I’d wager that unless you’re Swedish, you’ve likely never heard of Per Gessle—although you probably have heard of Roxette, the duo he formed with Marie Fredriksson in 1986. I’d also wager you didn’t realize Roxette was Sweden’s second-best-selling musical act of all time—behind only ABBA. But they are.
Over their career, Roxette would sell more than 75 million records worldwide, score 19 Top 40 singles in the UK, and land four Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles in the U.S., including The Look and It Must Have Been Love. Yeah, you know those songs. In the day, they were kind of a big deal.
And even before they hit it big, Gessle played Rickenbackers. Notably enough that he caught John Hall’s attention, who signed them both as endorsees and printed promotional posters featuring the pair with their guitars.
Now neither of them got Signature Limited Edition models like fellow ’80s star Susanna Hoffs, but that doesn’t mean Rickenbacker didn’t give them some special guitars. Like this one.
At first glance it might not look that special—you might think it’s just a Jetglo 350 Liverpool—but if you look a little closer you’ll see two things that absolutely don’t belong on a normal 350.
This custom 350, given to Gessle, has full-width poured triangle inlays and black neck binding. A standard 350 has dot inlays and no binding.
It kind of makes sense in context. This guitar was built around the same time—mid-1988—that the 350SH Susanna Hoffs Signature Limited Edition was in development. The 350SH would also have full-width triangle inlays and a bound neck—although hers featured white binding. So there was clearly some fiddling with the 350 going on at the time.
Of course, the 350SH also wound up with fancy pickup options and a double-bound body featuring checkered binding. But we know many of the Signature Limited Editions went through multiple iterations.
So that raises an interesting question: was this guitar built to Gessle’s specifications, or was it an iteration of the Hoffs design they simply gave away to a Rickenbacker endorsee? That I do not know. But I do know I’ve never seen another one like it.
Pushing the needle slightly towards it being a custom-built instrument, however, is the white, one-pickup 350 Marie Fredriksson often sported. But that’s a story for another day!
Marie Fredriksson passed away in 2019, but Gessle continues to perform—and still uses that 1988 350 extensively. Whether it was originally made for him or not, it clearly still speaks to him. And isn’t that what’s really important?
Fascinating piece of Ricstory! Never heard of this band but they are part of the glorious Ric narrative that has touched every era and type of music. Here, too, one can see how artists bring their Rickenbackers into their visual style and imaging. It all fits, and the eye loves it!
I don't know if Rickenbacker is still agile enough to respond in the moment to emerging artists who play their guitars. For them to alter inlays and binding seems like quite a concession! Up through about 2000-2005 there were many promotional items (Color of the Year), signature models, acoustics, lines such as the 650s, etc., but that kind of variety seems to have dried up for many years now. Or am I missing something?
Who are new artists using Rickenbackers these days? Thanks - - great story!
Loved Roxette back in the Salad Days of MTV. Very cool to see Per is still playing his custom guitar in 2026!
I still hear Roxette’s hits all the time on the background music in restaurants,grocery stores,and yes, elevators….