Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Here is a photo from the Albert Marrion 1961 session.

So, John, the rumor is that the guitar is indeed in Japan, but the one on display is usually a fake? That's interesting. The friend of mine who made the call to the museum was thinking that Yoko wouldn't leave the guitar so far away from her residence for so long, which is why he inquired as to its authenticity. So much for his theory as to why there's a replica there!

I still don't think that "fake" is a proper term; it carries a connotation of dishonesty with it that I do not think was the intention of creating these.

Anyway, my intention in mentioning these clones was not to try to intimate that there was something shifty was being perpetrated on anyone, especially the really rabid fanatics, like the kids over at...

...for whom rumors and innuendo are the stuff of life.

I wanted to open this up a little. Mr. Di Marino, to be fair, may have been operating on strict instructions from Lennono. And, at the time that John died, remember, the collector guitar market was still relatively tame. (As I've mentioned before, I saw Roger's Light Show for sale by a dealer in '81 for $1500.00.) So "historical accuracy" was probably not high on the list in the Di Marino restoration.

I'm uncomfortable discussing details since I have no first hand knowledge and consider all of this strictly rumor until proven otherwise. But it's no secret that John and Yoko had a residence in Japan and that much/most of her family remains there. That ties in to the story . . .

In the late seventies, would you have known where to take a Ric to have it refinished? I remember how rare it was to see a Ric in a guitar store at that time. Much less finding someone who would do proper work on a good instrument at the time.

John,

Understood. Speculation in a conversation in private amongst friends and colleagues is one thing. Open discussion on an internet bulletin board is very much another.

Joe: You're very right about the lack of info regarding Rickenbacker guitars in the late seventies. In 1979, I bought a '64 325 FG from a major guitar shop and they couldn't identify the year or model. They tagged it as "Old Rick". In 1980, I bought a '64 ES16 JG. A local guitar shop told me it was a "Danelectro like the one Jimmy Page uses as a slide guitar". It wasn't until the Smith book came out in the mid-eighties that I was able to identify my guitars!

Ah, those were the days when everybody was dumb.

Paul: I picked up a lot of cool gear back then. In 1980, I found a '65 Vox AC30 Super Twin Reverb (angled head with top boost, speaker cabinet, chrome trolley stand and covers) in NOS condition sitting in the back room of a tiny music store. It had been sitting there since it was sold new and returned because it hummed. I got it for $200. I took it to a well-known Vox guy who located a bad solder joint. Those were the days!

That's also the year I got my '66 Jazzmaster, a '60 Fender Pro 15 in chocolate Tolex, and '63 black Tolex Fender Reverb, all factory-mint and untouched, for $900.00 flat.

In '82, I went into Manny's in Manhattan on a Saturday, just to look around. There, right up front, was a bizarre looking Telecaster with some kind of after-market kit dropped into it...the counter guy told me it was mid-sixties vintage, and that a guy in NYC bought them up for a while and did these conversions...it was called a Sustainer, and consisted of a small battery-powered pre-amp affair which powered a 2' speaker mounted in the body directly under the strings. And the price? $350...I put $100 down and said I'd be back the following weekend to pick it up.

When I got there the next Saturday, I went right up to the counter and told an older guy working there that I had come to get the Tele...turns out it was Manny himself. He turned towards the back of the store and called out in a loud voice: "Oh Bill...your mistake is here!" I don't know what it should have cost, but I'm sure it was more than I paid. I've had it ever since...it's been to 'the World's Bottom' several times.

So has it been all it was cracked up to be Dane?

Oh yeah...it's great. A real workhorse, and it seems to have thrived on the abuse...more so than it's owner, anyway.

It's hilarious to play without an amp...doesn't get really loud, but louder than you might think, and when it feeds back, the resultant scream will last as long as the life of the batteries...perfect for rockin' out on a subway platform for spare change.

"You can go for a bite and come back, and you'll still be hearin' that one..."

2" speaker--you should hook up a Frampton voice tube setup.

You'd look like a one-man ER. But the sound would be something to remember. And, with the addition of a Tonelab SE, the mind boggles.

"I know just what you're thinkin',
But I wasn't stoned or drinkin'
The day I heard that guitar say:..."