Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Saw this price adjustment tonight at the Boutique. Guitar Toaster® assembly kit (SKU 00030) increased in price 50 cheeseburgers. No change in bass Toaster® assembly kit at 100 cheeseburgers (SKU 00031). Scored six 00030's last week at the previous price. Perhaps they'll return to that level in the near future.

Regards from the unfazed,

In stock just in time for a 50 percent price increase. Geez, 150 bucks for a pickup.

I'll admit to being a bit rankled for maybe the first time in my life at Santa Ana.

The bass toaster is temporarily unavailable. If it remains at $100 why wouldn't you just buy that one for a guitar and drill out the threads on the aluminum back plate? My guess is that when it becomes available the prices will match.

OK, I think that sews it up for me. My guitar will remain stock with high gains when it comes. Besides, I'd never be able to sound exactly like RM, or GH no matter how I tried anyway. Stealing licks here and there is good enough.

JimK

I have to say I didn't agree with Mr Hall's assertion on the RIC forum that many pickups are more expensive than this and yet (some) are made overseas (like China), and that almost all less-expensive pickups are made overseas.

Boutique pickup makers like Jason Lollar, Lindy Fralin, Bill Lawrence, TV Jones, typically price their pickups in the $90 to $130 range. They are made in the USA. They have excellent reputations. Joe Barden's list higher than $150, and are USA-made.

I personally think $150 is a lot for a pickup, and Rickenbacker kind of has enthusiasts over a barrel. With other guitars, if you want a P90, if you want a PAF style humbucker, etc, you have plenty of good choices. But few people would stick a non-Rickenbacker pickup on their Ric, especially when it comes to toasters.

robbo63 wrote:I personally think $150 is a lot for a pickup, and Rickenbacker kind of has enthusiasts over a barrel. With other guitars, if you want a P90, if you want a PAF style humbucker, etc, you have plenty of good choices. But few people would stick a non-Rickenbacker pickup on their Ric, especially when it comes to toasters.

Agree, agree, agree! A toaster now costs just $10 less than a pair of Lindy Fralin Jazz-bass pickups (I've been on the hunt for replacements).

A 50% price increase without a detailed justification is always an "interesting" event - it leads to the very uncomfortable question - was your old price way too low or is the current price way too high? Any answer is going to make you look less than brilliant, unless you can convincingly point to extenuating circumstances (e.g. weak USD, much higher market price for inputs etc). Without a justification, this is the kind of event that has the potential to significantly erode credibility and alientate customers. Perhaps a release from RIC would smooth the waters????

I'm glad I waited to cool off before sending this - the original draft was UGLY!

Not that it eases the actual hit to the consumer's wallet, but you're right on with the mention of the weak U.S. dollar/increased cost of inputs comment. Mr. Hall likely just wanted to spare us all the boring details(people don't like to hear this sort of stuff, and it doesn't usually make them feel any better even when they listet), and instead offer some perspective wrt comparisons(which might offer some solace).

In any case, it's all Economics:

The market for toasters is much more limited by sheer numbers than the market for other boutique pickups, meaning that there are many more instruments out there for which these other boutique pickups are being made, so there is greater demand for these other boutique pickups. Greater demand=greater production numbers for these other boutique pickups. It's a basic law of economics that when more of a specific item is produced, the cost per unit of production goes down, which is a large part of the reason that these other boutique pickups cost less than a single toaster pickup-would anyone care to gues show many MIM J or P basses ther are out ther whose owners have improved a bass that has weak pickups, but is otherwise quite nice, by upgrading their pickups?

There is also more to a toaster pickup, specifically a nifty chrome cover, which alone costs $20(more now perhaps?) at POTR.

The other part of the the price increase is the likely due to the aforementioned plunge in the value of the U.S. dollar-it's worth less, so it's purchasing power has declined-RIC has to pay more on their end for everything it takes to build toasters, so they pass along the cost to those of us who are buying toasters.

A 50% price hike That's ridiculous! I think they are just trying to make as much profit off of a product as possible.
For example...You buy a mono output jack from RIC for $15 that realistically costs them, with no production costs, 3-4 bucks each when purchased in bulk. Is that inflation? I think not.
I'm just glad I have 4-5 Toaters lying around already...

This is Ben Brown and I approve this message...

Today was a sublime day. Six new guitar Toasters® arrived on campus. I'm definitely diggin' the vibes. Paid for 'em Monday of last week before the price increase.

Late,

If anyone is looking for toasters, Fuller's Vintage Guitars in Houston has several in stock at $100 each. I just bought two this afternoon after reading this thread last night. They also have a few Accent Vibrolas, too.

mike_d wrote:If anyone is looking for toasters, Fuller's Vintage Guitars in Houston has several in stock at $100 each. I just bought two this afternoon after reading this thread last night. They also have a few Accent Vibrolas, too.

Mike, thank you for sharing this info with us. Glad you were able to score a couple of Toasters® at the right price. Best regards....Goofyfoot.

So glad I got toasters for my 360-12 two yrs ago!

goofyfoot wrote:

mike_d wrote:If anyone is looking for toasters, Fuller's Vintage Guitars in Houston has several in stock at $100 each. I just bought two this afternoon after reading this thread last night. They also have a few Accent Vibrolas, too.

Mike, thank you for sharing this info with us. Glad you were able to score a couple of Toasters® at the right price. Best regards....Goofyfoot.

No problem. I was careful not to mention the recent price increase on the Ric website. I got a feeling that they will raise prices once they find out. They at least 10-15 more inside a display case.

I have never paid list for any RIC parts including pickups at my local Rick dealer. Prior to this increase I would pay around $65 for a toaster. That is about 35% off MSRP. If I can still get that discount it puts a toaster with new pricing at about $100.