Description

I bought this guitar from a US dealer , who offered it to me as an afterthought, and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw what someone had done to it.
The pictures show the condition she was in, the first picture was taken right away there and then.
I knew that this was a very rare guitar and so I decided that I would seek the help of probably the best Rickenbacker repairer and luthier in the USA.
Dale Fortune has a wealth of knowledge on vintage Rickenbackers and he offered to do the wood repairs for me .
As I was in the US at the time it seemed the obvious option and I’m glad I took it. Dale did a fantastic job on the internal bracing and on the front of the guitar.
The ravaging of the guitar made an invisible repair impossible unless a complete new top was fitted but, we decided against this for the sake of originality.
Dale refinished the front in amber nitro to match the rest of the guitar along with the fretboard and shipped it to England where we rebuilt it to the condition she is now.
I am indebted to Dale for his help and expertise in bringing this classic Rickenbacker back to life .
The bodywork was sealed and primed and given many coats of brilliant white nitro cellulose, polished to a very high gloss
New Rickysounds truss rods were fitted and a new Rickysounds Pickguard was laser cut.
Two 7.4K scatterwound toasters are dressed in gold high gain surrounds, the wiring is sixties spec with cloth wire.
A Gold Bigsby B5 vibrato, Gold Kluson keywinds together with the reminder of gold hardware and TV/Cooker knobs complete the retro look.

I Think I will call her “Gretschen” tipping my hat to the other Great American guitar company.