Hello Again From New Member

[ask]

Hello everyone. I just joined up yesterday and would like to introduce myself. My name is Tony and I live north of San Francisco. I've been playing guitar for about 40 years and after going through flat tops, archtops, teles, and assorted electrics have pretty much gotten into resonators and lap steels. My Rickenbacker experience has been pretty limited. I had a pre-war Model B lap steel (which I regret selling), a Model S lap steel and an older amp with RIK cutout in block letters on the front. I don't know the model but I bet someone here does. I recently acquired what I am pretty sure is a fairly rare beast, a motorized Rickenbacker Electro Vibrola Spanish solid body. It looks like a model B lap steel but has a round neck and a double thick body to house the motor. I'm kinda torn on this one. It appears in mint condition, the vibrola works and the pickup sounds great and I think everything is working as it should. My problem is I need a player's guitar and I think this one belongs in a collection or museum. This is one heavy guitar and I don't know if the extra weight justifies my occasional use of the vibrato effect. I kinda feel like a curator in a museum with this one. I would love to know if anyone on the forum has one and if they use it on a regular basis? I originally posted this yesterday on the Rickenbacker Guitars section and a member suggested I should post on the Steels section. I think the advice is right since this is basically a lap steel with a round neck. Here's some photos I posted on the Guitars section.

[rshatz]

What you have is the Holy Grail.
Congratulations, what else can we help you with?
It's not a steel guitar, it's a perfect example of what many people consider the first electric Spanish guitar made by Rickenbacher with the Vibrola unit. Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[paologregorio]

Wowza, that thing is amazing!! The only time I've seen one of those in person is when John Hall brought out the collection for the Guitar Geek fest last year at NAMM. there was a whole performance of Rick bakelights by the all star "Rickenbacker Bakelite Band". Lots of fun, that was. Thanks for sharing.

Welcome to the Forum!

[analogpackrat]

The queen of all case queens! Wow! That is an amazing piece of history you've got there.

[ask]

I would like to thank everyone for the interest and kind words about my Electro Vibrola spanish Rickenbacker. After giving it plenty of thought I cannot justify keeping it and have decided to try to sell it to someone who can get it out into view more than I am able to. Maybe someone who plays out or has a historical collection open to the public? I will be posting it on the Rickenbacker Marketplace forum today. If anyone on the RickResource Forum is interested in seeing it or might know someone who is I will be taking it to a guitar show in Northern California this weekend.
Thanks again for all the warm welcomes.

[rickenbrother]

Welcome, Tony. That's a really cool Rick you have!
Has it been entered into the register?

[rshatz]

I would like to thank everyone for the interest and kind words about my Electro Vibrola spanish Rickenbacker. After giving it plenty of thought I will be posting it on the Rickenbacker Marketplace forum today. If anyone on the RickResource Forum is interested in seeing it or might know someone who is I will be taking it to a guitar show in Northern California this weekend.

Good luck in your venture.
To many of us it would be very interesting to see what this axe would sell for at auction.
If it were mine and I wanted to sell it, I would first decide the minimum amount I would be willing to accept not knowing what it will bring. Arbitrarily, let's say $10K.
Post it on Ebay with a starting bid of $10 and a reserve of $10K or $15K or $20K or what ever blows your hair dry. You'll probably get a lot of questions, but if you post the great photos you posted here, I guarantee you'll get lot's of bidding if your starting bid is low.
All the real collectors watch Ebay and an item like this will not go unnoticed.
What ever you do, please let us know.

[ask]

"rshatz wrote
Good luck in your venture.To many of us it would be very interesting to see what this axe would sell for at auction.
If it were mine and I wanted to sell it, I would first decide the minimum amount I would be willing to accept not knowing what it will bring. Arbitrarily, let's say $10K.
Post it on Ebay with a starting bid of $10 and a reserve of $10K or $15K or $20K or what ever blows your hair dry. You'll probably get a lot of questions, but if you post the great photos you posted here, I guarantee you'll get lot's of bidding if your starting bid is low.
All the real collectors watch Ebay and an item like this will not go unnoticed.
What ever you do, please let us know.

Hello Richard,
I ended up selling to a private buyer, not at auction.
Thanks to everyone for their interest and suggestions.
Regards,
Tony

[rshatz]

If you don't mind, many of us would like to know how much it brought.

[ask]

Although I understand your curiosity I don't feel comfortable disclosing the price without the buyer's permission since it was a private sale.
If it were sold on ebay it would be a matter of public record.
I did have one offer from a forum member but the guitar had already sold.

[rshatz]

If it was a private sale an the seller is unknown to us, where's the harm?

[ask]

I don't know the new owner's intentions but if he does decide to sell, I feel his purchase price should remain his business. If this were a more common guitar I might feel differently about disclosing the price but this is a pretty rare item that does not show up often. If someone decides to sell an item he usually does not disclose his purchase price for bargaining reasons and since this was a private sale I do not want to violate his trust.
I hope you can understand my reasoning.

[johnallg]

Even though I would really like to know what this went for, I do understand. Congrats on the sale.

[ask]

Hello John,
Thanks for the congratulations and understanding my position. I appreciate it
Tony

[lemonfresh]

hey there everybody. I am blown away by the condition of this vibrola. The cleanest i have ever seen by far.

i happen to own the other half of this holy grail piece and am interested in reuniting it with one of these vibrolas. these were sold with the amplifier and a mounting arm which i have !! The amp is in pretty rough shape cosmetically but has been gone through top to bottom by bob dixon at amp hole and is back in great working order. i ran a strat and a les paul through it and it sounds incredible to say the least. with this being one of the rarest items i have ever seen or owned, i am having a hard time pinpointing the value of the amp. can anybody help out with this? i cant find any others out there and no pictures on the web anywhere. i seriously think the one i have may be one of the last one or two in existance. i know that they only produced 90 of these units. this is the end all piece for any collector. to have the matching set is virtually impossible. please let me know if any of you guys can help. thanks !

i will post pics as soon as i figure out how to do it.