1961 Rickenbacker 450 Combo Vintage Electric Guitar Mapleglo w/ Toaster Top Pickups, Case

Up for sale, a 1961 Rickenbacker 450 Combo in excellent condition and in perfect working order, complete with the original hardshell case. A rare and early example, the Maplego gloss finish highlights flame and bubble maple figuring across the body wings. This 450 Combo boasts the cresting wave body first seen in '58, particularly the contoured, slender iteration of the cresting wave body introduced in mid-61, of which this is one of the very first examples.The maple neck through body construction and slab rosewood fingerboard ensure an authoritative, clear natural acoustic quality that's channeled faithfully via the pair of stock Toaster Top pickups. The pickups have a distinctive treble articulation and jangle, with a bell-like warmth and percussive cut in the neck position, and more smooth growl and chewy twang at the bridge. This Ric is featherweight at 6lbs 7oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar with 10-46 string, low action and accurate intonation.The maple neck has a medium C-shaped profile carve with nicely rounded shoulders largely by virtue of the thickness of the rosewood slab fretboard, measuring .860" deep at the 1st fret and .880" at the 12th. The fretboard edges are rolled from contact with the palm, and there’s palm wear through much of the gloss on the profile shoulders for a silky, inviting feel. The slab rosewood fretboard has been refretted with vintage-spec slender fretwire which itself has ostensibly been leveled and crowned in the guitar’s lifetime, showing light wear beneath the plain strings on frets 1-8. The fretboard itself shows wear through the gloss finish and into the rosewood most notably between frets 1-4. The guitar plays cleanly up the 24 3/4" scale with a straight neck and responsive, optimally adjusted truss rod. A replacement nut measures 1 5/8" in width, and the headstock features walnut wings, original Grover Sta-Tite tuning machines with butterbean buttons, and the original gold lucite Rickenbacker-branded truss rod cover.The electronics are all original, with the alnico magnet Toaster Top pickup pair wired to the original harness with Astron "dynamite" tone caps and CTS pots that date to the 3rd week of '61. One pickup retains its original windings, and the other has just been rewound to original spec. Hardware includes the serialized bridge base (AF prefix serial) with a six-saddle, optimally intonatable Rickenbacker bridge. Plastics comprise a replacement gold lucite pickguard courtesy of Pickguardian and a modern quartet of pointer knobs that match the correct knob style for this model.The Mapleglo nitro lacquer finish exhibits overspray on the front, back and headstock, while the neck profile and body perimeter retain the original unaltered finish. There is some unevenness in how the somewhat thick overspray was applied on the back of the headstock and around the neck heel, yet overall this is not distracting to the aesthetics of the instrument. There is prominent curly flame figuring on the bass-side third of the body, with more subtle bubble maple figuring on the treble third. Cosmetic wear includes buckle rash across much of the back, with some buckle worming through the gloss across the back and additional small scuffs and dings from honest use on the instrument as a whole.The original silver tolex Rickenbacker hardshell case with blue plush interior is included. The case features black leather ends, with all three original latches and the stock handle intact.