Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hey All -

Attached is a pic of a Ric that I bought years ago (whammy bar is not on the guitar in this pic). From what I can tell so far it's a model RM 1997 that was produced in Sept 1996. Can anyone shed anymore light on this? I've done some searches, but I haven't found out much. Thanks.

Hey Scott, what's the serial number?

Hey Graham -

The S/N is fi2911.

WirelessG wrote:Hey Graham -

The S/N is fi2911.

Scott, your post said Sept. 1996 but the serial no. you provided confirms Sept. 1966.

Your guitar could be either an RM 1997 or a 335S (if it was not exported out of the US). "RM" means it was imported to the UK by the Rose Morris firm, which had its own numbering system for the Ricks it imported, hence the 1997 designation. A 335S guitar has the identical construction (a 335 with an f-hole) and was not actually exported to Rose Morris but was delivered to a US Rick dealer.

But either way, you have a rare guitar with a very cool '60s FG.

Welcome to the forum!

Hey Scott, see, I told ya there were people who knew about these over here! Welcome to the RRF!


Nice guitar BTW!

Hey Ron -

Thanks for the comments. Oops, that was a typo on the year. The year of manufacture was 1966. CJ thought it was an RM1997. (Bear with me, I just learned today that some ric's have a 4 digit model number). I bought this guitar in Canada, if that makes any difference (the case that it came from had a sticker on it from a Canadian music dealer, so I don't think it was brought across the border by an individual).

Lovely guitar!

I would be grateful for some more images of it...

Where "aboots" in Canada did you find it?

WirelessG wrote:Hey Ron -

Thanks for the comments. Oops, that was a typo on the year. The year of manufacture was 1966. CJ thought it was an RM1997. (Bear with me, I just learned today that some ric's have a 4 digit model number). I bought this guitar in Canada, if that makes any difference (the case that it came from had a sticker on it from a Canadian music dealer, so I don't think it was brought across the border by an individual).

Scott, I believe you are safe to go with RM 1997 as the designation for your guitar. Most vintage guitar enthusiasts will know what that means. The 335S may be technically correct, but can also be confusing, as the "S" designation simply means that there was a "special" attribute on that guitar, which could have been a special factory paint job or pickup configuation or something else besides the f-hole.

Almost anyone who had your guitar would refer to it as an RM 1997. The Canadian dealer aspect lends more credence to the export model provenance.

Wow! We definitely need some more pics of that one!

WirelessG wrote:Hey Ron -

Thanks for the comments. Oops, that was a typo on the year. The year of manufacture was 1966. CJ thought it was an RM1997. (Bear with me, I just learned today that some ric's have a 4 digit model number). I bought this guitar in Canada, if that makes any difference (the case that it came from had a sticker on it from a Canadian music dealer, so I don't think it was brought across the border by an individual).

As far as I know, the Rose Morris company also had distributions in Australia and Canada, so technically F-hole models from these two countries could be considered "Rose Morris" though not going to the UK.

I understand that by later '66 the silver-topped knobs were standard on all export models, Rose Morris or otherwise.

Regardless- -- Welcome Scott, and great guitar! Post some bigger photos, so we can all drool a little more.

How would I go about determining a value on my guitar? I've searched the year and model and I haven't found anything.

WirelessG wrote:How would I go about determining a value on my guitar? I've searched the year and model and I haven't found anything.

If it's all clean, no-issues----about $4500-$5000 to the right buyer (sold from a private party). Shops would list it up at around $6000 or so, but likely no quick sales.

Here are some more pics. I guess it should be refinished. The guy that originally owned it must have played it for hours and hours a day. There are divots in the fretboard and the finish on the back of the neck and the top-back of the body is worn. I bought it in Edmonton, Alberta.

I didn't play it much. I had/have a Strat that I played as a kid, but I don't play it anymore. However, I always thought the Rics were pretty cool.

It's funny - when I was big into guitars as a kid, a real strat ran around $1,000. It looks like they are still around the same price - The Chinese ones dirt low and the authentic ones costing a little less or a little more.

I'm not sure what to do with this guitar. I haven't played seriously for 20 years or so and I no longer have an amp......

I put the pics on imageshack to keep from cropping them:

http://img219.imageshack.us/g/img0214ma.jpg/

WirelessG wrote:Here are some more pics. I guess it should be refinished. The guy that originally owned it must have played it for hours and hours a day. There are divots in the fretboard and the finish on the back of the neck and the top-back of the body is worn.

No, no --- not at all. Leave the finish as-is.

Guitars are like that (yep, even Rickenbackers).
For many makes, even if all it had was a 1" patch of original finish left, it would still be worth more than an entirely refinished guitar. WIth Rics and many others, the "patina" of a worn original finish is highly desired over a nice clean refinish (even if it looks awesome). It's only "original" once.

Hi Scott, nice guitar.

The most recent open market data points for Rose Morris six string export model values are from UK and Australia eBay. An otherwise very nice example of a 1998 BUT WITH A NECK REPAIR (!) sold a couple of months ago on UK eBay to a buyer in Germany for over £2,700 (i.e. US $4400). Another 1998 also with some neck issues sold from Australia eBay (in the end to a local Australian bidder) for just over AUS$4,000 (i.e US $4000). Both of these guitars were discussed on threads elsewhere on the forum.

I would say a structurally sound '60's RoMo 6 string in nice condition if sold internationally would be well over $5000 at open auction & could easily go as high as 6 to 7,000 on a good day.