73 Sparkle Inlay Timeline

markbass99 · Post by **markbass99** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 12:31 am

Just saw a March '73 4001 mapleglo on ebay and it looks like it has the non sparkle inlays (2k BIN- not too bad).

markbass99 · Post by **markbass99** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 12:35 am

For reference here's a Feb and an April inlay shot.This leads me to believe that Feb or early March was the cutoff for the sparkle.( a very small window if you want a '73 with sparkle).

markbass99 · Post by **markbass99** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 12:41 am

If you haven't noticed I'm sort of obsessed with '73 rick's. There's just something about that time period that resonates with my love of rick's.(I may need some professional help with this..... like a loan!)

markbass99 · Post by **markbass99** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 1:18 am

Maybe it's because it was my first bass, I was a Rush freak and that Star Stowe poster sure didn't help.(late 70's)

markbass99 · Post by **markbass99** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 1:26 am

Wow that was quick. Some ebay dude username "mtmmat" just hit the BIN and snatched that thing up. Anybody here get it?

rick_ovic · Post by **rick_ovic** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 3:38 am

Mark, mtmmat is based in New Jersey. A fellow Rickenbacker fan but not a forum member as far as I know. He's a good guy though, and pretty quick when it comes to decisive purchases like this one.
I didn't think this bass would last long.

I still have the Star Stowe centerfold pinned to the door of my wardrobe!

blueflamerick · Post by **blueflamerick** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 4:40 am

Mark, did you used to wrestle as Michael P.S. Hayes?

rickaddict · Post by **rickaddict** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 4:47 am

The early bird gets the worm!

chefothefuture · Post by **chefothefuture** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 6:15 am

I think that Diamondite B to B inlay replaced the sparkles
as early as March of 73. I've seen MC plates with both.
I'm not sure when the solid cream plastic was used; I've seen
that on basses from Feb. '73 to June as well.
MF (June '73) is where you see floating triangles.
June '73 is also where the new style tuner placement starts.
Of course there are overlaps....

jnbass · Post by **jnbass** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 9:06 am

markbass99 · Post by **markbass99** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 12:18 pm

Jared- i'm assuming that's one that got away? There will be more.
Erik- That's pretty good , uncanny resemblance, but I haven't looked like that in 27 years. If you could go back in time and take a blood sample for testing, it wouldn't be pretty.

rick12dr · Post by **rick12dr** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 4:43 pm

I had a May '73 jetglo 360-12 that had the crushed pearl inlays, but had hi gains on it, that I found about 12 years ago.I didn't keep it too long, though.

markbass99 · Post by **markbass99** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 3:22 am

Just saw this checkerboard '73 s/n ME XXXX on ebay with small inlays. The guy that runs this store is Scott, he's a cool guy, but I guarantee you his reserve on this is at least $2500.

rickaddict · Post by **rickaddict** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 4:37 am

I like those guys, but their phiosophy seems to be:

"The more a guitar is dragged around behind a tour bus, the more valuable it becomes."

Not that the above example is all that beat-up.

bassman · Post by **bassman** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 4:19 pm

Scott Silver is his name Mark.

I have his business card from the last time I visited his store in Chicago.

And you're probably right that the reserve on that bass is at least $2500.00