"Once in a Lifetime" Deals

[chuck_king]

Like many people (many of you, probably), I like to keep an eye on the market for certain kinds of gear, including Rickenbacker guitars. If you follow any market closely, sooner or later you come across a really outstanding deal on something, or some really rare or unusual item, that is probably unlikely to be repeated soon if at all. But if you continue to follow that market closely, you will also find that even if that particular special deal is not repeated, another opportunity just as singular will come along soon.

Singular opportunities are probably disproportionately common in the Rick universe because of the relatively low production numbers for some models or finishes, and the options available (although those seem to be getting fewer).

How do you approach such opportunities? Almost nobody can afford to jump on all of them, but I'm sure most people have a good story about one that got away: "If only I'd followed my gut feeling and pulled the trigger..." It takes a certain amount of perspective and discipline to hold out for the really special deal, out of a string of unique opportunities.

I'm still relatively new to the Rick market, although I've been watching it closely for a couple months now. I don't know if I know it well enough yet to really be able to spot the true "once in a lifetime" opportunities as opposed to the merely uncommon opportunities. So I'm a little concerned because I recently ordered a guitar that sure seems to me to have a pretty unique line-up of characteristics and I'm hopeful that it will turn out to have been a prudent purchase, since I just ordered another Rick very recently and I'm risking marital mayhem by buying two Rickenbackers in less than a week.

But it is a very cool guitar. I'll see if I can get some pics of it from the seller. In the mean time, what are your thoughts about "once in a lifetime deals", and who has a good story about one they snagged (or that got away)?

[wittyair]

Great post,Chuck!
You are so right....it seems as if Rickenbacker and "once in a lifetime deals" go hand in hand.
They pretty much ALL seem to be at least close to that category.
My personal story along those lines has to be the recent acquisition of the truly "one of a kind" 360SPC in Amber Montezuma Brown. I watched the original ebay auction by the Ric Outlet back in December and had dreams about that guitar. When it came back up for auction I really couldn't believe it. It was kismet! I dont know but I'm pretty sure that guitar was made for me......John Hall just didn't know it at the time. It's prominently displayed in it's custom made display cabinet in my office and I admire that guitar everyday. So....there's my once in a lifetime deal story....let's hope there are a few more to come.

[dustymurphy]

Perhaps I'm ignorant to this, but what does the SPC stand for?

My '74 330 was a pretty special affair. I walked to a pawn shop about 100 yards from the restaurant where my friend worked, and they were going out of business, and I'm just kind of looking around, and I figure that they've probably sold all their guitars already and the lady behind the counter asks me "Can I help you with anything?" I thought I might as well ask, and I said "Do you have any guitars?" and she said "We've got one left, but we didn't put it out because we didn't think it would sell. Hold on." And she comes out with a generic gig-bag, and lays it on the counter and unzips it, and the first thing I saw was the point of the Rickenbacker TRC, and I knew that I was going to leave with it. (Ricks aren't easy to come across in my area. You can get them in Kansas City from time to time, but at that point Kansas City was beyond my means of travel.) She unzips it all the way, and it's a 330, but it was rough shape. One of the pickups was in the pocket of the gig back, the R tailpiece was removed (but was also in the gigbag), and the frets after 14 had a lot of finish missing. (I still don't know how it happened, it's really sporadic to the pieces that are missing. My thoughts at the time was that somebody was trying to remove the finish because they didn't like a finished fretboard. And maybe that's what happened. I have no idea. But they only wanted $200, and I figured for that much, I could sell it for parts and recoup my costs if it wasn't fixable. I had about $60 cash, wrote a check for $42 (all I had in the account) and charged the rest on my "emergency" credit card from my folks. (My first semester at college. It constituted an emergency, right?) And it was mine.

I took it to a friend of mine who works at a guitar store, and he fixed the electronics (they were all disconnected inside, but I didn't know.) and the tailpiece, fixed the neck and cleaned up the damage to the fretboard finish as best he could, charged me $50, and I had a real live Rickenbacker. Then he told me that he thought that had a 330 case in the back that had been there for awhile, and he checked, and sure enough, they had a case for it. It was one of the black plastic-coated hard cases with silver latches. I'm not sure of their era, but he said that he'd worked there for six years (this was in 2002) and it'd been there when he first started. So I guess it to be a late-80's or early-90's era. I had wanted a Rick forever, and had played a 660/12 at a local music store and fell in love, but couldn't afford it. (They said it was a Tom Petty signature guitar. It had a TP pickguard, but it was MapleGlo. I think I've still got a picture of it somewhere. I'll post if I can find it. It's the only MG I've ever seen.) I'm a big fan of The Jam, so this 330 was the perfect fit for me. It was the right price, and honestly, it could have been any color or model and I would have been happy. It's still one of my most played guitars, although I'm going to retire it from the road and make it strictly a studio guitar. I've got so much emotional investment in it that if was damaged or stolen I'd never forgive myself. I intend to replace it with a new (or new to me, but used) 330 (or maybe even a 360 if the price was right.) for touring and live use.

[beatlefreak]

SPC refers to 'Special', and is put on many models that veer away from the norm, and are limited.

[BobKat]

I have really gotten some great deals in my day.

I once bought a 360/12v64 from a guy on the Web. As we were finalizing the $900 transaction, he casually mentions that it has a dot neck, and an f-hole instead of the slash most RICs have...

I stopped in to the local junkyard of a music shop one day and found a beautiful, as new 4001V63 MG among the Teiscos and Silvertones...$575 and it was mine.

On the net back in the rec.music.makers.marketplace heyday, I bought a near mint 362/12 JG for $1200.



Two really good ones:

A 1964 1997 with changed pickup and bridge, but intact Accent and great shape otherwise....$1000

A 1965 360/12 Fireglow, gorgeous with one nick, original silver case in super shape, extra clean....$900


If you dig hard enough and are patient, good deals come. The two I mentioned above are guitars I severely regret selling though. I just couldn't keep all that stuff, especially after my divorce years ago.

I have a pic of some guitars on my basement floor. Two RMs in mapleglo, a 362/12 fireglo, the '64 1997, a reissue 1993 six-string and 12-string matched pair, and a 1998 PT. I shudder to think of that assemblage of guitars now.

[sloop_john_b]

Bob - UNBELIVEABLE.

I have gotten two great Rick deals in the past year - just have all the important sites bookmarked, check as often as you possibly can, and be presistent and patient. The steals are still out there - don't settle!

[sloop_john_b]

Dusty - does your '74 have 21 or 24 frets? Great story btw.

[antipodean]

Bob,

Given you've had at least 5 once-in-a-lifetime deals, does that mean you'll live 5 times longer than the rest of us?

[chuck_king]

Okay, here's the one I just didn't think I could let get away. This isn't a case of "an instrument at an amazingly low price" but rather, a case of "one like this may never come along again":



It's a 2002 340/6 with toasters and vibrato, in the COY Burgundy, with a silver vintage case. I don't know exactly what the model designation would be---340/6VPVB BG? My understanding is that Rickenbacker stopped using the "345" designation before '02, but that's what it would have been.

It was such a perfect combination of features that I wanted, all of which are no longer available, in a fairly rare COY, that I figured it wasn't likely to come along again. I would not be at all surprised if this is a unique instrument. I found it on gbase so I figure many of you were aware it was out there...I don't think I got a steal on it, although I also don't think the price was out of line for what it was.

I love my Jetglo 360 (my favorite guitar, ever) and my Fireglo 330 is also quite keen, but having been bitten hard by the Rick-itis bug, I wanted to have a Rick that was special---a conversation piece, something you don't see everyday, even at a Rick confluence. I think this one fits the bill.

[sloop_john_b]

Chuck - WOW. Safe to say that you have one helluva rare piece there.

[dustymurphy]

Dusty - does your '74 have 21 or 24 frets? Great story btw.

21. I've never seen a '74 come up for sale, so I'm not sure of it's value. I've seen models that are already sold, but have yet to see the actual for sale price on it to know it's value. Of course, mine would be worth much less than the average model, due to it's fretboard damage, and some paint scarring along the back. (Although not through to the wood.) And the electronics having been completely undone then redone when I bought it probably reduces the value too. It's not that I'd ever sell it, so knowing the value is no huge deal. It's worth more to me than it'd ever be worth financially.

[doctorwho]

Here are three (among many) of mine:

1977 4000FL BG - $400 in 1998
1993 370/12v64 FG (not a typo - it's a factory 370 reissue series): $900 in 1997 (IIRC)
(both of the above were one-owners, near-mint condition, with OHSC)
1981 460 BG - $890 in 2000 (IIRC)

Of course, I still have these!

[admin]

Outstanding, Charles. What a find!

[wj350]

I've gotten three of what consider very good deals on used Rics, all three of which were directly attributable to this forum. In order:

2003 325c58MG with Lennon mods on a very nice BIN on Ebay. It was posted here as a "somebody buy this now!". I pulled the trigger; the Lennon mods were a little off--B-50 vice B-5, wrong knobs and bridge, but these were easily corrected.

2003 325c58 MG, stock: Simply a great deal on a used guitar from a fellow forumite

2003 350/12v63 JG: Another lead from a fellow forumite on an attractive BIN on the 'bay.

Not sure what it is about 2003 vintage Rics and me!

Non Ric-wise, my best score was one of the Lennon 1965 Refurb Casinos MF was blowing out last Fall--blowout price + a 10% discount that a fellow forumite reminded me about led to a perfect 1965 Casino.

So, obviously I'm quite indebted to this place!!

Bill

[brianeharmonjr]

I've gotten pretty great deals on all the Rics I own, but the deal I'm most proud of is my 4003. While discussing my search for a Ric bass on the Talkbass forum last year, a user mentioned that he had one he was thinking about selling in the near future. I communicated with the guy privately, and it turns out he had a '95 4003 in white with black trim in very good condition, and he only wanted $750 for it! I hesitated for a while, because it seemed like it was too good to be true. After discussing it with him over the course of a couple of months, I pulled the trigger. And sure enough, it was exactly what he said it was, and in better condition than I expected. I had just recently bought a new 4003 MG, and intended to flip the white 4003 and make some money, but I ended up liking it much more than the new one, so I sold the MG for more than I paid for it new. Ever since then, I've been very unhealthily addicted to the ebay/craigslist/forum search for hot Ric deals.