Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Jim, your guitar certainly looks good. You're a dealer, so I certainly wouldn't presume to try and tell you anything about selling it, but I thought I'd share "just one guy's opinion" for you to consider or ignore, as you see fit.

The one you saw on Ebay go for $2899 was listed as a new one (at least "new" in Ebay terms, as the seller wasn't a Ric dealer) with a '08 SN. From what I can see, Ric has apparently tweaked their AFG and FG finishes a bit, as the finish on that guitar appears considerably different than the one on yours and mine (as I mentioned above, also an '06 SN). Some will like the newer finish better, though (with my acknowledged bias ) I tend to think the earlier AFG more closely resembles the actual Rose Morris finishes from the '60s, based on photos I've seen of them.

The other consideration is that *I think* even the last 1996s coming out of Ric today (if they're still coming) are filling out the last remaining orders from '06 when they were announced (somewhere around $2300-$2400 IIRC). The two Ric dealers I've done business with are/were still selling the guitars based on the '06 order price. Can't say that's true for everyone, but that's the story with the two guys I deal with. At least one of those guys was still taking deposits up to about 6 mos ago for 1996s he had on order that hadn't found an interested buyer yet.

As I said, I offer the above in the spirit of just swapping opinions on a very nice instrument by Ric. Yours looks to be a fine example, so good luck with the sale, and welcome to RRF.

Cheers,

Bill

Bill:

I personally like the earlier ones as they are truer to the originals finish wise. Please point me to where there is one available right now stateside in AFG and if so, at what price? If I were a Ric dealer, I would also take a non-refundable deposit and wait for delivery knowing it will be a long time before they get around to making another batch of them.

I know that Rickenbacker will never divulge how many they actually made in 2006 or for that matter were shipped within the states, but how many 2006's do you see floating around? My question is a bit rhetorical, for that I apologize.

Jim: From the Register, which is completely unofficial, we have identified 18 Model 1996 instruments in AFG to date. I offer this list as an indication of what is readily seen. It is not meant to be definitive.

Jim,

I sent you a PM.

Cheers, Bill

Bill:

Check your inbox...

big jim's guitars wrote:So John, how many did ship to the USA? Tell me and I will gladly report it in the listing.

I'll bite, as I really don't like to see this kind of balderdash.

As it happens, 153 were shipped in the USA, so I'll expect to see your listing revised accordingly.

The rare one would be the 1996 Jetglow Black, for which 13 units were shipped in the USA.

John:

Thanks for the valuable information...I too don't like balderdash, rubbish or otherwise and I will so state the numbers in the listing.

Many thanks,

Jim

Very interesting, John. Thank you for this information. Another excellent example of why what we are able to see on the Internet is often times only the tip of the iceberg. The United States is a very big place.

johnhall wrote:The rare one would be the 1996 Jetglow Black, for which 13 units were shipped in the USA.

D'OH!!!!! I had one in my lap once, shoulda jumped but I had a FG example already. Oh well....can't have 'em all....

I love the 1996 Fireglos specifically because of the John Fogerty connection. I cannot speak for John Hall but I remember a couple of years ago a discussion on a Fogerty Signature model and he said that discussions had occurred with John Fogerty at one time. Nothing has of yet come of it, and I don't know if the conversations are still ongoing. I would think that it would be tough to do as John's current 325 doesn't have a Rickenbacker nameplate (at one time I think it read ACME), and thus it would look strange to have a brand new Rickenbacker that didn't say Rickenbacker on the TRC! And, that would make illegal copies even easier since sellers could claim that some legitimate Rickenbackers don't have TRCs.

Anyways, I love the 325 1996 and if I bought one I would install a humbucker and Bigsby to look like Fogerty's (who shares my birthday). BUT, I would keep the TRC saying Rickenbacker.

leftybass wrote:

johnhall wrote:The rare one would be the 1996 Jetglow Black, for which 13 units were shipped in the USA.

D'OH!!!!! I had one in my lap once, shoulda jumped but I had a FG example already. Oh well....can't have 'em all....

1996JG for sale:

http://www.fullersguitar.com/component/ ... Itemid,42/

They still probably won't be worth more than an AFG down the road, though.

And a steal at only $3,071!!!

I have had a lot of Rickenbackers since 1981 but my 2006 "1996" is my favorite.

So if 153 were shipped in the USA, I wonder how manny were made total to this day? And are all the orders completed or are there still some being made?
At some point Rickenbacker should know exactly how manny 1996's were made total. That would be a nice bit of info the have!