[bart]

Hi!
Just got it home and it's a VERY nice guitar. I really don't know from what year this is or what model, but from reading Nils great paper my guess would be 1982-1984, judging by the pickups(L8000?), truss rod cover (if it is original) and electronics. Am i on the right track?
BTW, does anyone have a catalouge where this model appears? I have only seen scans from 79-81.

[Ozeshin]

Sweet as....
Nice the way the binding has yellowed with age.

[bart]

[bart]

I just saw that this model appears in the 1985 burny catalogue on the Fernandes official page as RLC-65. Does anyone have the 1982-1984 catalogue hiding somehwere?
http://www.fernandes.co.jp/others/catalog/1985/1985.pdf

[MIJvintage]

well, I will have to say one thing; that shot of the RLC models with the correct diamond head stock inlay certainly gives me visual confirmation that Sam's blue RLC is certainly not a 1983 model

page 39.............

http://www.fernandes.co.jp/others/catalog/1985/1985.pdf
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[bart]

When did they change the headstock diamond inlay?
And does anyone here read Japanese? This text would be great to have translated
http://hem.bredband.net/bozio/burny/burny_scan.jpg

[bart]

Kinda lonley in this thread

Anyways, it seems like this guitar would have VH-4 pickups when looking at the specifications from the 1985 cataloge. I have not seen the 1984 cataloge but when i read Nils paper he states that this 3PU model was introduced this year. So i trust him
What is confusing though is that Nils paper sais that the VH-4 pickups has black wire, and the ones in my guitar have grey wire which makes them look like L8000.
Maybe this guitar was introduced in 1984? Would be nice to see a catalogue from that year.

[burny123]

Yeah It could be a 1985 model with leftover 83/84 pickups or it could be a 1984 model, impossible to tell. One thing is clear, it is one of the early models with solid mahogany body and Gibson style inlay!!

I'm not sure, that there is a 1984 catalogue, never seen one. The reason I stated, that the RLC 65 model was introduced in 84 was because of the pickups. I have seen examples with black wire and Gray wire and my guess is that the grey wire ones is 1984 models, because there is no RLC 65 in the 83 catalogue - but I maybe wrong.

My guess is, that they stopped making RLC with solid mahogany bodies at the same time they changed the headstock inlay around 86/87. Is there anybody out there who have got a mapletop RLC with old style headstock inlay?

Sound wise I can't tell the difference between a 83/84 L8000 pickup and the 1985 VH4 pickup. Maybe the only difference is the colour of the wire?

[leadguitar_323]

Hello Burny 123, your wrong buddy , i have a early RLC cream custom with a maple top. Guess that throws a spanner in the works, its definitely maple as the finish has been sanded of the top and i'm going to have it refinished with a custom black and cream flame job.

cheers Mick


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so many guitars....so little money...

[burny123]

Hi Mick

Okay so I?m wrong, what kind of pickups in Your guitar ?

cheers nils

[bart]

burny123 Thanks for the info! So maybe we can narrow down the year of the make for this guitar to 1984-1985? Since they changed the headstock inlay on these 1986? Most likley 1984 since the color of the pickup wire is grey? Wish there was a catalogue
BTW, the pickups sounds great! The string height is also very low and the guitar is very resonant. A great guitar, over my expectations. I will get more Burny's of this era, that's for sure.

leadguitar_323 Was the color black original? And what pickups does it have?

[leadguitar_323]

Hi Burny, mate it came with no pickups apparently it is a RR model RLC 70 I paid $125.00 aussie dollars for her...
And Bart it was aged white.

Cheers Mick
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so many guitars....so little money...

[bart]

[leadguitar_323]

Hi Bart, mate i've seen them with vh1's as well i think it depends on the model numbers.

Mick
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so many guitars....so little money...

[bart]

A very nice Japanese guy translated some parts of the catalogue for me, especially the RLC section from 1985.

----------------------------------------------------------------
Head angle 17 degree
Mahogany 1-piece neck
Old type truss rod setting
Head binding
'60s slim neck
Fret edge binding
Mahogany top and back (black model) (*)
Maple top and mahogany back (sunburst model) (*)

model name| price | color | neck | fretboard |neck shape |
RLC-60-60 | 60,000 yen | BL, TS, CRS | mahogany | rosewood | U |
RLC-65-57 | 65,000 yen | BL, TS, CRS | mahogany | rosewood | U |

fretboard-R | fret | scale | nut | position inlay | neck joint |
250 mm | 22 | 24.75" | bone | block | set-neck |
250 mm | 22 | 24.75" | bone | block | set-neck |

body top - back | endpin |peg |
maple or mahogany - mahogany archtop | G type G |schaller type rotomatic G |
maple or mahogany archtop (*) | G type G |schaller type rotomatic G |

bridge and tailpiece |pickups
tune-o-matic, stop tailpiece G |VH-4N x1, VH-4B x1
tune-o-matic, stop tailpiece G |VH-4N x1, VH-4B x1

controls |control knob |pickguard
2V, 2T, toggle sw |saucer G |B-W-B-W 4P
2V, 2T, toggle sw |saucer G |B-W-B-W 4P

color BL:BLack TS:Tobacco Sunburst CRS: Cherry Red Sunburst
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seems like the black ones had all mahogany body. The 60's slim neck does not apply for my guitar though. But I am not 100% sure the translation sections.