As of my records, Rick went to the "T"-shaped logo on the head stock starting 1946.
In ~1949 (I'm not quite 100% sure yet) they changed to an arrow shaped logo which also included the spelling change from Rickenbacher to Rickenbacker.
I used to have one. I was told it was a late forties, early fifties model. I've seen several on Ebay over the past 6 months. Seems each one I've seen is a little bit different... position of volume & tone knobs, individual or connected tuners (mine were all connected, like on a classical guitar), cover plates for headstocks, position of the switch to select which neck was on, etc. Wonder why there were so many small differences.
I "guestimated" mine to be around 1949. Maybe one of you chaps can put a proper date on it from this description: It has chrome covered headplates, and unlike the one Basil is purchasing, mine has very attractive plastic fretboards instead of the frets being molded as part of the body. It has brown "arrowhead" nameplates screwed on the chrome headpieces and the spelling is "k" not "h". I love this beast and have adapted a chrome Japanese steel stand to fit it. I mentioned to Basil these guitars were known as "Olde Uglies". That terminology has been used many times over the years in affection more than anything else. Mine is like factory new and is fully original.
I have one (actually, half a one - someone got the band saw out that looks exactly like this one. I did a bunch of research on it, finally got to the point where I settled on '49.
I prefer the Stringmaster for straight country and swing, but I used to play rockabilly on the Rick and it really shined on that. Definatly a hotter PU and fatter tone than the Fender.
I have a triple FENDER, but I prefer "Olde Ugly", not only for tone, but weight also. There's something about those Rick pickups which defy explanation. I'd still be interested in knowing the date of mine which is described two posts above. Thanx fellas and gals.
that looks exactly like this one. I did a bunch of research on it, finally got to the point where I settled on '49.