Why have rickenbacker prices gone up so much?

alex matson · Post by **alex matson** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 2:38 pm

I know, why is the sky blue, but....damn.
They want upwards of $1400 for a new 360-6 nowadays! I paid $968 a few years ago.
Looking on harmony central, people are stating they paid significantly less than that for a 12 string just a couple of years ago. EBay, of course, is showing people getting far more for everything. Just a couple of months ago $900 was expensive for a Wurly. Now I'm seeing them going for over $1200.
It's nice to be able to find what you want, but the prices are just ridiculous anymore.
Furthermore...has Danelectro stopped making guitars? Their website just takes you to a bunch of effects.

Gebo · Post by **Gebo** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 3:58 pm

Im surprized that didnt go up a long time ago. I feel like they held out raising the price as long as possible. I mean, they are still way cheaper than your average Gibson, and on par with an American Fender.

fazeka · Post by **fazeka** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 4:45 pm

Well, isn't it obvious?

We in America have had some good fat years with the economy the way it has been going. Unemployment is down, housing costs and property values have been going up, etc. With all that means the prices for general goods and services have gone up, too. I mean, the mortgage payment is higher now, you know? Your doctor's bill may be a little higher cause the payment on his Mercedes is more. And so it goes. So, like embryo said, a price increase, in all fairness for Rick (and I hate to pay more, too), has been overdue.

Fullstax · Post by **Fullstax** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 4:56 pm

The price is getting higher and having those old priced just under a grand was nice. Nonetheless this is still one of the best deals going in terms of quality. $1400 doesn't get your nearly as well built a guitar from Gibson or Fender. Arguablly still a good deal for a hand made in america guitar.

@?,*???&? · Post by **@?,*???&?** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 9:47 am

Hmmm, I paid $1298 for a Roger McGuinn re-issue back in 1991. I sold that thing in 2000 for $2300.

Not a bad way to double your money.

I'd pay it again.

yardleyone · Post by **yardleyone** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 12:53 pm

I paid 750 for my 360 used in 1996. I'm not sure how that relates to this conversation but I love that guitar.

AstroDan · Post by **AstroDan** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 3:37 pm

Fullstax wrote:Nonetheless this is still one of the best deals going in terms of quality. $1400 doesn't get your nearly as well built a guitar from Gibson or Fender.

I agree.

??????? · Post by **???????** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 3:41 pm

asmara · Post by **asmara** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 7:44 pm

They dropped Guitar Center as a distributer and then the demand is steadily increasing. Worth every USD
(I am in Rickenbacker recovery at the moment )

alex matson · Post by **alex matson** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:46 pm

Well, I loved my Rics as well. But my perception as a guitar noob was that it had a really distinctive sound, but not a lot of tonal versatility...a one trick pony. I mention this to be proved wrong. I luhhuve the sound of a Ric....if that is one on The Smiths "William It Was Really Nothing", then to me that's an prime example of sonic bliss. I had a lot of trouble getting my 12 string in tune, and reading harmony central's reviews, many people seem to think that you just have to live with that. Why? Why don't all 12 strings come with a 12 saddle bridge?
I'm going to get another one for sure. But I hate the fact that a standard 360/12 is probably going to cost me more than a limited edition like I used to have (a Carl Wilson I lost to a pawn shop.)

tomhampton · Post by **tomhampton** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 6:13 am

well, i guess i'm going to be the lone dissenter here, and say that i personally don't think that a guitar (that really is, as one poster already pointed out, a one trick pony) is worth what rickenbacker thinks it is. it does what it does really well, but i personally find authentic rickenbackers to be unplayable. the necks (especially on the 12 strings, which should be just the opposite) are so narrow that they're nearly impossible to fret cleanly - to my hands, anyway.

some of you who know me, though, know that i'm a big replica booster. most of my guitar collection is made up of high-quality replicas, and i even have an endorsement from one of the companies who makes them. the good folks at rickenbacker, though, are to replicas what lars ulrich is to napster...they whine and stomp their feet every time one shows up. tokai and a couple of other companies were importing copies that (to my ears and hands) were every bit as good as the ricks, and with a couple of exceptions, they had the sound, too. the only one i ever got that just didn't cut it was a 12 string 325 copy...and frankly, if i replaced the pickups in it, it'd probably be just fine. don't look for them on eBay, though...Rickenbacker actively searches the auctions for copies and shuts them down ASAP. i've actually bought a couple from folks who i've emailed and said, "please keep my email on file for when eBay shuts you down and get in touch with me and we'll work something out..."

not to hijack the thread, but i have a big problem with guitar companies that charge $2K for a guitar while they're putting people in kalamazoo out of work to move to nashville and hand out guitars like candy to the country music industry and buy full page ads in the trades and expect me to pick up the tab for it. my $450 dillion goldtop les paul will kick pretty much anything gibson is making along the same lines to the curb...and frankly, i feel similarly towards rickenbacker. fender has done the same thing martin has done...they've found ways to compete head to head with the companies who copy their instruments without crying like bitches to their lawyers and trying to squash them by playing the infringement card.

strats and teles have endured, and have endured because fender changed with the times...if you want a cheap guitar, they've got something for you. if you want a thousand dollar american made guitar, they've also got something for you. and if you choose to buy a hundred dollar shitty johnson strat copy, they're not going to get in your way...because frankly, you'll probably be coming back to them eventually, anyway. gibson and rickenbacker refuse to compete - they run the replica makers out of business, and charge whatever the hell they feel like charging.

right or wrong, i have a problem with that.

puttin' on my asbestos suit now....

T

craigb156 · Post by **craigb156** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 7:32 am

RE: the Danelctro question- not sure, but I strongly reccomend talking to Fat Dog at Subway Guitars for Dano's- his are seriously great.

www.fatdawg.com

plus, where else can you buy 'pointy pud pullers'?

Craig

alex matson · Post by **alex matson** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 10:45 am

craigb156 wrote:RE: the Danelctro question- not sure, but I strongly reccomend talking to Fat Dog at Subway Guitars for Dano's- his are seriously great.

www.fatdawg.com

plus, where else can you buy 'pointy pud pullers'?

Craig

Holy crap. Thanks! What a cool place.

craigb156 · Post by **craigb156** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 10:52 am

It really is amazing. The only place I've eve been where they call you at home "Craig, I have the perfect guitar for you- it'silver, it made of pot metal, and it looks like George Jetson's guitar. Do you want it?".

Cool, crazy people.

Craig

ps- I had them change out he pickups on that guitar, and I get a call from Fat Dog saying "you need top come and hear this thing, before Ron fixes it. It sounds like cats being killed in a garbage can. We can just give you a push-pull knob to activate this...."

james4954 · Post by **james4954** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 2:01 pm

alex matson wrote: Furthermore...has Danelectro stopped making guitars? Their website just takes you to a bunch of effects.

Danelectro stopped making the reissues in about 2002/2003, which is why ebay prices for them have been on the rise ever since. I bought one in 2002, only to find them discontinued a short time later.

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Why have rickenbacker prices gone up so much?

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