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Rory Gallagher: A Rickenbacker Combo 400 Electric Guitar, 1957, guitar 37in (94cm) long image 1
Rory Gallagher: A Rickenbacker Combo 400 Electric Guitar, 1957, guitar 37in (94cm) long image 2
Lot 20Y

Rory Gallagher: A Rickenbacker Combo 400 Electric Guitar, 1957,
guitar 37in (94cm) long

17 October 2024, 15:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £14,080 inc. premium

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Rory Gallagher: A Rickenbacker Combo 400 Electric Guitar,

Serial no. 406223 SD impressed on circular backplate, double-cut 'tulip' body with Montezuma Brown finish, large anodised pickguard, original neck pickup and later bridge pickup, three-way tone switch in upper treble bout, two control knobs, ABR1 bridge, neck-through-body construction, back sprayed with grey, non-slip finish, Brazilian rosewood fingerboard with dot markers, 21 frets, headstock with Schaller tuners, in Fender gig bag,
CITES 24GBA10E39T9Q,

Footnotes

"An old Rickenbacker, older than the one John Lennon had."
- Rory Gallagher, Guitar Magazine, September 1978.

Rory was fond of unconventional and unusual guitars and the short-lived Combo 400, introduced in 1956 as a student model (and discontinued by 1958), fitted the bill. It was the first Rickenbacker with the so-called 'tulip' body and featured the neck-through-body design. It also had a back covered in a greyish material, a mixture of horsehair and enamel, providing a non-slip surface.

Rickenbacker Combo 400:
Affectionately known as the 'Tulip', with body horns that curved outwards away from the neck. Rossmeisl redesigned the Combo headstock giving the top edge an outward curve that mirrored the angle of the new guitar's treble horn. This simple redesign remains the standard shape for Rickenbacker headstocks and an enduring legacy of the Tulip body guitars...The single-pickup Combo 400 was the first in a range of five Tulip-shaped models. It was launched in the spring of 1956 and featured prominently on the cover of that year's full line catalogue which also celebrated the company's 25th year. Thanks to its simple construction, the Combo 400 was competitively priced at $174.50.

Literature
Martin & Paul Kelly, Rickenbacker Guitars: Out Of The Frying Pan Into The Fireglo, Phantom Books, London, 2021.

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