Do you build Rickenbacker
electric guitars?
Nope. I do not have a license to
build them, but I do quite a bit
of rebuilding and restoration of
Rickenbacker electrics. The oldest
one I worked on was from 1956. I
restore all the models, right up to
refinishing new ones in colors that
are not available from the factory.
Does Rickenbacker supply
you with the hardware and
parts for the acoustics?
I purchase them all at dealer
prices from Rickenbacker.
So you build the acoustics
and sell them?
That is correct—except that I
don’t build them first and then
sell them. People order them
from me. Right now, I am
back-ordered about two years.
I build each one custom for the
individual to his or her style
or size. I’ve done a few narrow
necks. I did one short-scale.
I’ve done some with slanted
frets. Just about every one is a
special color, as well. Each one
is unique, except they all carry
the Rickenbacker truss-rod
cover and the Rickenbacker
body design.
A Honeyglo Rickenbacker 350C63 restored by Wilczynski.
Note the added F-hole.
Do you source the wood or
get it from Rickenbacker?
Most of the wood came from
Rickenbacker’s shop. When
I acquired the license, I also
acquired a half-container of
wood. It was being stored
at their shop in Southern
California, where it is warm
and the humidity is low. I store
the container at a vineyard in
Sonoma County, where conditions
are ideal for storing
wood. It is between 55 and
70 degrees year-round and the
humidity is about 50 percent.
That wood has been acclimated
to an ideal situation. I have
acoustics that I built three and
four years ago that are holding
up wonderfully because there
is no issue with the wood splitting
or shrinking.
Even if someone from, say,
New York buys it and puts
it through the extremes of
that climate?
Yes. Most of my sales are to
other areas of the country. I’ve
only sold one or two here [in
California]. Most of them are
going to the East, the South,
or to places like Australia,
Europe, and Japan.
Are there guidelines from
Rickenbacker in terms of
building and restoration?
I once had a fellow ask me
to restore a Rickenbacker
Lightshow [which have flashing
lights built-in under a Plexiglas
top]—one of the rarest of
their guitars. They only built
them for a couple of years. If
I had to guess, I would say
less than a couple of hundred
were produced. They are pretty
pricey. This guy wanted me to
restore his Lightshow, painting
it a dark red metalflake
with a graphic of a marijuana
leaf handpainted on the back
[
laughs]. I refused to do it. I
said it wasn’t a dignified way to
treat such a nice old guitar. He
got pretty ticked off at me, but
in the end I wouldn’t do it.
A replica of Paul Weller’s famous “WHAAM!”-graphic Rickenbacker 330 built by Wilczynski.
So, you won’t do major
modifications?
People will change the color.
I have also converted a couple
of 6-strings to 12-strings, and
I am busy doing an 8-string
bass conversion right now. I
don’t mess with their basic formula—
it is a Rickenbacker and
that is it.
Where is your shop?
I have a shop in Sausalito,
where I do my finishing and
rough work, like sanding. I
also have a shop in my home
in Marin County, where I do
assembly and setups. I have
a third shop up in Sonoma
County, near where I store the
wood. That’s where I build the
acoustic bodies.
Do you still do industrial
design for manufacturers?
No. I’m a full-time faculty
member and shop manager in
the industrial design department
at the Academy of Art
University. I manage all of their
workshops, which means I run
the wood, metal, and computer
shops. I wrote all the model-making
classes for the university—
both online and on site. In
the evenings and on weekends, I
go to my shops and try to catch
up on my backlog of restorations
and acoustic builds.
Have you thought about starting
your own brand?
I’ve done one archtop. John
Hall gave me some parts
and the permission to build
one 760J Jazz-bo, which is
Rickenbacker’s carved archtop.
They built two or three of them
at the factory. It’s a direct copy
of one of the designs from the
mid-’50s by Roger Rossmeisl.
At one time, they were planning
on introducing it as part
of the acoustic line, and as far
as I know they still are. I do not
have the license to build Jazzbos,
but John gave me one set
of Jazz-bo sides and said, “See
what you can do with this.” So
I built one with a handcarved
spruce top, a handcarved maple
back, the German carve, and
checkerboard binding. I stuck
to the original design. I would
love to build archtops under my
own brand, but I’m a realist and
I don’t really think this is something
I want to do full-time and
struggle to make a living. This
part-time thing is working out
reasonably well.
LEFT: A Rickenbacker 730 Shiloh dreadnought with unique Acanthus leaves stenciling by Wilczynski.
RIGHT: A Rickenbacker 700 Shasta about to receive its initial varnish coats.