Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I guess the problem with establishing what the facts of the matter is that we're dealing with people who aren't so keen or even knowledgable on the facts, including Ringo himself. These guys are not like us in terms of knowing the finer points of Rickenbacker guitars, how to tell a re-issue from a real vintage one, or even how to tell one model from another. It's just not that important to them. There's also the issue of them basically telling the interviewer what they want to hear, or allowing themselves to be kind of lead by the desire of what the interviewer wants them to say, in order to make a good story for the fans. It's what they do for a living...

It calls to mind a similar claim that held for quite some time, with many people also swearing it to be true, that Ringo had one of George's performance Country Gents. This threw the cat among the pigeons as various other accounts have one being traded for another guitar (perhaps the Tenny), and one falling off the back of the lorry on the way to a gig, and a few other storys. I believe in the end it turned out that any Gent that Ringo had (if there was indeed one permanently in his possession) would have been a re-issue. It seems poor Ringo has the reputation of getting hand-me-down beatle guitars. Perhaps the 1996 story is a continuation of the Gent story ala chinese whispers or perhaps not. We will most likely never know the facts on either guitar.

Clifton wrote:I feel like Andy Babiuk has established pretty convincingly that Ringo owns the guitar.

When Andy was writing his book in the early 2000s, I asked him specifically about this guitar and he told me not only that Ringo still had it but that Andy was going to be given access to it for purposes of the book. I had no reason to doubt him then, nor now. I only have the first edition of the book (I have copy number 1 sold, with documentation to prove it) but it is packed away and I am not sure if pictures of the guitar ever made it to edition #1 or edition #2.

Ringo's had this guitar for years. I believe he recently let it be auctioned.

scoobster28 wrote:

Clifton wrote:I feel like Andy Babiuk has established pretty convincingly that Ringo owns the guitar.

When Andy was writing his book in the early 2000s, I asked him specifically about this guitar and he told me not only that Ringo still had it but that Andy was going to be given access to it for purposes of the book. I had no reason to doubt him then, nor now. I only have the first edition of the book (I have copy number 1 sold, with documentation to prove it) but it is packed away and I am not sure if pictures of the guitar ever made it to edition #1 or edition #2.

I have the 2002 (revised) edition of Babiuk's book. The main picture used for the Rose Morris 1996 (in the "1964" chapter on pages 154/155) is captioned as a "similar model". The caption to the picture of this "similar model" 1996 guitar, and the detailed text below it, repeat the claim that Ringo was the owner of Lennon's original 1996 at the time Babiuk was writing the book.

Lonestarringo wrote:Ringo's had this guitar for years. I believe he recently let it be auctioned.

?? Tell more.

(chirpets cricking........)

Ringo is auctioning the model 1996 off! Check out Julien's Auction. full video of it! beautiful guitar...

engineer909 wrote:Ringo is auctioning the model 1996 off! Check out Julien's Auction. full video of it! beautiful guitar...

As noted on another RRF topic: viewtopic.php?f=68&t=413235

See also: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/ ... or-charity

I guess this development renders the previous 67 posts about the whereabouts of JL's RM1996 somewhat superfluous.

BTW, if you miss out in the auction, I would be prepared to let go of my mint 2008 re-issue model RM 1996 for somewhat less than the $800K guide price!

SOLD at auction in Beverly Hills, CA, for $910,000 - as reported on the BBC website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35019638

Anyone on the RRF know who bought it?

redamber wrote:SOLD at auction in Beverly Hills, CA, for $910,000 - as reported on the BBC website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35019638

Anyone on the RRF know who bought it?

Jim Irsay, owner of the Colts football team bought it along with one of Ringo's Ludwig drum kits.

Thanks for the info, Thomas. I suppose it may surface again at auction sometime in the future.

As a die hard Colts fan, I am glad that my support of my favorite sports team also helped to support someone else's Beatles addiction!