[link to original on tumblr]
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I was looking up pictures of the Zombies, and I discovered something moderately interesting. I'd previously seen some pictures from the benefit concert for Paul Atkinson, and I noticed he had a Rickenbacker guitar. I guess I'd assumed that it was the same one that he used for Odessey and Oracle (and concerts during the later days of the Zombies), but scrolling through the pictures this time, I noticed that it's black where the one from Odessey and Oracle seems to have a fireglo finish like this one at Chicago Music Exchange (which I'd buy if I had the money):
The picture's in black and white, but there's definitely a gradient in the finish:
Of the pictures from the benefit concert, I found a closer one from a different angle and discovered that this Rickenbacker's sound hole is a slit rather than the F-shape that the Odessey and Oracle one has:
Between the color and the shape of the sound hole, it's evident that these are two different guitars.
I've mentioned before that it's an eventual goal to have something of an instrumental accuracy with this project. While the model of the black Rickenbacker is about the same price as the fire-glo one, I think that model is still in production, where the model of the fire-glo isn't. I've done some research, and it seems that Rickenbacker had a limited re-issue a decade or two ago. I think the one I found at Chicago Music Exchange is one of those re-issues, and that's still about $2000. I'd hate to see what one from the mid-60s sells for. The model is more important to me than the vintage, but if the model isn't made anymore, vintage models or re-issues would be my only choice.
Anyway, like I mentioned before, I should focus on getting instruments I don't have any sort of, and I already have a good guitar (an Epiphone SG-400). I've been saving my money, and I think I'm about halfway to getting a flute so I can learn the Mike Vickers overdubs from December 1968.
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After writing this, I remembered that just recently I ran across a color picture of the Zombies on the BBC (Top of the Pops, apparently). I still don't remember where I saw it, but I did manage to find the picture again, which confirms that the Odessey and Oracle Rickenbacker had a fire-glo finish:
The date given is September 1965.
