LeftyBassist.com

Does anybody here know why Rickenbacker basses have such a super high resale value these days - even for instruments of recent vintage? I'm aware that they are currently not making new lefties (much), but that's a pretty recent phenomenon. For years Rick produced lefty 4001s and 4003s consistently. In fact, used ones don't seem that rare now either. There are is usually at least one on Ebay at any given time.

Seems odd to me that non-rare instruments could get such inflated prices used.

I think it's purely for the fact that they are no longer in production... and even if they were, wasn't the wait time for a lefty like 14-16 months before they pulled the plug?

Wal prices went (even more) insane when word was out that they might not be produced anymore... this was even true for a while after the announcement was made that they were back in business.

But... now that they're back in full force, prices have mellowed out slightly... and I think that as more new Wals are produced and the initial flood of orders is over, you'll see the prices drop even more.

The market value also jumped after Rickenbacker announced a price increase - nearly 40% above previous retail pricing, AND during the height of the worst economic recession in decades. I don't know how they managed that when you consider that other retailers were scrambling for customers and lowering pricing as an incentive to stimulate consumer purchasing again, but it seems the music retail industry did not follow suit as did other industries. So Rick jacked up pricing and created a limited supply, thus creating higher demand. For years Ricks were undervalued, so I guess you could argue that they've caught up to the rest of the industry.

Would that account for the used prices skyrocketing as well?

I went to the RIC website and took a look at what was there, but it looks like it hasn't been updated in ages.

It's basic John Hall economics 101. John has stedfastly refused to increase production (and subsequently the employee head-count) over the last 8 to 10 years. There are many reasons for that decision, not the least among them that Ric Corp was not a "wood-whore-hoarder" when it was becoming obvious that wood supplies were dwindling. Just look at the wood quality on 381's and 660's now versus mid 80's to mid 90's production.

Very true indeed.