Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Does anyone know or keep an archive of the Rickenbacker MSRP for their products throughout the years? I'm not talking about value today, because you have a database running on that. I'm guessing it's reference material for Mr. Boyer's book, but is there a file or link? I've seen random catalogs online from time to time, but something compiled would be better. I did a couple of searches through this site, but came up empty. It's mostly curiosity here (how did some part/design changes affect pricing, etc.) and doesn't need to be bass-specific.

Oh, and if I have to wait for the book, can I get a teaser?

My goodness, do you really want one of those? It's bound to be a depressing archive. I bought my first new WB, in AZ Blue, with toasters, for $780.70, U.S., out the door, with case, after sales tax. I waited less than six months for it, and it was a special order.

More revealing would be a street price timeline considering that with Rics it has not always been easy to deduce for the average person... TalkBass is full of people who think new Ric basses actually cost upwards of $2,000. It would be really hard to have statistics good enough to follow the change in street price over the years though... and it would also be hard because it goes up and down like a roller coaster compared to MSRP.

Yeah, the variability in street price would just give large error bars. I'm probably asking for something too large. I was mostly interested in transition periods. I work in a different industry, but phasing in/out bigger changes is an interesting problem. For instance, losing the horseshoe PU and then checkered binding in the early 70's. What drove that and how did it work out? I thought pricing might give a clue. Also, the "freedom" to use what was on the shelves at the time is some of what makes our instruments unique to us. I used to think that everyone got red dots.

As I type this out, I think I should just hit the reference books out there. It's more about the history, not numbers and I definitely do not want to create my own Excel file, so before N gets any larger, I'll hit the library.

thanks guys

I've accumulated many official RIC price lists, much to the credit of Kevin Kuney, Paul Mutchler, Jeff Scott, and others. They are mostly photocopies, so it's not like I'm trying to collect them. I use them to help me determine the timeline on Rick basses for "the project." I don't have the time to list everything here, but here are the list prices of the main bass model in the price lists I have. This is the 4001, and after 1980, the 4003. This will give you an idea of how the prices have gone up over the years. Any gaps in the series means I don't have price lists for those years:

4001
1966 429.50
1969 429.50
1971 498
1973 559
1974 588
1975 588
1976 588
1977 588
1978 630 (incidently, the 4002 at this time cost twice as much, $1275!)
1979 665

4003
1980 750
1981 830
1982 880
1983 880
1985 899
1986 999
1987 999
1988 999
1989 1099
1990 1099
1991 1099
1992 1099
1993 1299
1994 1299
1995 1299
1996 1389
1998 1529
2000 1529
2001 1529
2005 1639
2007 1799
2008 2159
2009 2159

I just tried to get the current price, but the RIC site is not responding.

Good stuff, Paul. Anyone with any idea on the list price differential between the 4001 and 4003 when the were produced concurrently? I'm pretty sure my first bass, a new '80 JG, was either $525 or $550. I remember the owner explaining that RIC had a new model out with better truss rods and it was a bit more expensive. I don't recall if he had any at the time, but he had a JG 4001 and that's what I wanted. About 8 months later, I had the rods replaced! Never had a lick of trouble with it after that and I played that bass like you read about.

In the 1980 through '85 price lists, the 4001 and the 4003 had the same price. When the 4003S started in '82, both S models were $70 less than the full-trim models. $80 difference in '85 between the 4003 and 4003S with the 4001S no longer listed. '86 price list no longer shows the 4001.

Wow, I appreciate you taking the time to list that out, Paul. That's a pretty good list with good info on the different trims. And I never knew the 4002 was THAT much more expensive. That's Custom Shop pricing.

Thanks again for sharing.

RIC got their site back up. Current price list is the 2009 list, so $2159 is still MSRP.

I bought a '75 Ric catalog on eBay recently, mostly because it was supposed to come with an orginal '78 price list but it turned out there was a typo in the description and I got an original ''75 price list instead. I'd be willing to trade my '75 price list for a '78 price list if anyone has an original. I'm trying to collect all the relevant original documentation for my '78.