Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I hope it's ok to post this here.

Well. hard times are setting in and i may have no choice but to sell my 71 Rick. I'm not really sure what it's value is and I was hoping some of you could help me to assess it. It's a really great example.

It has - Flat Grovers, Walnut HS Wings, Full width crushed pearl inlays, Herringbone Binding. Gapped Bridge. Finish is in extremely great shape with some VERY minor wear spots

Cons: non original pickups (RI high gain Horse shoe and long pole toaster) and a couple small finish chips on the fretboard. There is a small route under the long magnet toaster (see photos in link below). The case is period correct and fully functional but I bought it from someone else so it's not original to this bass.

Since acquiring it, I installed a missing tug-bar, replaced a wavy grover with a straight grover and found a 71 jack plate (mine was replaced with an eighties plate when I got it)

Here is an album of photos from when I first acquired it:
http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y274/p ... lor2/rick/

So, what's it worth?

Oh, those old things? Not much, really. Save yourself the trouble of a appraisal and sell it to me.

I reckon a clean one would fetch between $2800 and $3500 these days. Damage and missing parts scale it down from there.

Wow, that's pretty.

I can go as high as $320.

Put another zero on that and it's about what it is worth. However, in this market, you never know.

That RI horseshoe is worth quite a bit on its own these days. It seems to me they have been selling for around $600.

I wish I had the $$. I would be in my car heading to Boston!! I used have a bass just like this in 1980. I regretfully traded it for a Jazz Bass.

basmansam wrote: I regretfully traded it for a Jazz Bass.

(In my mother's voice)

You....WHAT?

That's funny, I sold my first Rick for a JB!

BTW, Steven, I'm interested if you do sell. PM sent.

Funny, I sold my first Rick for a Jazz Bass too.

I sold an early 70s jazz + cash for this Rick.

I emailed you back Kevin. I really need to think about this because I'll, likely, never be able to afford a Rick with all the trimmings again. If the market is so sketchy, I may be better off selling a different bass instead. I have significantly more into it than what I've been quoted above. 8-(

What do you mean by a "Ric with all the trimmings"? There a plenty of good ones out there for around $1.5K or less, basically the same cost (or less) compared to a new American Fender bass.

"All the trimmings" meaning points of value for collectors, I guess, the things that make it desirable that don't have to do with build, playability or tone, per se.

cassius987 wrote:What do you mean by a "Ric with all the trimmings"? There a plenty of good ones out there for around $1.5K or less, basically the same cost (or less) compared to a new American Fender bass.

The features on a pre-73 make it a lot more collectible/valuable on the open market than say, a new one. That's what I mean.

Right but are you a player or a collector? If you're into them for playing, the new ones are just as good. (I would say better but I know many here will say I'm wrong about that.)

cassius987 wrote:Right but are you a player or a collector? If you're into them for playing, the new ones are just as good. (I would say better but I know many here will say I'm wrong about that.)

I've been playing for 20+ years and owned 5 Ricks in that time. I play bass for a living - all my basses are collectible and I play them all. I have nothing against new Ricks but this one, value-wise, is worth significantly more. A non-collector is probably not my target market

cassius987 wrote:Right but are you a player or a collector? If you're into them for playing, the new ones are just as good. (I would say better but I know many here will say I'm wrong about that.)

But he's selling, it, Joshua...It doesn't matter if he's a player or collector. He wants to get the most he can...

Steven, I'd say the others are about right as for the current value, unfortunately. I have a Nov '71 that I paid quite a bit more for than that, but it was when the prices were peaking out a couple years back, plus it was on ebay with many interested big money people bidding, not to mention some questionable tactics employed by at least one of the bidders. It's a gem of a bass, but I really wanted it too much.

cassius987 wrote:Right but are you a player or a collector? If you're into them for playing, the new ones are just as good. (I would say better but I know many here will say I'm wrong about that.)

Basses from different eras definitely have different sounds and feels. I went back and forth between an '08 4003 and a '73 4001 a couple weeks ago, and the sound of the pickups on the '73 were exactly the sound I wanted, and the neck on the '73 felt more comfortable to me. The '08 is a very good bass, but so is the '73, and the '73 suited my style as a player way better. Its aesthetics suit me way better when I have my collector hat on, too.

I'm not saying all '73s are better than all '08s, but for me a good '73 beats out a good '08. I know Jeff Thomas is all about the late 80s 4003s basses -- again due to both the necks and the pickups -- and I know John Allgaier is all about the late 70s 4001 pickups. Others swear nothing can touch a decent RM from 1964, or a v63, or whatever. I don't think there's a "better" or even an "as good as" to be agreed on here, as each player has their own tone and feel preferences -- without even taking into consideration collector preferences or aesthetics.