Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

They used to advertise in bassplayer with a big Ric bass picture, did that for a long time.

I think the pictures they post aren't of the guitars they sell. I think they use catalog photo's. Since they don't have the guitars in stock they need to use the catalog shots. When I ordered the 350V63 FG they had a disclaimer about the saying the finish may vary.

I think several dealers do this.

I get their used equipment update each Monday morning.

They provide links to excellent photos and meticulous descriptions for most of the stuff over about $150.00 or so. In these listings you can find $10,000 Martins cheek-by-jowl next to $150.00 Squier Teles--they will resell anything, it seems.

The most amazing thing to me is that virtually every instrument they list needs some work, ranging from fret levelling to neck resets. I suppose this goes with the territory of scrupulous honesty?

They will not ship used amps anymore. Too much trouble/damage. They recently have been listing sheet music, postcards and other memorabilia. Not usually my cuppa, though I did pick up an original "Acquarela do Brasil" music sheet with Donald Duck and José Carioca on the cover and Pao de Acucar (Sugar Loaf) in the background, from 1942, for $4.00. It arrived in excellent condition; very well-packed for the money.

"Acquarela do Brasil" is better known by the shortened title "Brazil" on these shores...Acquarela means "watercolor" and the song title is colloquially translated as "A watercolor sketch of Brasil".

It was written in 1942 by Ary Barroso for a Disney cartoon "Saludos Amigos" which had Donald Duck travelling through South America from south to north, encountering colorful characters on his way. José was the most memorable and reappeared in numerous cameos in other Disney cartoons.

This cartoon was a political sop to the USA's "Good Neighbor" policy, teaming up with many countries on the South American continent to defeat the Axis menace. For instance, my own adopted Brasilian city, Natal, was the site of a huge American air base, from which bombers flew missions over Africa, as it is the closest spot on the S. American continent to the African continent.

That WWII air base is now Augusto Severo International Airport.

Sorry...am I rambling off-topic?

Anyhow, my own experiences with Elderly have been pleasant. Oh, their instrument prices? Not bad for a large dealer. Good thing they're in Michigan and not NYC or LA...

"They recently have been listing sheet music, postcards and other memorabilia."

They have always sold this stuff including many books and hard to find CDs. They have decent size section in the store and a separate catalog for all that.

Paul W., I think my dad flew out of Natal a couple of times during the second unpleasantness. I don't believe they actually flew bombing missions from there to Africa, but that was a jumping off point for ferrying bombers to the forces stationed there. Dad mentioned (IIRC) Natal, Ascension Island, and then some place on the coast of Africa. He was a radio operator (in those days, a crewman was tasked with the radio and interpreting Morse code messages, etc.), and flew in what he called the "A-30" (Martin Baltimore) delivered to the RAF. He dead-headed back on either Boeing or Martin Clippers and made at least two ferry missions. They were packed with fuel and even had belly tanks faired into the bomb bays for the increased range needed. So I doubt actual bombing missions flew from Natal as even a one-way Transatlantic trip would allow little room (weight) for bombs.

So do you have a second home in Natal?

Hmmm...this is at odds with the official line of the Natal C of C, but I'm not surprised...minds get cloudy that close to the equator, and hard facts are scarce.

There were hundreds of Yanks stationed there, and many stayed or returned to settle after WWII. Few left now. I have a house and studio there.

Back in the time of WWII, the local politicos would stage mixer-type dances to get the citizenry and the flyboys together. On the bilingual posters, they would print that the dances were "for all".

Brasilians misinterpreted the words they heard to be a type of dance, called the "Fo HO". In Portuguese, this is spelled "Forró".

So Northeastern Brasilian indigenous dancing music, heavy on the accordion, and somewhat resembling polka and schottische, is called "Forró".

I can't tolerate it, personally, but anyway you read it here first...

polka?

Nope, Forró:

Also, don't forget that the Germans held the areas in the northern countries around Libya, Algeria, Egypt, and Tunisia. It was more of an extension of the Mediterranean Theatre. Just the range from likely landing spots on the central west coast of Africa to German-held areas was several thousand miles (and across the Sahara).

The ferried aircraft were received by the RAF on the west coast, then flown up to Allied bases to the units that used them in combat. Most were medium bombers such as the Baltimore, the A-20 Boston, and probably some B-25 Mitchells. The aircraft used by the RAF and the USAAF 8th Air Force in Britain were flown up the outer provinces of Canada, Greenland, Iceland and "down" to the British Isles. Sounds circuitous, but it's kinduva straight line on the globe.

I dunno, that Forró guy looks as frightening as Weird Al !

That's the late, great Luis Gonzaga, the much-revered King of Forró. He put it on the map, so to speak...

The hat is an adaptation of local Indian headdress. I have one just like it somewhere.

Most people think of Rio and naked ladies when you mention Brasil. In fact, it is a deeply devout Catholic country that only tolerates display of flesh (it IS Latin, after all), EXCEPT at Carnaval, where it all hangs out with blessings. It is said that half the beautiful women on the street in Carnaval in Rio, aren't (women, that is).

Beaches there are about the same as So Cal, definitely not as wild as Tenerife or the Canary Islands or even the South of France.

But the Northeast, wherein lies Natal--it is just plain weird; nothing at all like Rio or Sao Paulo. Quite lawless, too.

Paul W. - I'd love to visit there someday, even the less than wild places.

Paul B. - My Dad was a B-25 co-pilot in Italy (12th Air Force, 57th Bomb Wing, 310th Bomb Group, 428th Squadron). Ask you Dad if some of these places sound familiar - this is taken from Dad's flight logbook when he came home a month or two after VE day:

Fano to Naples
Naples to Tunis
Tunis to Marrakech
Marrakech to Dakar
Dakar to Roberts, Lib.
Roberts, Lib. to Ascension
Ascension to Natal
Natal to Belem
Belem to Atkinson to Borinquen
Borinquen to Savannah