Behind door number 3 we find a beautiful vintage 1966 Rickenbacker 335 model in stunning Fireglo finish. This guitar is essentially the fancy version of the 330 model-it has a factory Accent Vibrato. A pretty Rare and collectible model for sure. This unit was produced in March of 1966 at the original Rickenbacker factory in Los Angeles California, U.S.A. The guitar is in incredibly well-preserved condition. It has no cracks, no repairs, no issues; it is super-solid and professionally set up-it needs nothing, it is ready to play.
The body is the familiar double cutaway tulip-shaped silhouette descended from Rickenbacker's Capri-models of the late 1950's. The body is structurally solid with no creaks or funny business. The pickguard is really nice and clean. Inside the control cavity, the model number "345-19" is written in marker-which means this body was originally designated as a triple pickup version and Rickenbacker decided that that was not necessary at the time-so it was made as a 335 model (same thing, just has 2 pickups instead of 3...neat conversation piece!) The Maple top has Bird's eye figuring most prominently in the center, between the tailpiece and bridge. The Original Fireglo finish is unfaded and very vibrant-it looks absolutely killer! The top is very clean with minimal handling evidence. The sides exhibit some typical pecks and scrapes along with more in the center of the backside-see photos. Overall-this 60-year old semi-hollow body is in amazing shape. The neck joint is super solid and the neck angle is perfect.
The neck itself is super smooth and feels excellent. The neck has a classic shallow C shaped profile and has a width similar to a Stratocaster-it measures 1.60" wide at the nut. It has a neck depth of .852" at the 1st fret and .880" at the 12th fret. It is straight and has no issues with the double truss rod. Speaking of which-that part is clean as a whistle-see photos. The original Kluson Deluxe tuners function smoothly and the guitar stays in tune excellent. The headstock and logo display excellent with a touch of patina. The original nut is in excellent shape. The Padauk fingerboard is factory lacquered and in very good shape with a couple of wear spots down by the nut-see photos. The fingerboard is clean and feels very smooth. The action is set low for a fast and easy playing experience. Currently, the string height is .010" at the 1st fret and .060" at the 12th fret. It can easily be adjusted up or down with the fully adjustable bridge if you prefer a different string height. As it is-it plays lie butter up and down the fingerboard with no dead spots. It has a great resonance and just feels perfect.
The original Toaster-Top pickups both function perfectly and have a strong signal with excellent balance. The neck pickup has 7.67 ohms and the Bridge position has 5.07 ohms. The sound is the quintessential Rickenbacker chime and brilliance you would expect. It sounds great. The controls all function smoothly and quietly. The entire wiring harness is in excellent shape with no stories-no excuses. The original CTS potentiometers date to the 15th week of 1966 and 46th week of 1965-which lines up perfectly with the serial date code. The original blend knob is missing the silver center-cap so I have a vintage piece from a different guitar currently on for aesthetic purposes-the original knob is included. The Bridge is the original roller unit and it functions perfectly. The tailpiece is original, the actual comb and arm are new upgrades. The comb looks identical to an original one, but it is a chrome plated solid steel instead of the original chrome plated crappy pot-metal/brass that always failed-YES, the original comb is included and yes, it has failed as promised. I think the steel comb actually may add a bit of resonance and sustain actually-totally awesome! I know it adds reliability. The arm can easily be moved to whatever position you like and it stays there! The vibrato is fun and has a quick and instant response.
The guitar is very lightweight-it only weights 7.40 lbs. so you can forget all about neck and shoulder fatigue with this one. You can play all night long and still feel fresh (YAY!)
This guitar is very fun to play and sounds as good as it looks.
The original silver case is included...it has some damage on one corner that looks crappy if you look at it. The case keeps the guitar safe though-and that's what we like!
