Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

86kubicki wrote:

rickfan60 wrote: A former forum member insisted that only 38 were made. He never said how he knew that though. I asked John Hall about it during the 75th. He says as far as he knows the run was completed.

What I find interesting is that while we've only seen a small number of Rednecks, by contrast we've seen many Shadows (either owned by forum members or seen on Ebay), from what was a run half that of the Rednecks. This is why I'm a bit skeptical that the full run of Rednecks was produced, (unless someone gobbled them up and hid them in their basement ).

+1

One of the things I've been trying to find out for the book is the number of the certified "limited editions" actually produced. Just saying on a certificate that this is No. 100 out of 125 doesn't necessarily mean that all 125 were produced. Unlike limited-edition prints where the entire edition is produced in one press run, I'm pretty sure these limited-run basses were made to fulfill orders after they were announced. So if they said 125 in the edition, and only 105 were ordered over a certain span of time, it could be that only a few more than 105 were produced. We may never know for sure unless we can locate someone's certificate that actually states "No. 125 of 125." It wouldn't make sense for RIC to make an entire run and let them sit in storage until they sold. It could be that pre-orders might establish the size of the edition, however. Maybe that's how they did it.

Yes, that "triumvirate" shot is Ted's collection photographed by me at the Milwaukee Confluence. Send royalty check to me. Ka-ching!

I am told that there were exactly 38 Rednecks made and 11 were 8 stringers. Whether or not that is true remains to be seen. If there were 125 of them out there we would certainly expect to have seen more than one appear on Ebay in the last 5 years. Given the appearances of Shadows, Blackstars, and Tuxedos, the Rednecks are quite scarce.

We may never know for sure unless we can locate someone's certificate that actually states "No. 125 of 125."

Maybe. There is a forum member that had a certificate for a limited edition guitar that had the same number of the run as another guitar. I believe he discoverd this with the registration here. So when he contacted the factory to have a new certificate issued he asked if he could have the last number of the run. They obliged him.

ken_j wrote:

We may never know for sure unless we can locate someone's certificate that actually states "No. 125 of 125."

Maybe. There is a forum member that had a certificate for a limited edition guitar that had the same number of the run as another guitar. I believe he discoverd this with the registration here. So when he contacted the factory to have a new certificate issued he asked if he could have the last number of the run. They obliged him.

Am I understanding you correctly? Two LE guitars had the same certificate number?

Correct.

rickfan60 wrote:

Am I understanding you correctly? Two LE guitars had the same certificate number?

That is a new level of efficiency!!!

I am sure it is just an isolated incident.

I got a Birthday call from SERF last night (thanks to Joey and all!) and the report was there is an 8-string Redneck there. Another reason to beat myself up for not being there. I need a new job....

I am sure Paul Boyer would like to know who owns that 8er.

Oh, yeah, and it was John Minutaglio who brought it along with a Mando Guitar, his wife, Juliette, and new baby (son, IIRC). I'm sure they are prouder of the new kid, but here's a pic of the Redneck 8:

damn! it's good to see pix of the 4008 Redneck. i'd been wanting to see the Petty shot for a while, only had it in b&w myself.

i had heard that there were only 13 of the 8's made, but who knows - even RIC don't seem to have a clue.

what is the estimated value of a Redneck 8 these days?

i've had mine for a number of years now, but don't really play it 'cause of it's rarity. it's got a couple of nicks from the previous owner unfortunately, and i found out first hand that the red finish chips off the fretboard edges around the fretwire if you try and play the thing like a playable bass...

i've often thought of selling it and getting a 4005 or something "not off the shelf", but there's certainly no real market down here in NZ for rare guitars.

Neil, it really shouldn't be considered a 4008, as that was an eight-string version of the 4001 bass. I don't know how the certificates that came with the eight-string versions of the Redneck list it, but technically these are "4003SPC Redneck" (SPC for special), just like the "4003SPC Tuxedo," and "4003SPC Blackstar." As far as I know, the Redneck was the only one of the three available as an eight-string. You're right, nobody has confirmed how may eight-string Rednecks are out there. I recently found out that an eight-string "Blackstar" was made for a special customer, but it is likely the only one.

Cool to be in touch with another owner of the 8-string Redneck. I bought mine for a bargain a few years ago here in Germany from an owner who had no clue what he had in the case. It would be really interesting to know the real market value of these instruments, but I guess there is no way of finding out without putting one on Ebay to see what happens. But who would want to do that? Here are 2 pics of mine....