I should have posted this right when I started this site, but better late than never! When people ask me where I get my information…these are at the top of my list of go-tos, and they should be yours too.
Books
Rickenbacker Guitars: Pioneers of the Electric Guitar, Martin Kelley and Paul Kelley. Originally published in deluxe format as Rickenbacker Guitars: Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fireglo, this is the Bible right here. Built upon access to the Rickenbacker archives and many of the most extensive collections out there (several of which you’ll hear about later on)—plus a clear love for the subject—Martin and Paul Kelley’s book is THE authoritative source on Rickenbacker history.
Rickenbacker, Richard Smith. Prior to the Kelley book, this was the best book available—and is still incredibly useful, although sadly long out of print. Covers the history of the company, with details on all production models produced from the 1950s to the late 1980s when the book was published. Also contains production data from the vintage era, but those records appear to be incomplete. Used copies show up fairly regularly on Amazon and eBay, so keep looking!
The Rickenbacker Book, Tony Bacon & Paul Day. Tons of fantastic photographs and some useful information, but more of a “coffee table book”.
The Rickenbacker Bass: 50 Years as Rock’s Bottom, Paul D. Boyer. As important as basses are to Rickenbacker’s history, they deserve their own book and this one delivers with great photos and detailed history of their usage as well as the technical details.
Online resources
justrickenbackers.com. Ryan Hankins’ site has one of the best serial number decoders out there, and some great high-level company/model timelines. While not primarily a commerce site, Ryan usually has a handful of guitars for sale and he understands market value very well so they’re priced right!
rarerickenbackers.com. John Minutaglio has one of the broadest and most eclectic Rickenbacker collections out there, many of which are well documented on his site and his Instagram account. When I have questions about something I’ve never seen before, John is one of the first people I reach out to. His “Masterclass Curriculum” series helped inspire the name of this site—compared to some of the details he goes into I just cover the 101 level! John’s Market Watch tool is also an incredibly useful price guide that takes past and current sales data and provides a good trend analysis.
rickbeat.com While not exactly up-to-date, Bjorn Eriksson’s Rickbeat was one of the first online Rickenbacker info sources out there and still has one of the best model overview jump-off pages out there.
rickenbacker.com: There’s a lot to be said for getting it straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. The official company website has details on current and some past models, company history, and some other great resources like a price list archive that goes back to the 1950s. I’d also strongly encourage using the internet Wayback Machine to access archived copies of the website from 2022 and earlier—a lot of useful information can be found there (schematics, old catalogs, press releases, etc) that didn’t make it to the new site after the 2024 redesign. The forums associated with the old site are full of info on pretty much anything you can think of, but are sadly now incomplete and no longer searchable. Losing those forums upon the website redesign really hurt the online information pool—but maybe you’ll be lucky and stumble across something useful in what WAS archived.
rickenbacker.me.uk: Graham Griffiths has spent over forty years building his incredibly diverse collection of Rickenbackers—including early guitars from the 1930s and 1940s, famous guitars like Paul Weller’s “I Am Nobody” 1974 330, incredibly desirable guitars like multiple Rose Morris 1993s, and weird guitars like multiple 331 Light Shows and multiple Banjolines. All are well documented on his website.
Rickenbacker Market Watch on Facebook: While there are plenty of Rickenbacker groups on Facebook, this one has the densest collection of experts. Most of the names you’ll see in these other resource links maintain an active presence in this group. The focus is on interesting guitars for sale, but the experts often weigh in with tips and facts not readily available elsewhere. You’ll have to ask to join, but it’s worth it.
rickresource.com: Home to the Rickenbacker Resource Forum and the Rickenbacker Register, this is the granddaddy of Rickenbacker sites and the answer to your question is probably in there somewhere. The searchable forum has threads on any topic you can imagine, and the register contains details on over 52,000 individual guitars, most with photos. If you want to go down a rabbit hole, this is the place to do it.
ronsvintage.com: Ron O’Keefe spent over thirty years building what is probably the most complete and important vintage Rickenbacker collection that will ever exist. His site lovingly documents that collection. Whenever I need to look at a picture of “something specific” to answer a question, it’s my first stop ‘cause I known it will be there. Plus which, Ron’s just a super nice guy who’s always willing to share his knowledge!
There are other sources out there, but these are hands down the best. And that’s why I want you to know about them!
ty for including my site Andy!
Now YOU can count yourself as an excellent resource.