SOLD: ‘92 Rickenbacker 330 £1300

Teyeplayer · June 2021

Edit: sold off forum.

‘92 Rickenbacker 330 in mapleglo with black hardware. This is a fantastically resonant 330, always reminds me of an es330 in many respects, with that lovely hollow body warmth. It’s a cracking guitar and plays really well.

However, unlike many of the case queen ricks that come out from under the bed -this is player grade/road worn. As a result, there is evidence of a partial refret around the cowboy chords and some strange wear to the 20-24 frets, presumably from pick hits from an over-zealous strummmer and the odd fretboard divet. There are dings a plenty, the typical Rick discolouration and the amber haze of an age pre-smoking ban. I’ve currently got a trapeze bridge on it, but the original r is included and intact. There’s a couple of cracks to the truss rod cover that have been wicked and the back foiled to hold it together -it’s not perfect but does the job better than £100 for one to get damaged in the post on its way from Rickenbacker hq.

Non-original case included that has seen many a gig (plus a new Thomann extreme case that I purchased with the intent of padding out and relining to accommodate the Rick but never got round to). It also includes the original bill of sale, just so you can feel sick when you see the price of new Rickenbackers. Trade values are always tough, particularly on here where Ricks don’t tend to fair so well and go rather cheap, but I’d say in real-world terms this is worth £1300, whether trading or selling.

Trade wise, I am ideally after a hollow bodied Gretsch (Japanese, professional series rather than electromatic). It would have to be filtertron equipped (I didn’t get on with the hilos on the Tennessean), would prefer it to have a Bigsby. So I guess an anniversary/6118, particularly the newer player models that have a tone control rather than mud switch; a Tennessee Rose with filtertrons; player grade Chet Atkins or even post headstock break Falcon (though that seems less likely). Will also consider relevant Jets.

Might even consider other trades: American Original 70s Telecaster custom, Gibson sg standard vibrola, non-reverse firebird (the studio model with the three p90s, I had one once that finances dictated had to go, always missed it), maybe even a PRS of similar value (never tried one and you’ve ‘got to catch them all’).

Happy to drive to trade, in true fretboard service station style.

Pics are here (sorry can’t embed on iPhone):
https://www.flickr.com/gp/157224850@N02/1Nbm73

These are brutally honest photos, don’t want anyone thinking this is a case queen, equally it ain’t a pile of crap, it’s a much more lively Rick than others I have owned (And i’ve had ‘a few’).