Short Takes: 2011 481/12

When one-of-a-kind truly is

If F.C., John, and now Ben Hall have any one thing in common, it’s this: they don’t throw anything away. This fact was reinforced once again this week when Ben Hall posted the following photo on Instagram:

4002 wings

This is, of course, the famous “pallet of 4002 wings” that has been gathering dust in the back of the Rickenbacker warehouse since John Hall discontinued the 4002 (click to learn more) when he purchased the company from his father in 1984.

Over the years, they have pulled a few wings from the pile. Several were turned into the 4030JFKs (click to learn more) custom-built for Death From Above 1979’s Jesse F. Keeler in 2018.

2018 4030JFKs

And a pair was used on the subject of this post: a 2011 481/12—a true one-off.

2011 481/12

Under John Hall’s leadership, one-off Rickenbacker models were fairly rare, and those that do exist were primarily built for artists and friends—not the general public. But starting in 2007, as Ben Hall began taking a larger role in the company, Rickenbacker began producing one-offs like this one for sale on a first-come, first-served basis via their website.

Most of these guitars tended to take more or less stock models and give them a custom color, special trim, or unusual electronics. But a handful—like this one—were something else entirely.

We already know it used the leftover 4002 wings, with their figured maple and two-ply black and checkered binding. To this, they added the 660’s wider neck, a black-bound maple fingerboard with triangle inlays, toaster pickups, and blacked-out hardware and plastics. And six extra strings.

2011 481/12 headstock

In yet another example of “Rickenbacker never throws anything away”, the blacked-out hardware was left over from the Black Hardware/Black Trim (click to learn more) guitars of the 1980s-1990s. I’m not certain, but this guitar may well feature the first instance of “toaster pickups in a Higain case,” as up to this point Rickenbacker had never produced blacked-out toaster pickup cases.

Controls were a simple, back-routed master volume, master tone, and three-way mini-toggle switch, giving the guitar a clean, pickguard-less front that puts the figured wings on full display.

2011 481/12

There are a couple of interesting “firsts” with this guitar. It’s the first through-neck (click to learn more) “4000-series body” Rickenbacker guitar—all previous 4000-style body guitars had featured bolt-on necks. It’s also the first—and, to date, only—480-series “stand-alone” 12-string, although the 4080 doubleneck guitar had featured a 12-string option.

2011 481/12 rear

This guitar marked the first time Rickenbacker had revisited the 480-series models since their discontinuation in the early 1980s. The original 480 (click to learn more) featured Higain pickups and standard appointments, while the 481 featured humbuckers and deluxe (click to learn more) appointments. Given this guitar’s fancy binding and triangle inlays—but not stereo wiring—the 481 model number got the nod for this one-off.

For the most part, I don’t get very excited about the Rickenbacker Outlet/Boutique one-off guitars because, frankly, they’re usually just not that exciting. But when they do something truly new and truly unique, well, that’s worth sharing. This guitar certainly qualifies.

If this one-of-a-kind guitar speaks to you, as of this writing (April 5, 2026), it is up for sale. Check out the Rickenbacker Market Watch group on Facebook for more information. And if you want to learn more about…everything else? Check out our handy site map and see what’s already been covered!