I remember the first time I ever saw a 381 Rick. I was about 17, and the guitarist in the high school band I played in wanted to buy a Rickenbacker but couldn't find one at any of the music stores he frequented. He managed to persuade someone at Rickenbacker to give him a tour of the place so he cold check out a few models, and he invited me to tag along. We were shown a sort of showroom/guitar gallery with various models. One of the models was a 381 without any strings on it mounted in a sort of glass case on the wall, if I remember correectly. I asked the gentleman showing us the guitars about it. He said it was a 381. I asked if Rick still made the guitar, and he said "no, we don't even have the lathe that can make that cut anymore".

I always remembered that guitar, and when the day came that Rickenbacker reissued it, my jaw dropped! I promptly ordered a 12 in birdseye maple.


Anyway, thanks to Rickenbacker for bringing that model back. I hope it stays in production forever!

She's beautiful, sounds great and she's sittin right over there...

Thanks Folks ;-)

I'm going to get a matching 6 string model with the Accent vibrato.

Hey, does anyone know if the silver vintage style case comes standard with the 381, or is it an extra cost option? When I bought my 381 12 the case it came in was all black, which is probably a good thing, since I've put some mileage on the case! It would be cool to have one in the silver case as well.

The 381/12V69FG showed up in the Vintage case which I thought was standard for the Vintage Series; fits perfect.

Thanks for the 411.

For the record,I think the 381 in FG is absolutely stunning, but you don't need me to tell you that!

I ordered my 381 the first year it was available, so maybe the silver case was not yet being produced.

'90's? I thought the 381 was re-introduced in 1987!

Wow! I guess it was longer ago than I thought. Maybe I ordered mine in `87 and didn't receive it until 1990! ;-)

My 381 (2004) is Monte Brown and is exquisitely beautiful.

It came in a Silver Vintage case with black trim.

_________________
Rickenbackers: I love to play them. I enjoy the challenge of working on them. I love the way they sound.

Just a little info: There was never a wood lathe in the Rick factory. band saws,routers,shapers,carving machines,sanders,etc.etc. but the wood lathes were used on Louisville Sluggers baseball bats. I agree that the 381 is one of the most beautiful guitars ever made, and quite a laborious one. Dick Burke did all of the hand carving on the 381's top and back before it's reissue in 1987. It was 1st pre-cut on the table shaper, then Dick did the final work on the carving machine. This was a very skilled job that required the utmost expertise and skill.

I thought they do the vintage series only in Fireglo, mapleglo and jetglow ? (Did I messed it up with the color options for the c series?) If not, thats very cool. I´d like to see a picture of a 381 in MB...

_________________
myspace.com/los-chupacabras