This Rickenbacker Combo 450 from 1957 still featured the tulip-shape body, but it already sported several upgrades.

The pickup covers have two openings, earning them the nickname “toaster tops”. And the old, pre-WWII knobs (aka “flying saucers”) have been replaced by a larger, flashier style, affectionately known as “cooker” or “kitchen stove” knobs. An anodized aluminum pickguard set off the Jet Black finish – one of three eye-catching options, the other two being a golden Montezuma Brown and a blue-green Cloverfield Green.

Jean “toots” Thielman played a tulip-shaped 450 with the George Shearing quartet and, in 1960, a photo of Thielman appeared on the cover of the American magazine Accordion and Guitar World. Although the tulip shape was two years out of date by then, the photo nevertheless inspired future Beatle John Lennon to one day own a Rickenbacker.

With the Combo 450’s change in 1958 to the “cresting wave” body, characterized by a curled bass horn, it went on to become one of Rickenbacker’s most popular and enduring solidbody models, lasting until 1984.