One of Five or Less Blond 340's Made in 1966.

1966 Rickenbacker 340 (three pickups, no vibrato).

This 15 1/4-inch thin-body (1 1/2 inches thick) full size Thin Hollow Body Standard Model 340 guitar weighs just 7.20 lbs., with a nut width of just over 1 5/8 inches, a medium neck profile, and a scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Maple body, single-bound on the bottom edge, with a bound "cat's-eye" or slash soundhole. Three-piece maple / walnut / maple neck, rosewood fretboard with 21 medium-jumbo frets and white dot inlays. Individual Kluson Deluxe 'two-line' tuners with oval metal buttons (stamped inside "D-169400 / Patent No"). Three Rickenbacker chrome bar "toaster" pickups with outputs of 3.90k, 3.85k and 7.93k (the bridge pickup has the pole-pieces protruding 3/8 of an inch on the underside into a cut-out on the body as per factory specifications). Two-piece split-level white plastic pickguard. Five controls (two volume, two tone, and one blend control) plus three-way selector switch. Seven-sided black plastic knobs with metal tops with black lettering. The two volume potentiometers are stamped "137 6617" (CTS April 1966), and the two tone potentiometers and the one for the blend control are stamped "137 6648" (CTS November 1966). Rickenbacker bridge and Rickenbacker "R" tailpiece. Serial number "FL 4800" (December 1966) stamped onto the jackplate. This very rare guitar (one of only five or less, made in 1966 in Mapleglo, or Natural, out of a total of forty-three) is in exceptionally fine condition, with only the very bare minimum of belt buckle wear on the back, a small (surface only) crack at the bottom end of the slash soundhole. Inside the control cavity of the guitar are the following factory markings: "Lupe / 345V / NAT" in pencil, and "345V" in red marker. It is obvious from these markings that this guitar was originally designated to be one of the more popular 345 models (with vibrato) of which 128 were shipped in 1966 alone (including 12 natural finish guitars) but in fact was finally shipped as the now much rarer non-vibrato 340. Housed in its original Rickenbacker silver hardshell case with blue plush lining (8.50).

According to The Complete History of Rickenbacker Guitars by Richard R. Smith (page 234), there were only a total of sixty-five 340's produced between 1958 and 1968. The largest number of guitars were shipped in 1966 (thirty-eight in Fireglo and five in unknown colors). This non tremolo model is markedly rarer than its 345 tremolo cousin… two hundred and eighty-nine 345's were shipped between 1958 and 1968 (one hundred and twenty-eight of these in 1966)

A Fireglo 340 (one of four shipped in 1965) is featured on page 259 of Norman's Rare Guitars.