Cool Rics on eBay / Reverb / Craigslist

[Dave W]

Back when Fireglo looked good instead of overly red and white. Without seeing it, I'd guess it's not a refin. Too hard to reproduce that.

[gearHed289]

Wow, this one's pretty.  The condition almost seems too good to not be a refin but who knows...

https://reverb.com/item/5131209-rickenbacker-4001-fl-1973-fireglo-fretless-fret-less-fire-glo-checker-binding-ric

Beautiful and rare!

[ilan]

Chris Brubeck with his FL. The guy can play:

[bassilisk]

That's hot.

Drop someone like Steve Garibaldi in there and it's off to the races....

[66Atlas]

I found better pics of the '73 fretless on the Ric Register.  Apparently it was on ebay in 2013 and didnt sell at $1476, that would have been a steal.

[ilan]

Remember those? TV Yellow C64. Starting at $950, 6 days to go.

[Paul Boyer]

I sent him a correction. He has listed it as a 4001C64S, but it is not the S version (which has rounded-off body horns).

[Dave W]

These are fairly recent, aren't they? About 10 years ago?

TV Yellow LOL. Nothing like Gibson's TV finish.

[Paul Boyer]

Probably around 2010-11 on the T.V. Yellow. Five were made (supposedly). Never got the "T.V." reference. What's yellow got to do with T.V.?

[Jeff Scott]

...Never got the "T.V." reference. What's yellow got to do with T.V.?

I think it has to do with yellow showing the instrument more prominently on B&W televisions back in the day.

[Dave W]

Probably around 2010-11 on the T.V. Yellow. Five were made (supposedly). Never got the "T.V." reference. What's yellow got to do with T.V.?

I think it has to do with yellow showing the instrument more prominently on B&W televisions back in the day.

No, it doesn't. That story is absurd. Unfortunately it's been spread around for years.

Limed finishes were the most popular furniture finish in the mid 50s and limed finish console TV cabinets were selling like hotcakes. Gibson introduced a version of the Les Paul Junior as the Les Paul TV Model. The difference between it and the regular Junior was the finish. It was yellowish so the color later became known as TV Yellow. Here's a '55 -- nowhere near as yellow as reissues because they aren't finished the same way.

[amptech]

No, it doesn't. That story is absurd. Unfortunately it's been spread around for years.

Indeed absurd, Gibson would have wanted any solidbody endorsee to bring a goldtop or a custom if they were to appear on TV.

But a few books point out that the TV name was to connect potential solidbody buyers with what they have heard on TV, remember that Les and Mary appeared on TV all the time with their Gibson guitars, and obviously Gibson wanted something that was possible to buy for anyone.

[Dave W]

Indeed absurd, Gibson would have wanted any solidbody endorsee to bring a goldtop or a custom if they were to appear on TV.

But a few books point out that the TV name was to connect potential solidbody buyers with what they have heard on TV, remember that Les and Mary appeared on TV all the time with their Gibson guitars, and obviously Gibson wanted something that was possible to buy for anyone.

LOL. That story came from Les himself, remembering the influence of his TV show that he says ran from 1953-1960, despite the fact that he never had his own TV show (he did 5-minute spots for Listerine for 18 months), and he and Mary were finished as hitmakers by 1955. Les remembered many things that never happened. I won't go into all that in a Rickenbacker thread. Look at old TV promo sheets or ads from that time, you'll find many limed finish cabinets, especially limed oak. Gibson's earliest promo sheets and price lists for the TV Model refer to the finish as limed oak. That's no coincidence. It was to connect the finish with TV cabinet finishes.

Now back to Rickenbackers. Sorry for the distraction.

[ilan]

Here's a nice application of FG over birdseye maple. '73 4000. $3K BIN

[ilan]

A 330 converted to Light Show short-scale bass by Paul Wilczynski. $4.5K BIN.