Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

A friend lent me his guitar "Blue Book" cd and I was SHOCKED at the difference in values of vintage Rickenbackers versus the Gibson-Fender-Martin triumvirate. Of course none of my Ricks were retirement-investment material, but some of those comparable vintage Fenders were listed as being worth more than my house! Of course there are lies, d__n lies and Blue Book prices, and I realize that most vintage prices are VERY subjective, but those listings were ridiculous! Is THAT what people are paying for vintage Teles and LPs, or am I just living on Neptune?

I haven't seen the Blue Book in some time, but IMO most of these "guides," including the Vintage Guitar Price Guide, are put together by vintage dealers who reflect their asking prices.

Vintage dealers are primarily dealing with inventories of Fender and Gibson items. It is in their interests to keep those "blue book" prices high, thus contributing to the often inflated Fender and Gibson prices. Check out their stock lists and you'll see the same inflated "ask" prices. What they sell for is another story. For a chuckle, take a look at Gruhn's stock list of vintage Gibsons. Some of them have been marked down 25 to 35% from their initial "ask" prices. Not too many buyers for a '59 LP Standard at $275,000! Mark it down to $199,000 -- then it will fly out the door!

Ricks are another story. Not too many dealers have a substantial inventory of vintage Ricks, and if they do have some, they are often the more conventional models. For the price guides, dealers take a stab at valuing some models that rarely come up for sale, and the guess is usually on the low side. $4000 for a 1967 "F" body in excellent/mint condition? Yeah, right.

You do know there are two versions of Blue Books, the buyer's book and the seller's book.

Those books on RICs prices are laffable. Years ago I remember seeing a price on a vintage 420/12. No such model. Ugh.

jwilli wrote:Those books on RICs prices are laffable. Years ago I remember seeing a price on a vintage 420/12. No such model. Ugh.

Not that we've discovered yet anyway!

On inflated prices, things are only really worth as much as someone is willing to pay for them.