Take A Rickenbacker Factory Tour

Rickenbacker headstock on Bobby Owsinski's Production BlogI love the sound of Rickenbacker guitars and I love factory tours, so the following video is pretty awesome (IMO) because it contains both. Rickenbacker is actually a very interesting success story in that the company knows its limitations and does its utmost to stay within them. That means that the demand constantly outstrips the supply, but the company is so concerned with quality that it won’t succumb to MBA-style pressure and expand.

Rickenbacker president John Hall knows that there’s only so much you can automate and good luthiers are hard to find, so the company stays within itself and is able to charge a premium for its instruments as a result.

Ric also a long history and is often overlooked for its musical contributions. For instance, it was the first company to introduce a solid body stringed instrument back in the 1930s, and an electric stringed instrument and amplifier back in the 1940s. Rickenbacker was also the sound of the British invasion, and its electric 12 string has always been an iconic instantly identifiable sound.

In the following video, we look at the construction of Model 330 guitars and 4003 basses. What’s interesting and different here is that the company actually builds their guitars from the inside out!

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