Very interesting!

The neck kinda look's genuine to me with it's tenion, possibly salvaged from a damaged Ric with the rest of the hardware which I think also look's legit.
It's just the overall construction of the body that appear's a bit odd, but the factory where up to all sort's of thing's during the late 50's early 60's so who know's it may have been a prototype. As we know Lennon's first 325 was refitted before he got it!

A lot of it looks right to me, but I'm not enough of an expert on these older models to say for sure. What's under the truss rod cover? A pic of that area would help.

But even if it is a real factory-made Rickenbacker, I think it's been stripped and sanded to the point that the originality is really lost anyway - the body contouring doesn't look sharp enough for one thing. (Is that a crack in the back of the neck on the bass side behind the nut too?) It's probably a nice guitar but that doesn't mean it's worth a huge amount of money. Unless you can find real proof that it's some sort of custom one-off, I would just restore it in whatever way makes it a good player and not worry about the value.

No offense intended, just my opinion.

I am not a pro on the older models myself, but something about the body looks off. My first impression is that it looks like a relly good fake. But again, I am not a pro.

Hey Rick guy's I appreciate the eyes. She only has come out so the grand-kids can see that grandpa could really move without grimacing some years back. They all oo and ah and want to just hold her. I've got a young man here in town that really has more need for her than I do. I dont think she will last through much more use though honestly. Blue Angel you must have some good peepers. There is a hairline crack behind the nut on the bass side. It has been years since she was strung and I think I would have noticed it then. Maybe just from dry air, I don't know. I've got the man who will refinish her and I will let him see about reinforcing it. I've done it on a few and if it's caught early it's not too big of a deal except cosmetically. I really don't know what I'm looking at on the truss rod. I've never really had to think about it. Her neck is still true. It looks like someone might have used a spacer or something in there. I added the pictures to photobucket. Her body measurements are consistent with the 650 RIC and VOX linked me too. I found someone who had written down the measurements. Her features are still sharp it is the camera guy and his wife's camera thats off. It took very little sanding as the finish came of easy. Other than the letters that had been stuck to her and they were just slight wood color variation that took light hand sanding. The finish over where they had been, was a little tougher than the original Ric finish. It had been feathered in pretty well. probably Krylon. My dad loved that stuff too. I appreciate any helpful comments. I have others checking her out too. If I sell her to this guy at least maybe I will have a little history. I am an acoustic guy now anyway and she needs someone to appreciate her again. I think she is worth the $800 unfinished and what he will pay my man to finish her and re-enforce that neck some.

The new photobucket link---sorry

http://s993.photobucket.com/albums/af54 ... 1956-2010/

The truss rod and the groove it fits in looks to be the correct type - there's only one but I think that's standard for these 50s models. If it was a total fake I think it's very unlikely they would have used the correct rod, and that at least means the neck is original Rickenbacker - it looks like it in every other way too. So I think the options are that it's all genuine, or that it's a rebuild using an original neck and hardware but a replaced body. I honestly have no idea.

The crack in the neck looks like an impact on the headstock caused it, I've never seen anything like that just due to the wood drying, even when under string tension. It's certainly repairable. If you refinish the guitar in a solid color you'll never see it either - have you thought about the 50s Turquoise that a lot of these models came in? It's one of the nicest colors they ever used.

Hello Again, I appreciate any comments even bad ones. I have been reading around some in the forums and it seems Blue Angel has done his studies. Thank you for taking time to look at Abby. I contacted my guittanic and he said it would be no real problem, he didn't think, whew close one. When I broke her down I was thinking after a while that I probably needed to restring her as to keep an even amount of tension on the neck. I think the old gal is okay though. Blue Angel I took down the numbers on the pots: 3279 137 . 734 I have seen a generic or new one sold as an all around. Both pots are the same, but the knob stem is broken off the tone pot. A stage hand broke it off by tripping on her as we packed up on a dark stage. It can still be used but looks real odd. I had bought these gold knobs and put the originals up. They were the black ones with the flared bottoms and single line on top. I noticed the other older ones had various knobs. The solid silver seems to be as prominent as the black ones. If she is kin to some of the fifties models what knobs do you think she needs? The ones that came on her are long gone, probably in some of my junk somewhere. The turquoise is really a nice color. Thanks again Rick people.

It's a fake dude.

It's not a fake. There are too many little details that are too fine of workmanship to be fake: the perfect fit of the neck to the body; the same rout in the top that is underneath known toasters; no extraneous footprint around the tuners, indicating they may be original; the pot codes; the contouring, even though it may not be as "sharp," is the same general contours as the known picture of an 850; high set neck heel so the fingerboard is raised enough off the height of a toaster like current 300 series; early version of the standard bridge, etc.

The late '50's were transition years for RIC, as the original designs evolved to meet the changing techniques and demands of guitar players. Many different things were tried, and many more were discarded. This could be an experimental transitional instrument in the development of the 310/15/20/25 series. Since you have an original serial number, I would contact RIC directly with good quality detailed pictures and ask them.

Help us Mr. Hall, you're our only hope.