1957 ric combo-refin. blue sparkle

[ampking300]

I'M PRETTY NEW TO THIS FORUM--ANYWAY--I'VE BEEN TRYING TO SELL THIS GUITAR FOR THE PAST 11 MONTHS ON EBAY ----THE PROBLEM THAT I JUST RAN INTO TODAY ( ALSO MAY HAVE HAPPENED IN THE PAST ) IS THAT I GOOGLED 1957 RICKENBACKER COMBO 800 GUITAR ,AND ON THE 2ND PAGE LISTING WAS MY EXACT AD ON THE LONDON CRAIGSLIST---I HAVE CONTACTED CRAIGSLIST VIA EMAIL ( RELUCTANTLY )--I CALLED EBAY ( I AM WAITING FOR SOME ANSWERS )----I DO NOT WANT ANYONE TO BE SCAMMED,ESPECIALLY REGARDING MY GUITAR---AND I DON'T WANT MY REPUTATION TARNISHED ( I HAVE 100% POSITIVE ON EBAY )---DEPENDING ON THE ANSWERS THAT I GET FROM EBAY I WILL CONTACT THE PROPER AUTHORITIES----IF ANYONE CAN SHED SOME LIGHT ON THIS MATTER I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT,THANKS

[jingle_jangle]

Ray--welcome. Your ad has been cloned, and you've done all you could.

I'm sure you will now be bombarded with questions on the Combo 800. I'll start out with: how did it get the Micro Frets neck and/or fretboard?

A gentle reminder--turn your CAP LOCK off. In internet terms, you're SHOUTING.

[jps]

Welcome, Raymond.

No need to shout around here, we're not all deaf.

PRESENTLY ON EBAY AT $4,500.00 -BUY IT NOT...THANKS

Uh, okay!

[ampking300]

sorry for the caps,my eyesight is not what it use to be----fretboard was like this when i bought it over 20 years-ago--i've seen 4 other rics with similar fretboards in the last 20 years---could be all replacement fretboards---i just don't know----my main thing is vintage amps--thanks for the info. on the cloning --i'll sit tight and wait for some answers from ebay

[clementc3]

Hi Raymond -

Welcome!

A similar London-craigslist-of-an-ebay-ad-copy thing happened to me a couple of years ago:

viewtopic.php?f=68&t=392566&start=0

There's not much you can do - a scammer copied the listing information from the ebay listing. In your case the scammer didn't copy the photos as he did in my case.

I doubt ebay can or will do much - I suppose they could tell craigslist that there is a copyright infringement. It is really up to craigslist to take down the ad as fraudulent. You can flag the ad on the London craigslist as "prohibited"; if three people flag it, they will take the ad down, at least in some craigslist markets. I took the liberty of flagging it, so there's one.

[8mileshigh]

Hi Ray - I suspect 5 out of the 7 ads listed are scams. Marc Seligman's acoustic is for sure!

[8mileshigh]

I love these scammers..............so it's advertised in London right? The reply I got was "Last night i arrive in italy , i have some jobs here and i will stay 2-3 months here but i can send you the guitar at your address and i will pay for the taxes"

............yeah, right!

[ampking300]

thanks to all for the info.on the craigslist scams--i will flag the ad as prohibited,---this is all new to me---i had heard only bad things regarding craigs list--i can see why!!!

[ampking300]

I have contacted ebay and craigs list re: this scam,to no avail.I have even called craigs list and left a message with their director of operations and I still see this ad on londons craigs list.I contacted the FTC ( Federal Trade Commission ) and filed a complaint which they say that they will fully investigate and possibly ( depending on the outcome of their investigation ) get the proper authorities involved.If anyone sees this ad please flag it as prohibited---I will also add a revision to my ebay listing in order to warn people about this scam.Thanks to all who replied to this topic.I think that I have covered all bases re: this matter but if there is anyone that has anything to add please feel free to post a reply.Again thanks to all.P.S. I have also replied to this scammer and wrote that I have reported this scam to the authorities.

[apossibleworld]

Ray's guitar is a neat one. He let me come over and play it a couple years ago. One thing that occurred to me more recently: I've come across a few Bartell guitars in a very similar finish. That was Paul Barth's guitar company in the mid 60s, which is very similar to the Magnatone line of that era. And of course Paul Barth basically invented the Combo 600 and 800 guitars. I wonder if the finish on Ray's guitar was actually a 1960s Paul Barth refin. No way to prove it, but that would be very cool.

[egosheep]

What is a "micro frets" fretboard anyway? The neck is original, and the fretboard looks original to me as well. I have a scan somewhere of the ad when this guitar was for sale in the early 90s. I asked Scott Jennings about this and he said he had seen other fretboards that ended in a point while going through the Ric archives.

This guitar was originally a butterscotch natural finish IIRC.

Welcome to the forum, Ray!

[electrofaro]

And of course Paul Barth basically invented the Combo 600 and 800 guitars

He did? What about Hall and Rossmeisl work on the design then?

[egosheep]

And of course Paul Barth basically invented the Combo 600 and 800 guitars

He did? What about Hall and Rossmeisl work on the design then?

I have heard it was mostly a Barth design, with Roger adding the German carve to it. Semie Moseley also supposedly worked at the factory at this time, I have heard speculation that he may have worked on the Combo as well... as we all know the Mosrites later had a similar dramatic German carve.

[electrofaro]

According to the Bacon book Barth did the hardware, Roger body and neck, Hall the electronics.

If you browse around the internet there's quite some info that might be just humbug.
The other day I read Leo Fender was a salesperson for Electro String.
There's too little reliable info on the guitar industry before 1960 out there.

[jfine]

Tom--Micro-Frets was a guitar maker out of Frederick, MD who built guitars from around 1960 (give or take a year or two) until about 1974. Their main claim to fame was their Micro-Nut, which had six individual string "saddles" adjustable for intonation just like the bridge. Their hollowbodies were constructed with a top and back half joined at the sides, and their fingerboards came to a shallow point at the body end. They're not very common--the only big-name guys I ever saw playing them were Mark Farner with Grand Funk Railroad, and Carl Perkins when he played with Johnny Cash--and I believe Cash's bass player had one too. There doesn't appear to be any connection between Micro-Frets and Rickenbacker.
A note regarding Paul Barth--at the San Rafael (CA) vintage show the other day, I saw a guitar that was identical to a '60's Barth, except that it had a Magnatone nameplate on it--as Barth worked with Magnatone before he started Barth Guitars, this makes sense--but this thing was a Barth guitar in everything but name. The bridge and the pickups looked a lot like Rickenbacker parts (they weren't, but you could see the similarities).