Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hey Paul! I think you might find this interesting. I've recently come across a 1937 Rickenbacher Ken Roberts model guitar with the Kauffman manual vibrola tailpiece, but it's missing the arm and it has the patent pending horseshoe pickup. There's some cracks on the side, the finish is rubbed off on part of the front, and there's a medium-sized hole under the jack plate. There is next to no fret wear, the pickup is fully functioning, the neck is relatively straight, and it has the original black leather? case with green felt lining. Would it damage the resale value of this guitar if I had the cracks/hole repaired and refinished? If not, any chance you'd be willing to work on this wonderful guitar?

Sorry for the ****** photos, my cameras in the shop so I just snapped two quick photos with my friends cell. I'll put some real photos up after I get my camera back. Here's these two for now though. They're too big to inline so I just linked them.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t169 ... 1292215455
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t169 ... 1292215456

EDIT: Forgot to say, apart from the missing tremolo arm the only non original part is the top G-string tuner.

Love to work on it, but I'd suggest a good cleaning and setup only. A refinish on one of these is expensive, and it has lots of charm that should be preserved.

I recently took in a '40s Martin and talked the owner out of a refin...instead, I gave it a good careful cleaning and left every scratch intact. Rebuilt the tuners, reworked the bridge a bit for easier playing, and detailed it.

Now it looks really great--clean but well-worn ("well-loved"). That's what I'd suggest for yours. I can also hunt down a G tuner and find or fabricate a new Kauffman arm, too. Write me off-list if you're interested in going this route.