As to the pic of the "shaded blue" guitar in my avatar, it was a 1967 or so 365 OS that was up on ebay about 18 months ago. The consensus at the time was that it was a one-off and factory original. Here's the discussion thread from then:
Last I heard, it was at Rumbleseat Music in Ithaca, NY. There is a pic of it on their website. I am not sure if it's for sale or just part of the "collection" they have on display.
Congratulations to you both, Ron and Larry, on a wonderful result.
Whilst I appreciate Owen's stand on restorations it's blatantly obvious that this particular guitar would have ended up as nothing more that a wall hanging had it stayed in the state it was. Personally I would rather see an instrument resurrected at least to a point where it's playable than have its carcass buried in a closet somewhere, mentally marked 'beyond help'. Perhaps Owen'c comments were somewhat premature and certainly made without full knowledge of the state of the guitar.
You've taken it well beyond the 'playable' point and I applaud you both for the stunning outcome.
Just a quick apology - I didn't mean to hi-jack a thread with my windbagging, or act like I was the ethics police regarding restorations. I was rude and out of place to rain on Ron (and Larry's) celebratory moment and I apologize for that or jumping the gun. I think my response was very honest upon seeing a nice vintage instrument stripped and refinished, without any explanation. I didn't see early threads on this guitar or knew little of its history, so I did speak too soon.
However, I still stand behind my basic sentiment, although this wasn't the time or place for it. I guess I'm just of the opinion that we don't inherit the earth, so to speak, but we do the best we can to preserve it for future generations. I feel the same way about anything historic too - I'm sure others feel the same way, and I know Ron and Larry do too. Sounds like this was a guitar in need of some TLC, not that it needs my approval one way or the other. Here's hoping it brings many more years of pleasure.
That said, when is Ric going to reissue these? I believe these may be the most collectible Ricks out there - and I know Ric's reissue market is driven by Beatles nostalgia, but I would think the market would support a run of these. I'll take a base 330 '59 Capri in Autumnglo.
I'm sorry, but I have to say, a 1,000-year-old British castle, or your great great great grandfather's pocketwatch are historic. A freakin' 50 year old electric guitar? Come on, geez. That's nonsense. This was clearly an appropriate job well done.
Thanks for resurrecting that thread. What a load of funk to remove from that guitar! And that sound hole damage - I would have given that one up for dead. I love the way the Fireglo turned out, nice and dark -- if that's what you'd call it (I didn't read the entire thread, mostly just looked at the pics).
Amazing, Paul, that this was your first Rickenbacker restoration. Man, 2005 does seem like 20 years ago, however you slice it!
