Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

In the amp section, there was a discussion about the collectability of Rick amps and a statement was made about the RELATIVE lack of collectability of Rick guitars versus Fender and Gibson. I think the biggest "problem" with vintage Ricks is the quality of the new ones.
I started playing in the early 60's in Charleston, SC; and though I was aware of Ricks because of their use by The Beatles, Byrds, and many other groups, I didn't see one played live until I moved to California in 1976 (Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys was still playing a Jaguar when I saw them in '66). I learned my 12-string stuff on my '65 LPB Fender XII that I bought new.
I went to my First NAMM Show in January of '77 and the Fenders, Gibsons, etc. didn't look or play like the ones I owned in the 60's. The Ricks, however, looked, sounded, and played exactly like I expected them to and have continued to live up to the "Legend".
I've owned 4 Ricks-a black '63 450 that I traded within a few days for a '66 Epiphone Riviera, a '76 FG 4001 Bass, my '95 FG 330/12, and a MIdnight Blue 360/6. The 330/12 is the only one I kept, but all had the "Rick" look and sound. No disappointment.

You know, as much as I'm not a huge fan of modern Rics.....I have to hand it to Rickenbacker for consistent quality.

Nobody gets every single production item perfect,that's a given, but if you took a sampler of Rics built in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00's, you would find more similarities and consistent high quality standards than stacking them up against Fender, Gibson or Gretsch.

Many factors employed there (family-owned, in USA etc..), but what they've achieved is remarkable.

Hey Collin, if you're in Los Alamitos, you need to put Saturday, August 7 on your calendar. That's the date for the Surfguitar101 Convention at The Starting Gate across from the track!

Really, at the Starting Gate? I'm totally there! See ya Skip.


dust off my reverb tank and old Fenders..

Better bring those to the Mini Conference for the Surf set as well.

Go to this link and scroll down to "Official Announcement of the 2010 SG101 Conference" to get the details.

http://surfguitar101.com/index.php

I'm there! Walking distance....

I think the biggest collectability problems (at least with the guitars) are the relatively brief time that they were used by a large number of mainstream artists and the perception held by many that they are "one-trick ponies."

dpowell wrote:I think the biggest collectability problems (at least with the guitars) are the relatively brief time that they were used by a large number of mainstream artists and the perception held by many that they are "one-trick ponies."

and thats good news for us - isn't it?

and thats good news for us - isn't it?

I think so, too. We all get excited when a Rickenbacker fetches a 5-digit amount on Ebay. But imagine the Rickenbackers from the 50s and 60s that a lot of us love so much would suddenly cost $100'000 or more. Of course good for the people who own them already, but bad luck for the people who don't. And with moderate prices, I see good chances that these instruments actually get played instead of just being looked at by their owners and some insurance agents...

casinoman wrote:

and thats good news for us - isn't it?

I think so, too. We all get excited when a Rickenbacker fetches a 5-digit amount on Ebay. But imagine the Rickenbackers from the 50s and 60s that a lot of us love so much would suddenly cost $100'000 or more. Of course good for the people who own them already, but bad luck for the people who don't. And with moderate prices, I see good chances that these instruments actually get played instead of just being looked at by their owners and some insurance agents...

I Think so too. Plus, there is room for Rics to still go up in value where as many vintage Fenders and Gibsons have probably topped out, at least for a while. Prices on those guitars seem to be coming down.

How many people are spending $60,000 - $300,000 on a guitar these days? My guess would be not many.

The vintage guitar market may be peaking in general. Baby boomers on average are at the peak of their earnings and many will be thinking about retirement in a few years.

dpowell wrote:The vintage guitar market may be peaking in general. Baby boomers on average are at the peak of their earnings and many will be thinking about retirement in a few years.

I have been reading articles in Vintage Guitar magazine since 1995 warning of the coming "baby-boomer peak" in vintage guitar prices . . . . In 1995 you could buy a 1961 slab-board Strat for $5000 and a 1959 Rick 365 Capri for $2500.

It appears that there are still buyers of vintage instruments who are not baby boomers, and that there are buyers -- regardless of age -- who find that investing in vintage instruments is more worthwhile than other types of investments.

libratune wrote:

dpowell wrote:The vintage guitar market may be peaking in general. Baby boomers on average are at the peak of their earnings and many will be thinking about retirement in a few years.

I have been reading articles in Vintage Guitar magazine since 1995 warning of the coming "baby-boomer peak" in vintage guitar prices . . . . In 1995 you could buy a 1961 slab-board Strat for $5000 and a 1959 Rick 365 Capri for $2500.

It appears that there are still buyers of vintage instruments who are not baby boomers, and that there are buyers -- regardless of age -- who find that investing in vintage instruments is more worthwhile than other types of investments.

Yes, but the baby boomers are the predominant buyers. If anything happens to slow demand from the group with the most nostalgia/money, there has to be an effect on prices. Will there really be enough demand down the road to justify putting a $200K price tag on a Les Paul?

Just look at this forum, for example. Yeah, there are a few young guys, but the majority are baby boomers who grew up listening to the bands that made Rickenbacker guitars famous.

Plus, if those guitars were so cheap only 15 years ago, they've appreciated hundreds of times in a relatively short period. At the same time we've seen the reissue market explode and the 'relics' and 'artist recreation' guitars go for astronomical amounts. Bubble, anyone?

Retirement will spur hobbies. So if the baby boomers are at peaking earnings now, peak spending on long wanted items such as guitars may be over the next 10 years. But increase demand may not affect prices much. Big price increases is usually caused by irrational exuberance and the belief the price will always go up. I don't think us Ric guys and gals will fall into that type of behavior. For most types of Rics, price increases seem to follow prices increases in the list price more than anything else. So the good news is, we are a rational bunch, the bad news is, we will probably never have a $100,000 guitar.

dpowell wrote:
Just look at this forum, for example. Yeah, there are a few young guys, but the majority are baby boomers who grew up listening to the bands that made Rickenbacker guitars famous.

Yeah, but while there are only a handful of us that are in their 20s (or younger), I know PLENTY of other far younger guys who are rabid about guitars and very interested in vintage guitars. I don't think this forum truly reflects the current market or the future market.

I am guilty of joking that in the future, after you old timers kick the bucket, that I'll buy your guitars cheap as chips....but I don't really think so.

These old guitars will just get older. Look at what happened with classic old cars. Hot Rods are bigger than they've ever been, and the market is fueled by younger guys getting into something they were certainly not around for the first time they were popular (or even the 2nd or 3rd wave).

I think that in the future, you will see people settle on the superior collectibility of certain models, and not everything old will be worth as much.