Short Takes: The 1957 Polynesian
A one-off missing link
No, “Polynesian” isn’t an official model name. This guitar has no official model name or number—it’s not an official model. It’s a very unique one-off from 1957 hand-built by Roger Rossmeisl. Prototype? Missing link? Yes!
So what do I mean by missing link? Well, let’s talk about the guitars it’s linking. We’ll start with Rickenbacker’s first modern electric guitars, launched in 1954: the Combo 600 and 800.
Penned by industrial designer Hunt Lewis, the design was tweaked by new Rickenbacker hire Roger Rossmeisl—who most notably added a German carve to the top.
What do we call this? Semi-hollowbodied? Weight relieved? I tend towards the latter, but your opinion may vary. Regardless, the rear carved three-piece body featured a bolt-on neck and the large cavity had a metal cover. Over time, however, the body would shrink in thickness—and therefore weight—rendering the weight reduction unnecessary. By the time the next link in our chain appeared the Combo 600 & 800 would be straight-up solidbodies.
In 1957 Rossmeisl took a sizable chunk out of the 600/800’s bass side cutaway to create the outline for the Combo 850. He kept the German carve, though!
Like the later Combo 600 & 800 the Combo 850 was a straight-up solidbody with a three-piece body, but the neck was set instead of bolted on. It also gained one of the brand new toaster pickups in the neck position.
1958 saw the launch of Rossmeisl’s last iteration of this body: the semi-hollow short scale Capris.
Despite sharing a silhouette, the short scale Capris had a number of differences from the 850. As already noted, they featured a short scale of 20.75” as compared to the normal 24.75”. But the body was quite different as well. Obviously they lost the German carve top. But in addition to that they were true semi-hollowbodies—the three-piece body was carved from the rear with a one-piece plywood back glued on to help hold the set neck in place. The same basic construction technique has been used on pretty much every Rickenbacker semi-hollowbody since.
So where does the Polynesian fit in? It just looks like an 850 with three toasters, no?
Well…no. I mean, yes, it has the 850’s German carved top. But for starters, it has the Capri’s short scale. And then there’s the really big difference.
No, I’m not talking about the neck heel—although it’s pretty cool. Notice anything else? You don’t see the neck tenon like you do on the 850. It looks more like the Capri’s plywood back. That’s because it is! So why would they do that?
Ok, I know that’s not a great pic, but I think you see what I’m getting at. That top may be thick, but the guitar is unmistakably a semi-hollowbody! The first “true” semi-hollowbody, in fact.
There is no serial number on the jackplate but, per John Hall, factory records indicate it was built about a month before Capri production began. Making this guitar the missing link between the 850 and the short-scale Capri.
Other differences from the 850 include the toaster pickup at the bridge instead of a horseshoe (the first known such application), the Kauffman Vibrola instead of a trapeze (the first known such application on an F.C. Hall era guitar), and a one-level teardrop pickguard (the first known on any Rickenbacker)—all firsts and all features that would carry over to the Capris. (The third pickup on this guitar is not original). Truly a missing link…albeit one that’s not really missing!
So why “Polynesian”? Because of these guys!
Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1950s, the Polynesians played—wait for it—Hawaiian and Tahitian music, cashing in on the Tiki culture craze. They were briefly Rickenbacker endorsees, and F.C. Hall loaned them the guitar to test out. They were photographed with it (I can’t find an online copy), and based on that…the name stuck.
And that’s the story of the Polynesian. It’s truly a crucial step in the evolution of modern Rickenbacker guitars, and probably one of the most important Rickenbackers out there. Want more pics? Check them out at (obviously!) Ron O’Keefe’s place. Want to learn more about…everything else? Check out our handy site map to see what we’ve already covered.
re: "Unlike the Combo 600 & 800, the Combo 850 was a straight-up solidbody..."
Sort of, at the time of the 850, the 600 & 800 were also straight-up solidbody -> that back-relief of the earlier years was gone, replaced by a thinner solid body.
Beautiful guitar. I do love the German carve. Thank you for review.