Terminology: The Paddle Headstock
The really big one
A book could be written on how Rickenbacker headstocks have evolved over the years. Maybe not a terribly long book—or even a terribly interesting one—but there’s more to it than you might think.
Those sometimes-subtle, sometimes-drastic changes can be difficult to put into words, but once you develop an eye for them, it becomes fairly easy to pinpoint a guitar’s era from the headstock alone.
Two of those shapes, however, are distinctive enough that they have gained widely accepted collector nicknames: the “Gumby” headstock, and the “paddle” headstock.
The Gumby term is pretty clear, and more or less makes sense once you understand the context. You can read all about that here if you like.
But the paddle term can be confusing—largely because “paddle” is often used generically in describing Rickenbacker headstocks. As in: “Rickenbacker guitars have a paddle-shaped headstock…”
And that’s fair enough. But there’s a difference between “paddle shaped headstock” and the “paddle headstock”. Let’s get into it so you can easily spot one in the wild.
To understand the paddle headstock, we need first to put it into its historical context. So we’ll start with the original paddle-shaped headstock.
The paddle-shaped headstock first appeared in 1956 on the third modern Rickenbacker guitar, the Combo 400 (click to learn more) courtesy of Roger Rossmeisl (click to learn more). Seventy years later, the same basic shape is still in use—so it’s fair to say he got that one right.
Now you have to remember that in the early days these were hand-cut and hand-sanded, so no two headstocks are exactly alike. But the overall shape and proportions were essentially set from the beginning.
The first major change came in mid-1963, when the headstock on solidbody guitars went on a diet, losing about a quarter-inch in width. Semi-hollowbodies would follow in early 1964.
This is probably the Rickenbacker headstock you picture in your mind. Often referred to as the “vintage” or “skinny vintage” headstock, this is the iconic shape that graced the guitars of Rickenbacker’s 1960s golden era.
The Gumby headstock appeared in 1971, but only on the 360 (click to learn more), and for a very specific and practical reason: the tuners.
Good old Kluson Deluxe tuners had been the standard tuner on most models since the late 1950s. But tuner technology had come a long way since then, and the Kluson Deluxe…had not.
In order to better position the 360 as the flagship model, Rickenbacker wanted to give it a better tuner. One with an improved gear ratio, smoother operation, and a more modern feel. Something like the Grover Rotomatic (click to learn more).
There was only one catch. The Rotomatics didn’t really fit on that skinny vintage headstock. And so was born the Gumby headstock.
The Gumby headstock gained about half an inch in width compared to its vintage predecessor to accommodate the Grovers’ larger posts and bushings. But it lost some of its definition in the process.
The Coke-bottle curve through the middle became less pronounced. The corners got rounded over a bit more. It just looked…fat. And kind of like Gumby.
Most other models retained the Kluson Deluxes and the vintage headstock. And that would remain the status quo until late 1984, when tuners would once again force a change in design.
Kluson went out of business in late 1981 following the death of John Kluson. Rickenbacker replaced the old Deluxe tuners with a Grover tuner that shared a similar footprint. But in early 1984, they were notified that those tuners were also being discontinued. Once again a new solution was required.
John Hall, who had just purchased the company from his father, saw it as an opportunity to upgrade to an objectively superior tuner: the German-made Schaller M6 Mini. There was just one problem—just like the Grover Rotomatics before them, they didn’t fit.
Which may sound ironic given that “Mini” was right there in the name. But once again the problem was on the face of the headstock: the posts and the bushings. Enter the paddle headstock.
Slightly wider still than the Gumby headstock, the term “paddle-shaped headstock” had never been more appropriate—it quite literally looks like a kayak paddle.
Where the curves and angles had been softened on the Gumby headstock, they were sharpened and accentuated on the new paddle headstock. The overall profile was much closer to the old vintage shape—just quite a bit wider. And pointier.
Ironically, the paddle headstock looks more like the claymation Mr. Gumby than the so-called Gumby headstock does.
By early 1985, the paddle headstock had replaced both the vintage and Gumby headstocks on all modern 6-string production models. Vintage and reissue models, however, retained the vintage headstock, paired with Schaller tuners that somewhat resembled the old Kluson Deluxes.
The paddle would last until 2007, when the vintage headstock returned—with the same Schaller M6 Minis. If you wonder how they suddenly fit, my guess is that they probably had all along.
This next bit is pure supposition, but it’s speculation that makes a lot of sense.
Rickenbacker began transitioning to CNC manufacturing in 1996. Once a computer is drilling tuner holes, they’re going to be in exactly the same place, every time.
That was not the case in 1971. Those holes were still drilled by hand. And they could…wander. The larger Grover bushings didn’t leave much room for error, so some extra width was added to the headstock to give it a little wiggle room.
And even then, it still wasn’t always enough.
If that picture looks like the truss rod cover is sitting on top of the B string bushing trim ring and touching the G string’s, that’s because it is.
The truss rod cover clears the B string bushing trim ring on this one, but is sitting on top of the G string’s.
These are not isolated incidents. I searched for “1973 360 6-string” in the Rickenbacker register and these are literally the first two guitars I clicked on.
“Well surely they got better over time,” you may be saying. Well, here’s a random 1983 360 I clicked on. You tell me.
The point is this: the problem wasn’t really the size of the headstock. It was actually the inconsistency of the manufacturing process.
And so when the paddle headstock was being developed, it’s not hard to imagine somebody looking at the continuing clearance issues and saying “well the Gumby isn’t quite big enough, so maybe we should go a little bit bigger.”
But once CNC manufacturing became the norm, that variability dropped to almost nonexistent. And so at some point Rickenbacker probably came to two realizations. First, they didn’t actually need all that extra space. And second, they could save a little money by using less wood on the headstock wings. The rest is history.
Remember, that’s just speculation. But it kind of makes sense, doesn’t it?
The paddle headstock era officially ran from late 1984 to early 2007. And they’re pretty divisive today. Vintage purists turn up their noses at them. Players who came of age in the MTV 120 Minutes era think that’s simply what a Rickenbacker looks like.
But love it or hate it, the paddle headstock is one of the easiest ways to date a modern guitar at a glance. And now that you know what you’re looking for, you’ll probably start spotting them everywhere.
Want to learn more about…everything else? Go down a rabbit hole of your choosing in the Rickenbacker101 archive: