Short Takes: The 1987 Sam Ash 1993s
An ode to Jimmie D.
There’s no way to know for sure, but if you asked me to guess which Rickenbacker model has spent the most time at the top of people’s “please reissue this” list, I’d put a lot of money on the Rose Morris 1993.
With only 100 ever sent across the Atlantic to Rose Morris—and a few of those meeting untimely ends at the hands of a certain Mr. Townshend—it’s a rare beast to begin with. Add to that just how unique its specifications are—a double bound body, Rose Morris-style f-hole, and unbound neck with dot markers—and how many famous British Invasion (and later) hands those few guitars ended up in, and it’s no surprise lots of people want one.
But despite all that, Rickenbacker has never officially made a proper 1993 reissue.
You might point to the 1993Plus (click to learn more), but that guitar—built to Pete Townshend’s specifications—is really a mashup of three different instruments: the bound neck and triangle inlays of Townshend’s prototype 360S/12 (click to learn more), the three pickups of his favored Rose Morris 1998, and the 660’s wider neck. None of which, you’ll notice, is a 1993.
But what if I told you that way back in 1987 Rickenbacker did make a reissue 1993? Well, 12 of them, anyway. Or six, if we’re being technical. Maybe. This is their story.
Many people assume the 1998PT Pete Townshend Signature Limited Edition (click to learn more) that entered production in May 1987 was the first Rose Morris-inspired guitar built since the 1960s. But that’s not actually the case.
Several months earlier—in late 1986—a reissue 1997 (with trapeze tailpiece) and 1997SPC (with Accent vibrato) had appeared, with one of the very first examples—customized with gold plastics and his name on the pickguard—going to Tom Petty.
It’s in this narrow window between the 1997 launch and the 1998PT introduction that Sam Ash enters the picture. Or, rather, one specific Sam Ash district manager known today only as “Jimmie D.”
At the time, Sam Ash was still a large brick-and-mortar retailer—and a major Rickenbacker dealer. Like so many others, Jimmie wanted a 1993. And when he saw those first reissue 1997s, he realized he might have the opportunity to do something about it.
So he got on the phone with Rickenbacker and placed a special order. And they accepted it.
So what exactly did Jimmie D. order? 12 guitars—6 with 12 strings, and 6 with 6. He requested they be built on the 360/12V64 (click to learn more) and 360V64 bound bodies, with a Rose-Morris style f-hole, and an unbound neck and dot inlays.
In other words, a 1993. And a 6-string version of one as well.
Now let’s acknowledge that a lot of this story borders on apocryphal.
The story says 12 were ordered—but we don’t know that for a fact. The story also says half were Fireglo and half were Mapleglo, but no Mapleglo examples have ever surfaced. The story says nothing about any left-handed guitars, but at least one left-handed example of both the six and 12-string have surfaced.
Fun fact: I have it on good authority that Jimmie D. was himself left-handed. So maybe those lefty guitars aren’t so mysterious.
Here’s what we do know. A number of these guitars were indeed produced for Sam Ash in March and April of 1987—to the specifications listed above—including at least one left-handed example of both the six and 12-string.
The majority of these guitars wear an “R” tailpiece (click to learn more). However, a number of the 12-strings are fitted with trapeze tailpieces today. Original or aftermarket? Sadly, I don’t have one handy to pull the trapeze bracket to check for screw holes.
Both are technically correct, by the way. The original 1993 began life with a trapeze, but later examples transitioned to the familiar “R” tailpiece
One thing all known examples seem to have in common is their finish. We all know Fireglo can vary dramatically from year to year—or even guitar to guitar—but these guitars consistently look different from the 1997s and 360/12V64s being produced around them: much “browner” around the edges, with far less red than other contemporary guitars.
Was it part of the order’s specification? A different painter? An old can of paint? We’ll likely never know. But we do know what our eyes tell us: these guitars just look different.
Of course, there never was any 6-string original Rose Morris version of the 1993. And you search for these guitars on the Rickenbacker register you won’t find them under 1993—they appear there as 1997WBs. Which I guess is technically correct, but most collectors just refer to these guitars as the “6-string Sam Ash 1993s”. As regards their official factory designation…I simply don’t know
As far as 1993 reissues that a regular person could buy, that’s literally it. Yes, there have been a handful of one-offs, including one for Tom Petty, and there was a special run in 1994 for Norman’s Rare Guitars (click to learn more) that was designated the “1993SPC”…but it had a bound neck and triangle inlays. So not really.
Almost forty years later we still don’t have a proper 1993 reissue. The 4005V proved that Ben Hall listens to the internet. Unfortunately, that example also suggests the loudest voices on the internet may not always represent a sustainable demand.
If that’s the lesson the company ultimately takes away from the 4005V, we may be waiting a very long time for a true 1993 reissue. Or we can always hope that someone like Sweetwater hires Jimmie D.
If you enjoyed this story, it pairs very nicely with this one on the Norman’s Rare Guitars 1993SPC we just mentioned: