Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I'm sure most of us have let one slip right through our hands a time or 2.

Here's mine: When I first started the Motorhead tribute band, I had to have a Ric (duh). I called all of my local shops to see if they had one and one of them had just brought in a 73 Walnut 4001 an hour before I called. I got to the store 10 minutes after they had opened and the clerk informed me that it had just sold to the guy that was walking out as I was walking in. This bass was gorgeous. The finish was nice and have some wear in the mojo spots. I believe it may have ahd checkerboard but that part of my memory is pretty hazy as I was rather upset, especially since it had sold for $1000 which I had on me in cash. This was in 2004. I think I shed a tear.

What's your story?

I remember passing on a Shadow back when there was one on eBay every week. It was $1295 at Mandolin Bros. This must have been summer 2005 or so. It had an incredible neck and checkered binding, but it wasn't in great shape, and I "didn't need another black Rick bass".

After that (and still continuing to today, pretty much), there was a drought on Shadows, and the lone one on eBay in the past year or so went for like $7k in a crazy bidding war. But regardless of what their worth, they're great basses and I wish I had grabbed it.

I've owned a bunch of Rick basses now, but the one I regret selling is my 4001c64. I got it at an unbeliveable bargain via a second chance offer, and it proceeded to be my #1 studio bass for the next 6 months. Eventually, the ultra heavy Pyramid Strings took their toll on the toothpick-thin neck, and with the imminent "v68-ing" of my 4003, I decided it'd be superfluous.

It did make it's way onto a whole bunch of recordings and for that i'm glad. One of these days, i'm gonna find another.

In 1981, I had exactly $9500.00 left over from a tax fund, thanks to a good tax attorney. I decided to treat myself to a Kool Kar. I found a '32 Ford (in steel!)Hiboy roadster in the Sunday LA Times, at a FIAT dealership about 50 miles from my house, for $8500.00. I spoke to the dealer, and the car sounded like about a $15-17K car, complete and ready to drive with nice mojo as Sean says.

On the way down to buy it, I was pulled by a CHP officer for having tinted windows in my then-new SAAB Turbo. He wrote me up and took his sweet time.

I got to the dealer just as the car was driving away with its new owner.

I still want a Deuce Hiboy, but these days they're in the $50K range for nice steel ones.

Back to our Rickenbacker stories...I've been lucky so far in scoring and not missing.

I posted this before sometime, but it still kills me.:

I found a cool salesman at the Sherman Oaks Guitar Center (almost an oxymoron there!) and had him do a chain wide search for a 4001CS. Turns out there was one single brand new example in stock, in Northern California, no less.

Gave him my deposit and went home trying to figure out how I was going to pay the balance when it arrived.

Long story short, I choked and didn't find the money needed. They sold it the same day they called me. Never even got to see it.

A few years later I got my Squire, used, and nearly twice the cost.

Damn I hated being young! (at least financially).

I think it was September of '03, an early 4004Cii with the quilted maple top was on eBay. I think I bid up to $1200 for it, but it sold to a 0-feedback bidder for $1600. One of very few that I couldn't land. I've been blessed with having enough $$ at the right time for all the others. Someday, that quilted MG will come back around, and I'll be ready for it!

Oh wow,,,where do I begin.?...probably the 4001CS that I could have had for $900.00 in '98. Brand new,,I probably could have dickered on the price, as the store owner was a friend of mine, and going through a slow period.

The Maplego 4002 that Mike Parks had forever for $3750.00 (I almost bought that one),,Damn!

Of course there were the Fenders in the early days....

It was worse than that Scott!

It was only $3,395!!!!

wow. WOW

When I was searching for my CS Mike had a MG V63 for $1,595, My Squire for $2,395, and the 4002.

Talk about a good time to be shopping!

Wish I still had:
325/12v63 JG
4003s/8 JG (two of this model/color)
230GF

Live and learn.

My biggest "one that got away" was simply that I could have easily ordered two LK's instead of one.

In that light, I found out about the 4001CS models released in 1991 in 1994. Only 1000 made and I believed they'd all be gone. Then I find out here many years later people were still buying them up through 1995. Sigh....

John, I think people were still buying them through '99 and 2000.

That makes me feel even better about it!!

I had a mint JG 320 (with f-hole) that I bought secondhand in 1980. Don't know what year it was, and back then I didn't know how to determine such things on Ricks. Didn't care either, it was a nice guitar. Believe I paid $200-250 for it.

Also, at that time, I didn't know how to set up Ricks, so it was kind of frustrating and I didn't play it much - maybe did 20 gigs with it over the next couple years. Mostly it sat at home.

So a friend had recently gotten a job after a long fallow period and wanted to buy it from me, just to have a guitar of some sort. So I sold it to him (for $250) with the understanding that I could buy it back when he wanted to move on to something else. Knowing that guy, I knew it'd only be a matter of time before he got tired of it and this "sale" was more of a temporary "rental" kind of thing. So, since I wasn't using it I could get some cash and still look forward to buying it back shortly.

A month or two later, his house gets burglarized and one guess as to what got stolen... ;-\