Why Are Rickenbacker Bakelites So Collectible?

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Thu Aug 30, 2001 4:09 am

Richard: I was speaking to a Rickenbacker enthusiast recently and out of the blue he asked me why the Rickenbacker bakelites are such a collectible instrument. Short of speaking to their rarity and the "sound" I was not sure myself. I would be interested in your response to this question.

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Sat Sep 01, 2001 5:14 am

Peter: Rick Bakelite lap steel fall into three categories. 1. The pre-war model B, strings load through the body, 1.5" wide horse shoe pickup. 2. The post-war models B and BD, strings load through a chrome tailpiece, 1.25" wide horse shoe pickup. 3. The post-war Ace and Academy models single coil pickup.

The pre-war model B is most highly sought after by players and collectors. All post-war models are less collectable but very playable. The popularity of the pre-war model is entirely attributable to scarcity and sound. Many players and collectors consider the pre-war pickup the best lap steel pickup ever made because of the quality of sound sometimes described as a moan. The sustain of these instruments is also unequaled by the post-war instruments.

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Sat Sep 01, 2001 6:26 am

Richard: As a follow-up question, would you comment on any sound quality difference with regard to the lap steel instruments in which the strings load through the body as opposed to those that do not?

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Sun Sep 02, 2001 10:23 am

Peter: In order to comment on this I would have to do a side by side comparison of two post-war instruments. As you know all the pre-war instruments had 1.5" wide magnets and the strings loaded through the back of the body. Some of the early post-war instruments loaded through the body and some had tail pieces. All post-war model pickups had 1.25" wide magnets. A major change was made in the pickup design in the mid "50s, which produced a less mellow and more treble tone. I do not own a post-war instrument that loads through the body and have never played or seen one. My guess is that there is little tonal difference between instruments of similar vintage whether the strings load through the body or through a tailpiece. Perhaps someone, who has played or owns both types, reading this string can comment.

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Wed Nov 07, 2001 4:56 am

The reason for the collectability is that ALL the bakelite trees have been cut down and it is an exstince species.

There is some bark left however.

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Fri Dec 07, 2001 10:28 am

Mark: Bakelite trees would be quite a steel.

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Fri Dec 07, 2001 11:12 am

Thanks, Mark and Peter, for getting to the root of the problem.

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Fri Dec 07, 2001 6:11 pm

Actually, Mark, the "Bakelite trees" are a myth;
the Real deal is,as this is the same material the
nut is made from on most Ricks, the true source is "Black Elephant nuts".Extremely hard to obtain,
if you catch my drift....this species of elephant is Very large, and moves at night, to avoid been seen, and caught, and had the prized "nuts" cut with fine Swiss hacksaws........funny you never hear a peep out of those PETA folks on This one...

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Fri Dec 07, 2001 6:26 pm

Q. How do you stop one of those Black Elephants from stampeding?

A. You cut-off his stampeder!

(Don't get it? Sound it out, s-l-o-w-l-y...)

toneman · Post by **toneman** » Mon Apr 21, 2003 6:06 am

So.. O.K. I've got a Bakelite Rickenbacker lap steel hanging on my wall here. It has the foldover flap over the top of the tuners and has that chrome sheild-looking logo ontop of that. Top mounted chrome tailpiece and the 5 screw on white covers. Where do I find a serial number or indication on how to approx. date it?
And what are they going for roughly?
Thanks!!

toneman · Post by **toneman** » Mon Apr 21, 2003 6:12 am

BTW, it looks exactly like the BD-6 pictured on page #34 of the Smith book

rshatz · Post by **rshatz** » Mon Apr 21, 2003 11:39 am

The BD model you describe was made from 1949-1971.
Serial numbers prior to 1954 are not usually helpful in dating these instruments. In 1954 a coherent numbering system was instituted. These numbers were usually located above and below the jack hole or on the bridge plate. Many Bakelite lap steels have a number on the top edge of the headstock. Look in those places and let me know what you find. In the absence of any numbers on the outside the instrument can be dated from the pot codes.
Richard

toneman · Post by **toneman** » Tue Apr 22, 2003 6:51 am

Richard; Thanks! There's no numbers by the jack hole or on top of the headstock. Volume pot (marked at 100K resistance) appears to have been replaced with one from 1984 judging by the pot date code (R1378425). Tone pot reads 200K and 137844. There's also a number "L7198" stamped on the tone pot as well.
Would I be correct in guessing that the tone pot has been replaced as well or ?
Thanks!

rshatz · Post by **rshatz** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 10:45 am

Don,
The tone pot code 137844 indicates the pot was made by CTS in the 44th week of either 1948 or 1958. There is no way to tell with a 6 digit code.
I know of no changes in design in the BD model over its entire production run that would help exactly date the instrument. If you have the original case for the instrument, that would definitely help. The cases from the late 40s that I've seen are usually covered in black. The ones from the late 50s are usulally grey or light blue vinyl.
Hope this stuff helps.
Richard

toneman · Post by **toneman** » Mon May 05, 2003 8:09 am

Richard; Hi! Thanks so much for your input. I do appreciate your knowledge on these.
Unfortunatly the case is missing. I got this from a former bandmate many years ago. I'm just glad to have it! I strung it up with a set of .013-.052 Pyramid Gold flatwounds and it sounds amazing.
My best educated guess would make it a `48, but needless to say it's a fine instrument. Most later ones I've seen have a serial number.
Thanks again!