First things first. THIS is NOT a Boyd Vibrato:
This is the Japanese vibrato unit that the 425 was equipped with from 1965-1967. If it has a proper manufacturer or model name I do not know what it is. You can also find this unit attached to Teiscos and other Japanese imports from the period. But you will find it incorrectly referred to over and over and over again as a “Boyd Vibrato”. So why?
Let’s start with things we know to be true: the “Boyd Vibe”, as pictured on the Guild guitar above, was a real thing. Designed by Solon “Curly” Boyd in the early 1960s and briefly endorsed by Merle Travis, it was a pretty crude aftermarket gizmo that required no modification to the guitar to install like a Bigsby would. It fits between the bridge and the tailpiece—and therefore could not be installed on a guitar with an integrated bridge and tailpiece like a Fender—and used a “mousetrap” action to bend the strings.
Fact number two: there was another version of the Boyd Vibe that worked the same basic way, but could be mounted in place of the tailpiece. And indeed, at least a handful of Rickenbackers were in fact equipped with this version—two 425s are documented in the Rittor book (an out-of-print Japanese language book), and this 1963 left-handed (one of the, but not THE first left handed Rickenbacker) 450 is so fitted.
Now if that looks kinda goofy to you, bear in mind it is mounted upside down because it’s on a left handed guitar. Let’s flip it over and look “under the hood” to see what’s going on with this device.
That’s better, right? And basically, it works just like you’d expect it to—and just like the Japanese unit on the 425–the stings attach to a rotating bar with springs under tension to return the bar back to its original position. Basic, but it gets the job done!
Sadly, that’s all we KNOW to be true. Were these units attached at the factory? We don’t know. Yes, the pickguard is modified in basically the same way as on the vibrato-equipped 425, but the modification was pretty clearly done by hand—with rough cuts to the pickguard and screw holes left in the face of the guitar where the original pickguard would have been. There’s just no way of knowing. So how did the term “Boyd Vibrato” get attached to the 425’s vibrato? Here’s where we enter the realm of speculation.
Oft-repeated theory number one is that the Japanese unit was imported by a “Boyd”—either the same Boyd as the inventor of the “Boyd Vibe” or another Boyd all together. There is no evidence to back this claim up, and John Hall himself has said it is not true.
Theory number two, as stated in Martin’s Kelly’s book, is that somehow the name of Marvin Boyd, the designer of the 1963-64 era Astro Guitar kit, got attached to the Japanese vibrato. Now exactly HOW that happened….well it is roughly the same era?
Theory number three is that the “Boyd Vibe” was listed as an accessory in early 1960’s Rickenbacker literature/catalogs, and so when a “new-to-Rickenbacker” vibrato appeared on the 425 folks just “assumed” it was the Boyd. I’ve read this a couple places, but never seen the literature to back the theory up. Period price lists refer to a “Vibrato Unit” or “Accent Vibrato”—but not a “Boyd” vibrato. Doesn’t mean that literature doesn’t exist, just means I can’t find it after looking for it.
Theory number four is blame collector extraordinaire Graham Griffiths! In his own words:
“I’m pretty sure I may have started this. I purchased a 425 Student model in the late 80’s and thought that the vibrato unit must have been a Boyd unit, because there was mention of a rare vibrato unit, only used in 1965, in the Gruhn/Carter book. I told all my friends and then they told all their friends 😬”
To be kind to Graham, we’ll blame the Gruhn/Carter book instead of him!
There’s four theories for you—and I could probably make up some more! What’s the real story? We’ll probably never know. But unless discussing the three known documented examples of Boyd-equipped Rickenbackers, STOP using the term “Boyd Vibrato” when discussing the 1965-67 425! It’s simply not correct!
I love my 425's that have the Boyd! :)