Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Sorry if this is in the wrong part of the forum. Saw this on fleabay and I'm suspicious of the white pickups, placement of "made in USA" on TRC, and some other stuff. Price is basically nothing, so that set off my suspicions. Thoughts?

My guess is not fake body, but replaced hardware, etc... He says he can't find a serial number, so that to me is immediately suspect. Zooming in, I don't see a stamp, but it could be there. If no stamp, then I'd stay away. I don't know what's up with the pickups, and the TRC looks slightly wonky, too. But, depending on how old it is, the TRC could be real. It's not a buy it now, so the seller may be trying to get 6 or 7 hundred out of it.

Look at the finish, most notably back of headstock picture... handrubbed? nitro?

maybe it once was a rickie before that gibsondependable sold it as body only and someone put other parts on it?

Looks real to me as well.

electrofaro wrote:Look at the finish, most notably back of headstock picture... handrubbed? nitro?

Nitro that I have seen/own has a very high gloss to it. Can Nitro be done in a matte/satin? At the very least, this guitar looks to have been de-glossed, except for the fingerboard.

I messaged the seller asking about hardware, and they responded "we do not know the history of the guitar, we are only buyers and sellers". Is ignorance suspicious?

Zanedebord wrote:I messaged the seller asking about hardware, and they responded "we do not know the history of the guitar, we are only buyers and sellers". Is ignorance suspicious?

That is usually a red flag, to me. Get's them off the hook for inaccuracies/issues.

The body looks real enough to me (although the finish looks to be dulled and clouded with the wrong polish). The pickguard and switch also look like factory, so assuming the harness is too. All the other parts look like aftermarket replacements, apart from the truss rod cover which looks to be a Rickenbacker plexi version from 1967 (with the characteristic corner missing). The headstock is a whopper with minimal "waisted" shaping, so I would guess late 1990s to 2006.

jps wrote:

Zanedebord wrote:I messaged the seller asking about hardware, and they responded "we do not know the history of the guitar, we are only buyers and sellers". Is ignorance suspicious?

That is usually a red flag, to me. Get's them off the hook for inaccuracies/issues.

Who does "them" refer to, and why does Get own them?

jdogric12 wrote:

jps wrote:

Zanedebord wrote:I messaged the seller asking about hardware, and they responded "we do not know the history of the guitar, we are only buyers and sellers". Is ignorance suspicious?

That is usually a red flag, to me. Get's them off the hook for inaccuracies/issues.

Who does "them" refer to, and why does Get own them?

Coffee machine broken at work, this morning?

The replacement pickups look like GFS pickups. Good pickups for other applications, but not RIC issue, past or present.
Compare: http://www.guitarfetish.com/GFS-NYII-Su ... p_329.html

jps wrote:

jdogric12 wrote:

jps wrote:That is usually a red flag, to me. Get's them off the hook for inaccuracies/issues.

Who does "them" refer to, and why does Get own them?

Coffee machine broken at work, this morning?

Oh, now I understand.

"Get is them off the hook..."

Is that what you meant? Is YOUR coffee machine working? Is your refrigerator running? Do you have Prince Albert in a can?

The case of the extra '! Starring Lolly', Fred', and introducing Juanita' in the role of the big'.

jps wrote:

electrofaro wrote:Look at the finish, most notably back of headstock picture... handrubbed? nitro?

Nitro that I have seen/own has a very high gloss to it. Can Nitro be done in a matte/satin? At the very least, this guitar looks to have been de-glossed, except for the fingerboard.

You need to buff nitro for glossy look. It looks really handrubbed nitro to me. My guess is a body that was refinished and "completed" with lots of weird parts,

If the guitar was refinished, whoever did it did an excellent job with recreating that era of FG.