Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Any takers for a Jetglo '67 325 for $800.00?

How about a '69 Strat for $550.00...or a '45 Martin D-18 for $900.00...or a '55 Tele for $1,250.00?

A couple short years earlier & you can probably cut those prices in half!

Ah, those were the days!

opticnerve wrote:Any takers for a Jetglo '67 425 for $800.00?

How about a '69 Strat for $550.00...or a '45 Martin D-18 for $900.00...or a '55 Tele for $1,250.00?

A couple short years earlier & you can probably cut those prices in half!

Ah, those were the days!

Of course if you take into account inflation (http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm) those prices today would be:
$550.00: $1189.82
$900.00: $1946.99
$1250.00: $2704.15

But of course, guitar prices don't exactly follow inflation...

Thanks for running the inflation numbers, CJ. An economic force often overlooked.

Of course, a '55 Tele for less than $3k is still an eye-poppingly good deal!

I have a few of these old mailing lists from music stores, before the days of the Internet, eBay, and websites! They are both fun (and depressing) to look at now; but, at the time, I couldn't wait for them to come in the mail!

Yes, the good old days of waiting for dealer stocklists to arrive in the mail, sending in $2 for some snail-mail 35MM photos of your dream guitar (which would arrive 2 weeks later if you were lucky), combing through the outdated dealer stocklists in VG magazine with 1-point type too small to read -- those were the days of delayed gratification.

Now -- press a button and -- it's yours! You just bought it! (Um after you pay for it, of course.)

Yep. I was 1 year old in spring '85.


I can't relate to those prices, but I do know those were the days when you relied on a music store flyer to find what you wanted - I'll gladly take the Internet, thankyouverymuch

collin wrote:
...but I do know those were the days when you relied on a music store flyer to find what you wanted

I was lucky enough to live in NYC & had little trouble finding what I wanted. We had 48th Street ("We Buy Guitars" was my favorite shop), a few other shops scattered around...and

maybe 20 pawn shops in the area that I frequently visited. Also, classified adds in the papers was a good source for cool gear. Vintage, or "used" guitars were everywhere!

I rarely had to rely on mail order...although I did enjoy perusing the listings. Of course, it would have been an impossibility to aquire my Elpico amp collection before the internet.

Looking at these prices makes me depressed...even with inflation.

I don't wanna think about it,i had a CAR '66 clay dot Fender Jazz bass w/matching headstock back around 1972/3 that i bought and sold for around $400. And a mid 70's 4005 a little later,same price. My 4002 cost me about $650....my Viellete-Citron 8 string about $600...and so on....all gone now,of course,and pretty much irreplaceable at today's market value.

woodyng wrote:...my Viellete-Citron 8 string about $600...and so on....all gone now...

That (Veillette-Citron - correct spelling ) would have been a nice one to keep. Martin Keith works with Joe Veillette; my two Elfin basses have Harvey Citron pickups in them.

jps wrote:

woodyng wrote:...my Viellete-Citron 8 string about $600...and so on....all gone now...

That (Veillette-Citron - correct spelling ) would have been a nice one to keep. Martin Keith works with Joe Veillette; my two Elfin basses have Harvey Citron pickups in them.

Oh no,that was a different veelettesitron... yeah,it would have been a nice one to keep,for sure.it was the best 8 string i've ever played.i had to sell it to help buy some PA equipment when my band's practice room was broken into....

Do you still have the PA gear?

There was an annual Guitar Player/Bass Player gear guide from the time the 4001 CS was in production. It wasn't authoritative, but it showed a list price that was a little less than a 4001V63.

jps wrote:Do you still have the PA gear?

I don't have anything from that period but my fading good looks....

San Francisco had some great music stores in the Seventies - not to mention the tons of pawn shops. My gratifications weren't delayed very long, I assure you.