The Steel Guitar Forum

Can anyone identify this red Rickenbacher?

Looks like an ACE. I can’t tell if there’s still a horseshoe pickup under that cover.

Yes, there's a 1 1/2 inch- wide horseshoe. No identifying decals such as "Ace" or "Academy"...Other than the color, it looks just like one I saw online which was called a "1930's model B..." By the way it sounds really nice. Of course , when it warms up all the strings go sharp due to expansion of the bakelite!

The Ace was made from 1948 until 1953. The Academy was made from '46 to '48 and looks a lot like the Ace.

Robert,
I agree that is an Ace Model, however I would be very surprised if it didn't have the post war 1.25 inch horseshoe. Maybe you measured the cover instead of the horseshoe itself? I too saw a similar one on Reverb I think that was identified as a 1930's Model B, but that was an incorrect identification. Have fun with it.

Steve is correct, the horseshoe is only 1 1/4 ", so now we're getting somewhere! an ACE with no headstock decal?

That would be my slightly educated guess!

Robert Franklin wrote:Yes, there's a 1 1/2 inch- wide horseshoe. No identifying decals such as "Ace" or "Academy"...Other than the color, it looks just like one I saw online which was called a "1930's model B..." By the way it sounds really nice. Of course , when it warms up all the strings go sharp due to expansion of the bakelite!

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Robert,

Every 'Ace' I've seen did NOT have an 'Ace' logo on the headstock; But 'Academy' model did. Every Ace I've seen had a Rickenbacher logo decal on the body top at the high end of the fretboard, ...like yours does. But I've not seen an Academy with the Rick logo at the end of the fretboad.

I've seen Aces (maybe Academys) made from white, blue, red and medium brown bakelite.

I also saw the one on Reverb that was called "a 1930s Model B". I looked at all the instruments that Seller had listed. He/she had many mistakes in his/her instrument descriptions; So much so that I lost interest in anything he/she was listing for sale.

It's quite common for the Aces to have the name on the headstock.

I can’t see it being anything else…

Several decades ago, I had a beautiful little ACE. It was blue. It did have the ACE logo on the headstock.

~Lee