Overview: Serial Number Locator Guide
We have already discussed how to interpret a Rickenbacker serial number (click here to read), but what that article doesn’t cover is where to actually find it. The good news is that the options are limited and the exceptions are few, so let’s run through them.
We’ll approach this chronologically, with each new location listed in the rough order of appearance. That said, there aren’t that many places to check, so finding yours shouldn’t take too long.
The very first modern Rickenbacker electric guitars, the 1954 Combo 600 and 800 (click to learn more), introduced the two locations that have been most commonly used ever since—the output jack plate and the bridgeplate. As far as which one came first?
Here’s the thing: the “production” guitars used the output jack plate. Even though it was in a somewhat unusual spot on these early guitars—at the very butt of the guitar, sharing the plate with the strap pin—that’s where the serial number got stamped.
And to this day, the jack plate remains the most commonly used location. But was it the first?
The earliest prototypes had recessed output jacks, in a location we’d consider “normal” today. These obviously had no output jack plate at all.
So where did the serial number go? I apologize for the quality of the photo, but you’ll get the idea. It was stamped directly onto the bridgeplate.
So the bridgeplate location came first, followed by the jack plate. Over the life of the models, the plate moved to a more traditional “low-on-the-lower-bout” position, while maintaining the serial number stamp. Some very late Combo 600s and 800s reverted to a recessed input jack, with the serial number returning to the bridgeplate.
The next model to appear, the 1956 Combo 400 (click to learn more), did something completely different. It did not have an output jack plate, so it couldn’t use that. It did however have a bridgeplate, but that’s not where the serial number lived.
One of the Combo 400’s more…curious design features was the absence of strap buttons. Instead, a metal ring was inset into the back of the upper horn, intended for use with a saxophone strap. That is where Rickenbacker chose to stamp the serial number—not on the bridgeplate. The same would be true of the 450 (click to learn more), when it appeared the following year.
When the 450 was redesigned in 1958, the serial number would move to the bridgeplate, and while the saxophone ring remained, it would not survive into the second half of the year.
But the 450 wasn’t the only guitar without strap buttons. The short scale 900, 950, and 1000 (click to learn more), introduced in 1957 were also designed to be hung from a saxophone strap. But instead of a ring, these student instruments got a simple recessed hook in the same location as on the Combo 400. So serial numbers on the bridgeplate, right? Wrong.
Serial number location four is found only on 1957-1958 900/950/1000s and is the only time the serial number would be stamped directly onto the guitar itself—on the back, at the very butt end.
From this point on, things settled down and Rickenbacker found a rhythm: guitars with side output jacks had serial numbers on the jack plate, while guitars with top output jacks had serial numbers on the bridgeplate.
That’s not to say there weren’t a few oddities over the next few years. A handful of guitars were produced in 1965 with the serial number on a sticker (click to learn more) beneath the clear coat on the back of the headstock. Why? No one knows.
Also in 1965, the 425 gained a Japanese vibrato unit (click to learn more) that lasted until 1967. As this guitar had neither a jack plate or a bridgeplate, the serial number was stamped onto the vibrato unit.
The model 3000 bass (click to learn more) introduced in 1975 had a similar problem. It had neither a side jack plate—its output jack was mounted on the front—or a bridgeplate, as it used a standard Rickenbacker bass bridge. So what to do?
Fortunately, its unusual-for-Rickenbacker bolt-on neck construction offered a new piece of flat metal real estate suitable for a serial number stamp—a neck plate.
The 3000’s sister model, the 3001, did feature a side output jack, and that’s exactly where its serial number can be found.
The 1980s/90s-era bolt-on 200 Series guitars (click to learn more) would prove to be unusual. The first generation models featured a recessed side output jack, and so had their serial numbers stamped on the neck plate like the 3000 bass.
The second generation models, however, had a normal Rickenbacker side output jack plate. Yet the serial number remained on the neck plate—making these the only Rickenbacker models ever produced with non-serial numbered side jack plates.
Our last serial number locations are unique to acoustic guitars. While acoustics haven’t played a large role in Rickenbacker’s history, the 700 Series acoustics were produced in limited numbers from the mid 1990s to the mid 2000s. The very earliest of these guitars had their serial number stamped inside the guitar at the butt of the neck heel, but the majority instead had a label applied to the bracing just inside the soundhole.
And that’s it. That’s all the possible “official” serial numbers locations.
Now, over the years John Hall has said various things about internal serial number markings—barcodes, indelible ink stamps, and even hints at RFID chips without ever explicitly confirming their uset. How much of this is true, or how long any of it may have lasted is really impossible to know.
You will find barcodes inside some newer guitars, but their primary purpose appear to be internal production tracking. And they’re not always present.
You’ll also occasionally find serial numbers pencilled inside guitars. Unfortunately, in this example, this is a couple digits off from the serial number stamped on this 2020 360’s jack plate.
The point is this: despite what you may read elsewhere, there is only one “official” serial number location on any given guitar—and you can now all of them.
But before we wrap things up, let’s take a brief dive back into the weeds to talk about the stamp itself, because there have been changes over time you’ve probably noticed—and wondered about.
You’ll recall from our Serial Number 101 article that the production-number component of the serial number did not exceed three digits until 1966, when it increased to a four digit maximum. This change had a direct impact on how the number was physically stamped.
So let’s start with the jack plate stamp. Through 1965, the entire serial number was stamped together as a single line, like so:
And for the two months of 1966, this remained the case. But Rickenbacker soon realized that once the fourth production digit was added, the serial number would no longer fit between the jack plate screws. So in early March they split it up.
The two character date code moved to the top of the jack plate, and the production number remained at the bottom. This remains the case to this day.
When serial numbers first appeared on the 450’s bridgeplate, they were stamped vertically on the bass side of the plate, with the identifier code split from the production code.
In 1962 the orientation changed to horizontal, with the date code on the bass side and the production code on the treble side.
And if you’ve ever wondered when the font on the stamp changed—when it moved to a sans serif—the answer is January, 1967.
At this point, you’ve seen every official serial number location Rickenbacker has used—from the earliest Combo guitars, through student models and bolt-ons, and finally to the short-lived acoustics. While there are oddities, production shortcuts, and internal markings that turn up from time to time, none of them replace or override the single official serial number applied to each instrument.
If you’re trying to date a guitar, verify originality, or simply satisfy your own curiosity, the serial number you’re looking for will be in one of the locations covered here—and nowhere else.
Want to learn more about…everything else? Check out our handy site map to see what we’ve already covered. Don’t see what you’re looking for? Drop it in the comments and we’ll add it to the queue!
Find here all the embedded links in this article so you don’t have to scroll back up to find them!
Overview: The Combo 600 and 800
Timeline: The Evolution of the 450
Timeline: The Short Scale Solidbodies
Short Takes: The Serial Number Stickers
I had a “Rickenbacher” Ken Roberts Mdl., hollow body with f-holes, horseshoe pickup and Kaufman Vibrola. The serial number was 0053, stamped on top of the headstock.
re: "At this point, you’ve seen every official serial number location Rickenbacker has used..."
Well, every one except the one you forgot. :)