Short Takes: 2009 310C64 Special Run

Gotta catch ‘em all!

One thing I don’t think I’ve ever really talked about is the fact that this site is never truly “finished.” As I research one model, I’ll inevitably uncover a new detail that belongs in an article about another model, so I go back and update it. Sometimes it’s a newly discovered fact. Sometimes it’s a better photograph. Sometimes it’s simply rewriting an older article because I came up with a better way of explaining something than I did a year ago.

I try to make every article as complete and accurate as I can before I hit publish, but I also want this site to be the most reliable Rickenbacker resource out there. That means treating it as a work in progress rather than a finished product.

While recently refreshing my articles on special runs (you can read Part One here and Part Two here), I came up with this turn of phrase that perfectly sets up today’s story:

The frustrating thing about special runs is that you almost have to know they exist in order to know they exist. They don’t show up in catalogs, don’t appear in price lists, and often survive only as rumors until enough examples emerge to prove they were actually a thing.

I’ve tried my best to capture them all. I keep a running list of guitars that I think belong to special runs but need more evidence before I’m willing to call them one. But sometimes I discover a special run that has been hiding in plain sight all along.

2009 Montezuma Brown 310C64

For example, I’d known for years that there was a 2009 run of Montezuma Brown 310C64s built for the Japanese market. In fact, it’s been listed in my special runs article almost since the site launched. But today I discovered there were actually two 2009 Japanese-market 310 special runs. Montezuma Brown, as already established, and Jetglo.

2009 Jetglo 310C64

The 310 was an unusual choice for a special run. I’m not saying Rickenbacker built almost as many 310s in 2009 as they had in the previous fifty years…but that’s probably not too far off the mark.

The short-scale Capris introduced in 1958 came in four variants: the two-pickup 310, the two-pickup 315 with vibrato, the three-pickup 320, and the three-pickup 325 with vibrato. Obviously, thanks to John Lennon’s adoption of the 325, that model is by far the most famous today.

The two-pickup versions never really caught on—almost certainly because Lennon made the 325 the iconic short-scale Rickenbacker—and today both the 310 and 315 are quite rare.

But then again, that’s the whole point of a special run. They’re supposed to be a little unusual. And few production Rickenbackers are more unusual than the humble 310.

2009 Jetglo 310C64

So where does the C64 designation come from? Is there a specific 1964 guitar this model is attempting to recreate? Not really. Instead, it’s simply a tip of the hat to the donor 325C64 (click to learn more) platform on which this guitar was based—a highly (but not completely) accurate reproduction of John Lennon’s second 325, built for him in 1964.

In fact, add a third pickup and replace the “R” Tailpiece (click to learn more) with an Accent vibrato (click to learn more) to this guitar, and you’ve essentially got a 325C64.

2009 310C64 “Ric-Tite” tuners

Well…almost. The 310C64 does have one unique feature of its own. Instead of the Kluson Deluxe-style tuners fitted to Lennon’s 1964 325, it wears reproductions of the Grover Sta-Tite tuners (click to learn more) found on his original 1958 325.

2009 Jetglo 310C64

And here’s a quick aside: there have been three “vintage” series of Rickenbacker reissues: the B-Series (click to learn more), V-Series, and the C-Series. We know the “B” stands for “Beatles” and the “V” for “Vintage,” but what about the “C”?

Ask Google’s AI and it will confidently tell you it stands for either “Copy” or “Circa.” While I’ve never seen an official press release or a quote from John Hall explicitly answering the question, the headline on the C-Series overview page at rickenbacker.com reads “Classic Rickenbackers.” That seemed like a likely answer to me—but John Hall has since weighed in in the comments below to let us know we still don’t have it right!

2009 Jetglo 310C64

To be fair, I’m not sure it’s entirely accurate to call this a “separate” special run from the Montezuma Brown 310C64s—they were all built in September 2009, so it’s probably more accurate to say it was a single special run offered in two colors. Either way, the Jetglo guitars were news to me.

24 Jetglo and 36 Montezuma Brown examples were produced in commemoration of Japanese dealer Shinseido’s 60th anniversary. There are a number of examples of both colors listed on the register…I simply have no idea how I kept missing the Jetglo guitars. But I sure did.

As I’ve said, I have a number of potential special runs out there that I’ll keep chasing down. But I seriously doubt any of them will be as easy to validate as this one was. And yes, I’ve already added the 2009 Jetglo 310C64 to my post on special runs.

Want to learn about another really unusual special run? This 2011 Pearl White 1997 is really…something!