Your Favorite RIC Acquisition Story?

drumbob · Post by **drumbob** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 6:12 pm

Do you have a favorite story about how you acquired a Rickenbacker guitar? I do, although I must say that in hindsight, I am not proud of what I did. At the time, it seemed justifiable though.

In 1985, I worked for the Varityper Corporation selling typesetting equipment. My travels took me into Easton, PA, where I discovered an old mom & pop store that sold sporting goods and musical instruments. The store had just been bought by a young man in his thirties. Hanging on the wall was a new old stock RIC 335 in Mapleglo. It was a '67 and had been hanging there for eighteen years! It was a little shopworn, of course, but in very good shape. The owner wanted $400 for it. I tried negotiating with him, but he wouldn't budge. Finally, a couple weeks later, I called him and made arrangements to see him in person the following week to work out a deal on the guitar. He indicated he might come down a little on the price. On the pre-arranged day and time, I showed up at the store; I had made a special trip and went out of my way that day to do so. The owner was nowhere to be found. The kid working there wasn't too bright, but gave me the owner's home phone number. No answer. Then, we called his mother's house. She didn't know where he was. Now, I'm ******. I came up ready to buy and make a deal and the idiot owner was gone. I said to the kid, "I'll give you $200 for the guitar and I think he'll be happy with that price." The kid said, "Uh, er...OK." I gave him $200 and walked out with RIC in hand. Only problem was he couldn't find the case, which I never got. Next day, the store owner called me and ranted and raved about how I ripped him off and got a great deal on the guitar behind his back, to which I replied: "I made a special trip to your store and drove way out of my way to meet you at the time we agreed upon. You forgot and didn't show up. You lose. See ya."

As I said, that's my story, warts and all. I repeat, I would not pull anything like this again on anyone today. I've become more honest with age, I guess.

By the way, I turned the guitar over a couple months later for a nice profit.

Any other stories?

eggman · Post by **eggman** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:26 pm

Howdy,

What a score! Nice going, you old devil! Gee-wiz, for that price, you could order a case from someplace and still come out way "on top". Congrats. In January 1986 I bought a made-in-Kalamazoo Epiphone Casino for $200.

Eggman

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 12:29 am

Well, Bob, this isn't much of a welcome to this here Forum, and I apologize up front for that, but here's my take on your story:

You DID rip the guy off. The fact that you drove "out of your way" is part of the risk in negotiating that purchase. To take advantage of the owner's son was unconscionable. And then you "turned it for a nice profit"...

What's the difference between that and walking by a house, seeing a Rickenbacker sitting on the porch, and taking it, leaving a couple of hundred dollar bills in its stead?

I do not think this was "nice going". I do think this was "bad karma". And I (personally) would not tell this confessional tale to anyone. I hope you feel better now, but I feel a bit sad myself.

godber · Post by **godber** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 2:54 am

$400 in 1985 was a fabulous price anyway. I like the Karma reference, maybe this is time for a my-name-is-Earl moment...

webhead · Post by **webhead** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:27 am

I don't think that was ripping the guy off in any way at all. An offer was made, the seller took the offer. Whether it be a kid working there or the owner. The kid has a responsibility. If he's stupid, so what. Definately not the buyer's problem. The seller should have known what the going rate for that was at the time. And he should have been there if he knew a buyer was coming. It's not the customer's job to say "Hey you're not charging me enough!" That would definately not happen.

I remember an instance when I walked into a used record shop and saw a paste-over Beatles "Y&T" LP with the Butcher cover underneath. It was marked $6.99. So I bought it. It wasn't a pirate copy either, it was the real deal.

I know we're all honest, but if it's beyond our control, not much we can do about it.

longhouse · Post by **longhouse** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 4:46 am

With the exception of one special order from Pick Of The Ricks, all of mine have come into my hands in that A.A. Milne 'usual way'. I walk into to Willcutt's Guitar Shoppe with that determined look in my eyes and say, "I need to speak with Bob". After specifying which model, finish, and options I want, I drop a downpayment, sign a form, and walk away feeling like I've just asked Leslie Caron on a date -and she said YES.

At the moment, I'm waiting to see what the man behind the curtain has in store for us for the 75th...

All the best, Noel

Easton, PA Bob? Ah, my EX-wife hailed from Bethlehem. Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton are pretty much one town. Nazareth, the home of Martin Guitars, is a 10 minute drive. I like the area -and Guitar Villa is a nice store.

iamthebassman · Post by **iamthebassman** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 5:27 am

In 1991 my best friend Becky and I went to a guitar show here in Austin. We found the Southpaw booth and there it was; a brand-new lefty 4001CS, for $1100. Well, I had $400. Next to it was a beautiful '80 lefty 4003FG. For $800. Becky loaned me the extra $400 and it was mine. As we were leaving I took a picture of the amazing looking 4001CS.
One year later. Another guitar show. Southpaw booth. The CS is still unsold. I play it, then hang it back up, no money.
About 6 months later, the small computer-repair company that Becky and I own at the time has a great quarter. Since she works part-time(she's going to UT), and I'm full-time, she suggests I give myself a $1000 bonus for the busy quarter we'd had. OK. I write myself a check for $1000, take it to the bank, and call Southpaw in Houston.
Yes, they still have the CS and the price has dropped to $1000. That was a Friday afternoon.
Saturday morning I'm driving the 4 hours to Houston. I'm waiting in the parking lot for them to open at 11.
At 11:30 I walk out with a brand-new silver RIC case in hand.

bassduke49 · Post by **bassduke49** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 5:30 am

Ah, you mean Leslie Caron as she was in the 1960s ! Yes.

I recently bought a 2002 Jetglo 4003 in near mint condition on eBay for a BIN of $500 ! He had monkeyed around trying aftermarket Bartolini pickups and couldn't get it to work, threw up his hands and dumped it. There's still a dent in my return/execute key from hitting it hard and fast.

webhead · Post by **webhead** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 6:27 am

My first RIC was a 70s Jetglo 4003 for $400. It was near mint.. I still miss it.

blueflamerick · Post by **blueflamerick** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:08 am

I was born in Easton PA and grew up in Nazareth. My best Ric acquisition was my white 2030. It sat in the Guitar Center on Comm Ave in Boston for 2 years with a price tag of $599. They would never come down in price, not even $50. I went in there on July 4th, 1998 and it was on sale for $250. Someone else spied it, and I just beat him out to get it.

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:53 am

Ronn, that is incredible that you encountered it 3 times and still got it! My thought is, buy it now, you will never see it again. How fortuitous for you!

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:54 am

How strange that the word "fortuitous" doesn't get flagged by the spell-check, but the word "america" does.

winston · Post by **winston** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:07 am

I suppose I can tell this story now.

A short while ago I spotted a JG 360/V64 on e-Bay. The seller had tried to put a Roland GK-2A pickup on it and in the process had chewed up the top guard very badly. After several discussions with the seller about the condition of the guitar itself I watched the guitar until the day the auction closed.

I was not convinced that the guitar was worth the starting price of $800.00 because of its unknown condition. You see the seller had also performed extensive modifications to the tone circuit putting a Clapton type boost into the control cavity and a treble boost circuit c/w a mini switch was inserted into the lower guard.

This guitar had been seriously modified.

At the last few seconds of the auction I held my nose and placed a bid. Strangely enough no one else placed a bid on it and all of a sudden, I now owned a guitar in a condition that I was really unsure of. I was nervous as can be. Especially when the courier tracking system showed that I would be receiving two parcels. One of 28 lbs and the other of 11 lbs from the seller. The seller had mentioned very briefly that he was including the synth pickup with the guitar.

Imagine my surprise when the two packages arrived and not only did I receive a beautiful Rickenbacker that sounds and plays like it was made for my style of playing, but I also received a Roland Gr-33 Synth module. The module and pickup are worth about $450-500.00 on their own.

So the guitar in fact will have only cost me $3-350.00 assuming that I decide to sell the Roland Synth for the going price. I replaced the top guard and left the rest as it was. It has become my favorite Rickenbacker because it is so versatile.

Amazing but true.

sloop_john_b · Post by **sloop_john_b** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:16 am

I remember that auction Brian. Can't believe her threw in the synth too! What an incredible deal. Even with the mods, $800 is still a steal for a Jetglo v64.

steve_hershberger · Post by **steve_hershberger** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:16 am

I don't know that Bob's story is all that bad, but I'd probably think differently if it was a private sale between individuals. First of all, the store owner was supposed to be there and didn't show up for whatever reasons. Oh well. I do think telling the kid that the owner would be happy with $200 (half the original asking price) is a little on the outrageous side, but then again, the kid didn't have to take it. And there was some efforts made to find the store owner.

On the other hand, if this exact transaction happened at a Guitar Center I'd be willing to bet that a lot of people would be posting their "Congrats on a great score!" - probably with a few "Those idiots deserve it!" comments too.