I owned a used pawnshop ‘83 4002 that had been gutted of its original electronics and pickups. I’ve always been curious about the sound of the original, but there seems to be next to zero recordings of them.
You mentioned Paul Barth was instrumental (sic) in the design of the 600 and 800 series Combos. According to Martin Kelly's book, FC Hall hired a design firm to come up with the 600 Combo design, which RIC adapted to the final design with some changes - no snakehead headstock and the body is carved out from the back rather than the front. Perhaps Paul Barth contributed to those refinements of the original design.
The other observation I have is that I've never seen a 450 Combo with two DeArmond pickups. The 450s have two of the original "toaster-top" pickups. I will stand corrected if there is an example of dual DeArmond's on a 450 out there.
Thanks, Ron! I’m on the road so don’t have the Kelley book with me, so will double check when I get home. Not sure where I pulled Barth from right now, so will recheck. And as regards the 450, I was equally surprised, but would direct you to my post on the 450 evolution here https://rickenbacker101.substack.com/p/timeline-the-evolution-of-the-450 where there are 2 such examples (1 in period promo literature and one refinished example…could be the same guitar?). Note also the rotary pickup selector!
I owned a used pawnshop ‘83 4002 that had been gutted of its original electronics and pickups. I’ve always been curious about the sound of the original, but there seems to be next to zero recordings of them.
Nice work, Andy! A couple of points:
You mentioned Paul Barth was instrumental (sic) in the design of the 600 and 800 series Combos. According to Martin Kelly's book, FC Hall hired a design firm to come up with the 600 Combo design, which RIC adapted to the final design with some changes - no snakehead headstock and the body is carved out from the back rather than the front. Perhaps Paul Barth contributed to those refinements of the original design.
The other observation I have is that I've never seen a 450 Combo with two DeArmond pickups. The 450s have two of the original "toaster-top" pickups. I will stand corrected if there is an example of dual DeArmond's on a 450 out there.
Thanks, Ron! I’m on the road so don’t have the Kelley book with me, so will double check when I get home. Not sure where I pulled Barth from right now, so will recheck. And as regards the 450, I was equally surprised, but would direct you to my post on the 450 evolution here https://rickenbacker101.substack.com/p/timeline-the-evolution-of-the-450 where there are 2 such examples (1 in period promo literature and one refinished example…could be the same guitar?). Note also the rotary pickup selector!
Thanks for the info on the two-DeArmond 450! Were you able to get a SN for that guitar?
Sadly no…