare model is still in exceptionally fine (9.25++) condition. Housed in the original three-latch, rectangular silver hardshell case with black faux aligator ends and blue plush lining (9.25).

This guitar was the 286th instrument shipped from the Rickenbacker factory in early January 1967.

According to the shipping records (Smith, p. 234) there were only 17 Fireglo 325's produced between 1964 and 1968 (5 in 1964; 16 in 1966 and 1 in 1968) - the Rickenbacker shipping records for 1967 are not published but it would be fairly safe to assume that maybe five at the most Fireglo 325's were shipped in 1967 which would make a total of just 17 examples made. There were also 4 Natural guitars shipped in 1966 - and one other color shipped in 1968.

"There were three divisions in the Thin Hollow Body category, but just two different body styles. The first division, Models 310-325, had extreme cutaway three-quarter size bodies. The second and third divisions, Models 330-345 and Models 360-375, had extreme cutaway full sized bodies… The first guitars from the 310-325 group had solid tops… In 1961 photos showed traditional F shape sound holes on some of these models… There is no consistent pattern in the production of F hole and solid top guitars. It was probably simultaneous throughout the history of the 325 style instruments… Thanks to the Saturday Evening Post and the Ed Sullivan Show, by mid 1964 nearly every young guitarist in America was familiar with Models 310-325. It was about this time that Beatle fans unofficially tagged the 325 "the John Lennon Model." The standard finishes in 1964 were Fireglo and natural maple. Black was available for an additional twenty-five dollars over the retail cost. The traditional F shape sound holes became standard, but, as before, some solid top guitars were made too. Other regular features included white pickguards, Accent vibrato, and the mixer control." (Richard Smith. The History of Rickenbacker Guitars, p.162-163).