How Old Were You When You Got Your First Rick?

rick_lover · Post by **rick_lover** » Tue Dec 30, 2003 7:08 am

I bought my 330 red BT from the money i got for my 16th Bithday. Rics were very hard to find in germany at that time (still they are) and so for my luck a local store had this beauty in his storage for about ten years, it was built in 1990. Now I'm 18 and I have two other Rics, too (620/12 MG; 320 JG).

loendmaestro · Post by **loendmaestro** » Tue Jan 06, 2004 4:31 am

I was 16 & bought a '74 4001 from a rich kid whose parents wouldn't let me enter through the front door because my hair was long. I just bit my tongue & paid him $200 (!) for the Fireglo that remains in my possession to this day.

dr_evil · Post by **dr_evil** » Tue Jan 06, 2004 11:00 am

I was 31, when I finally had to have a 620/12 JG. The cresting wave solidbody is the most elegant guitar design.

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Tue Jan 06, 2004 11:09 am

I was 37 when I got my 1st Rick, a "new" '98 4003 FG, in 2002. A '72 4001 MG Fretless and a '86 4003 Shadow are also in my collection now. Quess I'll buy at least a RIC bass per year from now on...

Here's my little story about getting my 1st Rick.

************************************

Annie...A Story

I love her, my "Dreamboat Annie".

To cut a long story short, I have been a succesful recording/mixing engineer/producer in my country since 1990, with numerous hit records under my belt. I'd played bass for a couple of years by the age of 23, before seeing the movie "Crossroads" and decided to be a blues guitarist. Sold my korean brand "Morris" bass and Taiwan-made "Hanson" amp and saved up for buying a silvery finished Fender Strat(because I knew Robert Cray had one) and a Fender combo whose model name I can't recall. Subsequent purchases include a Fender Tele and a Gibson Les Paul Special.

In June last year(2001) I flew to Osaka, Japan to purchase a 4003 FG and a 381 V69 for the band(a bunch of 19-year-olds who loved The Beatles, Blur and Oasis) that I signed to record( there is no RIC dealers in my country). It was "love at first sight" with that 4003 FG sitting in a stand in the store among other basses, after being "confronted" by over a dozen rickenbacker guitars sprouting in the entrance area(the sight of 15 or so RICs in front of you in a music store should be rare even for an American).

During the recording of the album, the 4003(made in early 2001 if memory serves me well) was used for all songs and I found it to have unique deep lows and jangly highs thru which the texture of the wood of the bass really spoke.

And I wanted one for myself !!!

That desire went on until this July, when DaWei, one of my engineer friends was going to LA, USA to have an album (whose majority I'd mixed°^ mastered by Stephen Marcussen. Gave him enough money to buy a 4003 FG for me since all the online dealers were not allowed°]due to RIC's strict franchise rules) to ship any RIC products out of the US. He drove around the Los Angeles area visiting guitar shops including those on the "G-Block" on Sunset Boulevard and just could not find any 4003 in any finish(RIC guitars were hardly in sight, as well). Some salespersons didn't even know what Rickenbacker was and said ignorant things like:"Is that a British instument maker?" while Santa Ana was just less than an hour's drive south of LA.

I had been very anxious and could not sleep well fearing that DaWei couldn't find any before he came back in a week's time by the time he phoned from the States saying it was really difficult. I got so anxious that I posted a very desperate and emotional "CAN'T FIND NO RIC BASS IN LOS ANGELES..AND I'M ******" thread in the Voxtalks site, in which I verbally offended Mr. John Hall.(My solemn apologies.) Kind fellow Voxtalkers gave me LA dealer infos and possible directions including Jammin' Jerseys in Northridge, CA, who had one 4003 FG in stock. Checked their website and gave my friend the phone number to check out.

A couple of days passed before DaWei called and wanted me to listen to this 4000 hertz clanky frequencies thru the international telephone line and I immediately recognised that sweet sound of a RIC bass even though it was only mid-range filtered thru the telephone. I screamed in ecstasy.........

(To be continued...)

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Tue Jan 06, 2004 11:11 am

So I waited for my friend to return... Paging thru my CD collection one day, I hit upon the debut album by Heart, titled "Dreamboat Annie" and decided it was the name for my yet to meet 4003FG.

After much anticipation, my Annie showed up in my studio, in front of my eyes for the first time,on July 30, at the end of my vocal tracking session. I opened the case and saw this beautiful sexy thing and was in ecstasy again. I'd already seen and recorded a 4003 Jetglo and the Fireglo I mentioned above,so I shouldn't have been thrilled too much but hey , this one belonged to me !!!

It was made in May 1998, shipped to Jammin' Jerseys and stayed there unsold for 4 years before DaWei(thank you so much, brother) showed up with his girlfriend, driving all the way from LA asking for driving directions,via cell-phone, from the people(the patron a Jerry Garcia looking guy and the salesman a country music dude) at the "warehouse-looking music shop".

4 years waiting for the proper encounter with me, that's destiny.

By the way, a fortune teller friend of mine once said that I would start my next phase(a good one) of life at around the age of 36 or 37(which I'm now) after "suffering for a while". Now I know what he was talking about and I'm pretty sure that the suffering part of it is over because it did happen big time! (Last year was really bad for me, I can tell you.) I hope Annie came into my life for the better of it.

Ever since Annie "moved in" my home(got a gorgeous-looking blue tolex covered Ampeg B 100R amp as her "roommate") , I've been suffering from lack of sleep because I just can't put it down and stop playing whenever I have a day off from my very busy studio work that I should go to bed to have enough rest. So I'm physically wornout but mentally contented and spiritually fulfilled.

Paul, Taipei, Sep.4, 2002
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jimmy_stewart · Post by **jimmy_stewart** » Wed Jan 21, 2004 9:14 am

I purchased mine in 68 used from a guitarist friend of mine. Here is a pic of it, taken back stage in 69. It was quite a long time ago, so I don't remember the model number. I think it was a 66 though.
Can anyone identify the Ric I am holding? I remember trading this in around 70/71 for a new Gibson SG....moron!!! I wish I still had this now!

admin · Post by **admin** » Wed Jan 21, 2004 9:35 am

Jimmy: You are holding a model 450 that appears to have a fireglo finish.

go_go_monster · Post by **go_go_monster** » Sun Jan 25, 2004 8:15 pm

the first guitar I ever bought was a Rickenbacker 381 FG 1970, checkered binding with trans PUS....
it was mint! clean as a whistle (until the guitar fell over and broke the pickguard)
I got it for $325.00...
this would have been 1984.
I didnt like the shape of the pickguard and the raised edge around the body because it wasnt like the Beatles models (what an idiot I was!!!)

I was a Beatles nut and wanted a 325 so I called Gruhns and asked if they would trade me a 325...he told me he was out but that he would be willing to give $350...
I thought that was a great deal!
Little did I know that a 381 was rare as hell, there really wasnt much information on this guitar, it was 84, no internet and I was 14 so give me a break.
So anyway I shipped it off to Gruhn and as I was driving away from UPS I was kinda regretting it....
As another kick in the ***, after Snake sent me the $$$ later that week I recieved Gruhns next news letter/guitar and listed he had 3 325's and a 320..

!!!!!

oh well I lived and learned!
I ended up ordering a 320.
gg

ric325v63 · Post by **ric325v63** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 3:39 am

After admiring for years and years, it wasn't until Jan 4, 1997 that I bought my first Rick. It was a brand spanking new 330 FG. I paid $750. It's still the most comfortable guitar to play for me. The only thing I would like to do is switch out the Hi-Gains for VPs someday.

beatcomber · Post by **beatcomber** » Fri Jan 30, 2004 1:28 pm

Ever since I started playing guitar in 1977 I lusted after a Rickenbacker like John Lennon's. My first good electric was a used 1973 Hagstrom Scandia hollowbody.

In late 1981, when I was 17, I was with my dad in NYC visiting relatives, and I was able to persuade my dad to walk over to W. 48th St. so that I could drool over all the cool geetars. I was in Sam Ash enjoying the heck out of a Fireglo 320, and my dad said to me, "Do you like it?" When I said "YEAH!!!" he whipped out his credit card and bought it for me! Shocked the heck outta me! The last thing I expected was to go home with a new Rickenbacker!

In 1984, when I was 20, I busted my arse for months at a part time job and special ordered a Fireglo 330 like Paul Weller's. At the time there was nowhere in central Pennsylvania to buy a Rick off the rack. It took two weeks to arrive, and I can still remember putting the case up on the counter and popping it open, and seeing that gorgeous guitar. I still own it too, and it'll probably be with me forever. i still have the receipt in the case, too. It cost $590 including the tolex hardshell case, plus $35 tax.