Ltd Ed Pillarbox Red Rickenbacker Series Available Now

We have secured a selection of the all-new Pillarbox Red Rickenbacker guitars and basses, available now! Rickenbacker instruments have been seen in the hands of some of music’s most loved artists over the decades, from the Beatles to Motorhead, Yes to the Stone Roses, The Ramones to the Smashing Pumpkins and countless more influential artists. This premium-quality, hand-crafted guitars and basses have a unique personality and voice that sets them aside from the crowd, and it’s no wonder they are as popular now as they’ve ever been.

As stated above, we’re truly excited by these ultra-limited-edition models, specially commissioned to sport a Pillarbox Red finish. The models you can choose from are a 4003 bass, a 4003S bass, 330 Semi-Hollow guitar, and a 360 Semi-Hollow guitar. Now, let’s take a closer look at each of these in turn.

RICKENBACKER 4003 PILLARBOX RED ELECTRIC BASS (NOW AVAILABLE!)

One of the most iconic and recognisable bass guitars ever made, and the final evolution of the legendary Rickenbacker 4001 bass.  With its solid maple body, maple neck with thru-body construction, binding to the body and neck, triangle “sharkfin” inlays, and that infamous Rickenbacker stereo out electronics system, the Rickenbacker 4003 is a dream to play. Thanks to their comfortably profiled neck and rock-solid, punchy bass tones, the Rickenbacker 4003 is widely regarded as one of the best bass guitars available on the market today.

RICKENBACKER 4003S PILLARBOX RED ELECTRIC BASS (NOW AVAILABLE!)

In 1964 Rickenbacker presented both Paul McCartney and Chris Squire (of Yes fame) with their first 4001S model basses - a precursor to the 4003S - and the model has been a firm favourite with many bass players the world over ever since. Although similar in looks to the Rickenbacker 4003, upon closer inspection you’ll see the 4003S is quite different. For a start, there’s no body-binding, which instead makes way for more a comfortably contoured body. In addition to that, there are dot fret markers, instead of the traditional Sharkfins, and no neck binding either. And finally, the 4003S sports just a single, Mono output socket, as opposed to the 4003’s Stereo outputs. Here’s a video from Sam at PMT Portsmouth, explaining the differences with a little more clarity.

RICKENBACKER 330 ELECTRIC GUITAR IN PILLARBOX RED

Arguably Rickenbacker’s most recognisable guitar models come from the 300 series, due to their popularity during the late ’50s, as well as the Brit Invasion era in the 1960s. With the Rickenbacker 330 in particular, we have a guitar usually associated with the likes of John Lennon, Paul Weller, Thom Yorke, Pete Townsend, and many more besides. The semi-hollow, 6-stringed Rickenbacker 330 sports a familiar “Twin Crescent” cutaway body shape, which heralds back to those original late 1950's models. It also features an all-maple body and neck construction, and two high output Rickenbacker single-coil pickups. One of the key features of Rickenbacker electric guitars, and one which is present on the 330, is that famous Blend control knob. This control works in a few ways, which includes acting as a tone blender between the pickups, a general Bass & Treble EQ for the guitar, and as a volume equaliser for the neck pickup, bringing it up to the same level as the bridge position.

RICKENBACKER 360 ELECTRIC GUITAR IN PILLARBOX RED (NOW AVAILABLE!)

Another addition to the awesome 300 series would be the Rickenbacker 360, which is widely regarded as Rickenbacker’s most comfortable guitar to play.  Originally produced during the late 1950s, the Rickenbacker 360 saw a huge amount of success with the emergence of the Brit Invasion and was frequently played by George Harrison of The Beatles. In addition to the soft “Twin Crescent” cutaway design on this guitar’s all-maple semi-hollow body, the 330 comes complete with those famous RIC twin output sockets – labelled Standard and Rick O Sound. These two sockets – like with the 4003 bass – allow you to plug into two amps simultaneously, which will assign each pickup to a separate amplifier. It is in this way that the famous, jangly sound of the Rickenbacker 360 is achieved – a sound that’s been the hallmark of the company for more than five decades.

As stated above, these Rickenbacker Pillarbox Red guitars and basses are being made as a special order – in fact, there’s only going to be 25 of each model available to the whole of the UK! The stock has landed at select PMT Stores. So, if you’d like one before they’re all gone, we recommend that you contact our Online Sales Team directly! Each of these limited-edition models comes complete with a deluxe hardshell case. Shop all Rickenbacker Bass Guitars & Rickenbacker Electric Guitars over at PMT Online or call into your local PMT Store to try one out for yourself.