RESTYLED RICKENBACKER 650D

The Rickenbacker 650D “Dakota” has never been one of the most popular guitars in the Rickenbacker lineup. Perhaps it went too far in denying the long Rickenbacker style tradition, with its maple fretboard, walnut body, and chromed pickguard. It’s a great little solid-bodied instrument, say its many fans, with great tone, light weight, and agreeable “cresting wave” body contours.

John Ashfield, a San Francisco musician who contributes to many projects, is of both minds. He loves his 650s, an affair that began with the Pearl Tangerine 650/12 conversion that Studio-California built for him a couple of years back. He likes the slightly wider fretboard and the small, light body style, which belies the huge, sparkling tone and 12-string “jangle” that is definitely not limited to Rickenbacker’s semi-hollow-bodied standards like the 330/12 and 360/12.

John wanted something different and more contemporary than any Rickenbacker 330 or 360, and the solid-bodied 650s were just his cup of tea, but he also wanted a brighter-looking guitar, so to follow the pastel Tangerine Pearl 650/12, he asked for a Pastel Lemonade 650 six-string, and we were glad to oblige. He acquired a standard Walnut 650D, and asked for several modifications: He wanted a dark fretboard, larger white acrylic pickguard in place of the chromed metal one, classic black knobs, walnut headstock “wings”, and a vibrato.

It seems that 650s with factory-equipped vibratos are terrifically rare, so he asked if we could fit a Bigsby B5. We redid the fretboard with an ebony stain and white pearl fret dots, filled the pronounced grain in the Walnut body, and installed a Bigsby B5. The B5 was modified by removing the treble-side mounting tab. A vintage Gretsch bridge was installed to bring the strings to the correct height and spacing. The headstock “wings” were removed and new walnut ones made and installed. Last, of course, was the pastel Lemonade Pearl paint work.