Matsumoku Rickenbacker Mystery

[Vannolo]

Hi there! I've just bought a Rickenbacker japanese copy, which should be likely a Matsumoku made one (because of the plate). It sounds good! But, could you help me find out which brand is it and when was built? The TR cover has been replaced with a Rickenbacker one.
-Serial number on the back plate: "STEEL ADJUSTABLE NECK MADE IN JAPAN" + 7 digits, numbers beginning with 1 (1981?)
-Bolt-on
-No stereo output
-Toaster neck pickup and a strange bridge pickup, with a strange bravo black paper cover.

 

[mikewalker]

Does it have the big fat "baseball bat" neck profile?

 

[Vannolo]

Not really: I find it comfortable, almost like my jazz bass, just a little bit fatter maybe.

Does it have the big fat "baseball bat" neck profile?

 

[Rune Bivrin]

Hi there! I've just bought a Rickenbacker japanese copy, which should be likely a Matsumoku made one (because of the plate). It sounds good! But, could you help me find out which brand is it and when was built? The TR cover has been replaced with a Rickenbacker one.
-Serial number on the back plate: "STEEL ADMIRABLE NECK MADE IN JAPAN" + 7 digits, numbers beginning with 1 (1981?)
-Bolt-on
-No stereo output
-Toaster neck pickup and a strange bridge pickup, with a strange bravo black paper cover.

I'll be that guy: I think it says "STEEL ADJUSTABLE NECK MADE IN JAPAN". That even makes sense...

 

[Vannolo]

I'll be that guy: I think it says "STEEL ADJUSTABLE NECK MADE IN JAPAN". That even makes sense...

Pardon! Many thanks to the autocorrect, I'll fix it now.

 

[Jughead6]

I would suggest it's a Westminster.

 

[Mats Umoku]

I once had an Aria Stratocaster with 'Steel adjustable neck, made in Japan' on the neckplate. It was three tone sunburst and throuh the finish you could see that the body was made of four pieces of wood glued together like a sandwich, so that the grain was different on the front and back. A typical japanese strat copy from the 1970's. It had the big CBS-headstock with the Aria logo on it. Aria was made by Matsumoku in Japan. After Matsumoku closed, they were build in Korea, probably by Samick. It looked good but didn't play as well as it looked. BTW, it had small vintage frets. Your Rick-copy could very well have been made there, so in a sense you could say that the brand is Matsumoku, since they are the ones who made it. I think it's a mystery why so many of these japanese 1970's copies dont have a logo on the headstock, because normally the logo is under the finish and therefore can't be removed without damaging the finish - if you wanted to pretend it was a real Fender, but on the other hand, the logo on a Rickenbacker is on the plastic truss rod cover, so that's another story, of course.