Buy 1986 Rickenbacker 360 VP Walnut Vintage Electric Guitar 100% Original  Montezuma Brown Online

Buy 1986 Rickenbacker 360 VP Walnut Vintage Electric Guitar 100% Original  Montezuma Brown Online. A 1986 Rickenbacker 360 VP in superb, 100% original condition is being offered for sale. It is in full operating order and has the original hardshell case. One of Rickenbacker’s lighter-hued Walnut gloss nitro lacquer custom color treatments can be seen on this unique guitar. This finish was subsequently renamed “Montezuma Brown” when it was temporarily reintroduced as part of Rickenbacker’s Color of the Year program. This Rickenbacker is unique both for its finish and factory upgrade pickup pair. It also has a pair of the first reissue Toaster Top single coils available upon its return to the Ric range in 1984. These pickups measure in the 7k ohm region, and the “VP” (Vintage Pickup) upgrade guarantees a very vintage sonic palette.

The standard set of Toaster Top pickups on this Rickenbacker provide a tremendously resonant acoustic tone with plenty of chime and jangle. The instrument has a clean, cutting character that is intrinsic to maple as a tonewood and lends the tone a lot of warmth and subtlety. The guitar weighs just 7 lbs. 2 oz. and rests well on a strap. This Rickenbacker has been expertly set up at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar and is strung with 10-46 strings. It has low action and perfect intonation.

The medium C-shaped maple neck has just the right amount of roundness in the shoulders and gains a little weight as you go up the fretboard, measuring.

.975″ at the 12th fret and 845″ deep at the first fret. The original thin fretwire is still there on the bonded, thick slab of gloss-finished rosewood fretboard, which also has triangular pearl inlays.

The frets are at their maximum factory height, and frets 1-3’s crowns exhibit minor consistent wear that continues under the plain strings to fret 5. The neck of the guitar is straight, the two truss rods are responsive, and the instrument performs clearly in all ranges. The nut is 1 5/8″ diameter, and the scale length is 24 3/4″. The original Schaller tuning devices have brilliant chrome plating and rotate smoothly on the headstock. Of course, the truss rod cover has the recognizable Rickenbacker logo as well.

With twin Volume and Tone controls for each Toaster pickup and a fifth knob that combines the signals from the neck and bridge pickups, all of the electronics work as intended (especially useful when both pickups are engaged). The “Rick-o-Sound” jack plate has immaculate silkscreen writing and a ZI-prefix serial number that corresponds to September of ’86. The guitar may be played in mono or stereo.

The original factory marks are still visible on the body behind the pickguards, the original CTS pots are from the 36th week of ’84, and the solder joints are undamaged. With sparkling chrome plating, the original plastic components, including the five knobs and the dual-tiered pickguards, are also in near-mint condition. The chrome “R” tailpiece and six saddle bridge are still there.

When comparing the exposed finish to that which has been shielded behind the pickguard for the previous 35 years, the Walnut gloss finish is somewhat more reddish on the back of the instrument, but there is just a faint indication of a tan line on the top of the guitar. The clear coat on the rear has a patch of very small buckle rash in the center, and there are a few other tiny nicks and scuffs that are only visible from the back.

With no palm wear and a smooth-to-the-touch little touch-up finish chip on the bass-side shoulder at the eighth fret, the neck profile maintains its smooth shine. It also shows a few shallow nicks in the center of the profile carving below frets 1–5. Included is the original black tolex hardshell case.