Short Takes: 1995 360/12 BH/BT
Woof
During the Black Hardware/Black Trim era (click to learn more) that ran from roughly 1984 to 2000, certain finishes came standard with black bits. Red, White, Midnight Blue, Silver, and—in the earlier part of the era—Mapleglo: that’s just how they came.
You could custom-order one of those colors with “normal” white plastics and chrome hardware—and guitars so outfitted absolutely exist—but black was the default.
At the same time, you could custom-order the “other” stock finishes with black hardware and black trim. And there are a lot of “blacked out” Jetglo guitars out there. I think that looks pretty badass.
Ruby also looks pretty sick!
But then there’s Fireglo.
Could it be custom-ordered with black hardware and black trim? Absolutely. Should it be? I’ll let you make that decision.
Speaking for myself—and your results may vary—woof.
To me? It’s an abomination.
Okay, okay, that may be a little harsh, but that box wasn’t clicked many times—there are only seven BH/BT instruments on the Register—and to me it’s pretty clear why.
Black trim—but not black hardware—first appeared in 1974. It was limited to White, Mapleglo, and Walnut/Autumnglo instruments only. And that’s smart. It looks good there.
Did they offer black trim on Fireglo in the 1970s? They did not. They knew.
Look. I lived through the BH/BT era. I thought they were cool back in the day. Twenty years later I thought they looked hopelessly dated. Now I think they’re cool again.
Except Fireglo. Ouch.
This particular guitar is for sale on Reverb right now. If it appeals to you, you could make an offer…but who hurt you?
Want to see more weird guitars? Scroll down to the “Rare & Unusual Instruments” section in the Rickenbacker 101 Archive!
Black Binding is cool, but not as cool as Brown Binding. Which should be a future article... Long live the OG BT! :)
I always think that back-painted gold acrylic is what looks best on fireglo. But I like the look of black pickguards and trc better than the white ones,
and black hardware better than chrome.
It kinda gives a C&W impression on fireglo, though, doesn’t it?
And then there’s that weakening of the black powder coated bridges/tailpieces to contend with.