Commemoration - Your Guitar's Manufacture Anniversary

rickenbrother · Post by **rickenbrother** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 5:26 pm

August '73

walker · Post by **walker** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 5:27 pm

Sweet! The first one. Just curious, Tom - what color are your dot markers? A lot of 74's are red instead of black. According to Dale F, there were some done in green & blue, too.

ram · Post by **ram** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 5:37 pm

They are nice little red dots on the white binding!

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 5:54 pm

Beautiful maple, Tom - love the story. Kind of similar to mine - They had an FG on the wall and it was nice, but the pinker FG. Just as I was going to leave, I'd mentioned when I called they said they had two basses. The owner was working on a late 40s Kay guitar and looked up at the wall and then told the sales guy to look in the back. He disappears, I look at used speakers, and he returns with a case. I think, "Watch, it will be MapleGlo". And it was. It had Mine written all over it.

rick_ovic · Post by **rick_ovic** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 2:16 am

Tom & John, thanks for the stories. I really dig this thread

ram · Post by **ram** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 3:16 am

John, thanks - I love the MG as well. Did I mention I am a woodgrain-aholic. Some day I will get a picture of it that will do the grain justice. What year is yours? Will it be featured here at MFG its time?

Darren, agreed - cool thread - thanks Mark for starting it.

headbanger · Post by **headbanger** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 5:44 am

Yes , great thread Mark. OK here's my story.
Back when I was 21(1984) I decided to get a Rick bass, I'd had enough of ****** P copies and have always loved the Rick sound that Glenn Hughes got on Made in Europe. So, That particular Sunday there were two Rick's in the paper one for 450 & a JG for 550. I only had enough money for the cheaper one. Girlfriend & I had to drive miles to get there & the guy opens the case on a FG bass. I liked the feel of it so we paid the guy a $50 deposit & arranged to pick it up from where he worked on Monday. It was the FG 64 4001S/1999 you all now know. Thank God I didn't like JG!
I never new it's value or pedigree or age until I got on the net in 98. The first thing I did was look up Rickenbacker. Can you imagine my surprise...

Not only a 1999 but the most beautiful of any found even now.
The second RM I got was the 65 1997. I found it hanging on the wall at my local rehearsal rooms/sh guitar store. It cost the equivalent to US$1750. A good price at the time I thought.
The 3rd RM & the 1999 which Mark now owns came from the same store, they called & said it was coming in & offered me first look. Considering they were handmade & different batches they felt identical to play. AFAIK this one might have been in the store once before & sold for aus$950 because the owner couldn't adjust the neck & gave it up as a bad joke. Well I fixed that pretty quick. I've removed the rods from two RM1999's & fixed them, how's that for balls?!
The last RM story I've got is the 1999 case. The very same store told me of a guy who rehearsed there who has "a case just like yours" which he had bought for his Ibanez copy for $20! I asked them if they would arrange a meeting. I offered him a SKB 4003 case and a set of knobs in exchange . Vince Gallo now has that one. I wonder what happened to the bass...

walker · Post by **walker** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 8:31 am

Great stories, Gerry. Funny how color made the decision between owning and NOT owning the RM-1999. Because I DO like Jetglo, I chose my 1979 4001 over another MG 4001 Rick bass with CB & MOP inlays that was in the store on the same day that I bought mine. I don't know what year bass it was, and I can't even recall if it had an HS PU or not. That sort of detail was lost on me at age 16. Plus, it was 1982, so not many people were 'Vintage Literate" at that time anyway.

By the way, no regrets on picking up the '79 4001 JG. It was my first "real" bass, and it still kicks serious butt.

Somewhere I've got pics of me playing it back when I was 16. I'll have to post those when I can find them. We both looked a lot different back then!

gregga41 · Post by **gregga41** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 4:43 pm

This may be a slight twist to the thread in that i have a different reason to celebrate the anniversaries that my guitars own! As seen in the SoCal pics, my MID 330/12 is a 2002 model,built in the same year i married my beautiful wife, Andrea.
My FG360/6 is a 2005 build date, the year my second son Paul was born!
As to my JG350/6,it's a 1990 model,which bears no significant year reference for me, but it is a guitar that i associate with the one and only John Lennon! The significance here is that my firstborn son,Kieran,shares his birthday with JWL!
All in all, thats more than good enough for me!

walker · Post by **walker** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 5:22 am

Nice! Definitely good enough!

ram · Post by **ram** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 11:19 am

Greg, maybe do a feature for each on the month of the instrument or the date with which you associate it. Mayhaps throw in a picture or two! Great correlations....

alanz · Post by **alanz** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 5:52 am

The SnotGlo is 30 this month.

Years ago, maybe 30, maybe 29 (and I really wish I could remember) , I went with a pal to the Rickenbacker factory in Santa Ana when he picked up his then brand-new 4001. I immediately fell in love with his ultra-cool customized 4001; it was white with white trim.

Many years later this one came up on E-bay and I decided I had to have it. The guy who sold it to me was in Tustin, the town immediately next door to Santa Ana. I've often wondered if this is THE bass (but it probably isn't).

Anyway, happy birthday authentic vintage SnotGlo 4001! Your neck is super-slim and super-fast, your tone is classic and your "relic"-ing is genuine.

ram · Post by **ram** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 2:52 pm

If I count correctly, this month is the build anniversary of my 4003s5 – the 39th week of 2000. This all started with a Fe^@#r Squire 5 string I had bought more as a toy. While the five strings playing became very cool, I wasn’t real thrilled with the pickups and other stuff (it is a nice intro 5string bass thou). I was thinking maybe dumping some pickups and other stuff into it when a friend said “doesn’t Rickenbacker make any 5 stringers?” I said well I think they used to…. So the search began. I have never really been a fan of the 4003 thick neck profile and was a little nervous about it on the 4003s5 I found on EBay. But I figured if I didn’t like it I could sell it. When it arrived (a couple years ago in Oct) I must admit I was surprised how the thick neck just seemed so ‘right’ with the 5 strings. The pitch between the strings took a little getting used to but it turned out to be a neat arrangement. It makes for a very quick play. So, it was a real mono ‘S’ model but I added Ric-O-Sound jack (which in my mind/ear sounds fantastic). This is the 2nd Ric I've ever owned and the first toaster. A great addition to the family. At 7 years old, just a baby… but what a pretty voice!

The picture really doesn’t do it justice – a little too red, but it’s the best I can do right now.

walker · Post by **walker** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:24 pm

Nice, Tom. That's a 5-pole Alnico HS PU?

ram · Post by **ram** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 4:38 am

Thanks Mark. I assume that to be correct but not sure, how could I tell? It has 5 poles that much I DO know.