Vintage Rickie amp!?

95strat · Cobra Joined: 29 Oct 2005 Posts: 489 Location: Canada

Picked up a vintage Rickenbacker amplifier... I never even knew Rickenbacker made amps! Its an M-8, which is comparable in size and power to a Fender Champ, probably from the late 50s or early 60s. I have never seen a Rickenbacker amp, so I had to have this just as a conversation piece! I will post pictures soon! Very Happy

You guys ever seen a Rickie amp before?

firedude · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 12:08 pm Post subject:

Nope, never heard of such an animal......

herb · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 3:01 pm Post subject:

Yes, Rickenbacker made amps in the '50's, '60's, and very early '70's from what I remember and maybe even earlier. From Champ sizes through Dual Showman sizes. I remember them well. They weren't popular.

tw001_tw · Tadpole Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 26 Location: St. Louis

Herb, you are like a living musical equipment encyclopedia.

I'm with firedude and 95strat - never heard of them until now.

So... I guess they weren't popular for a (good) reason?

herb · Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 6:07 pm Post subject:

Well, I was there at the time, I guess. Sometimes it sucks to be getting old, but I saw some great stuff that many people today will never know, and that's good. I never actually played through one or saw one used live. I was told they were very similar to the Fenders, but cost more so folks bought the Fenders. I don't think Rickenbacker promoted, advertised or supported them properly and that is why they failed. The ones I saw were always in pawn shops. I never saw one in a store.

SAguitar · Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 12:39 pm Post subject:

Yah mon, my story is about the same as Herb's. I was around then, but never saw one in real life either. Cool

95strat · Cobra Joined: 29 Oct 2005 Posts: 489 Location: Canada

As promised, a couple pictures:

It needs a speaker and the handle is not original, and it needs a little work to clean it up and restore it but it will be a fun little project and its also a cool conversation piece!

I looked through some of the history on the Rickenbacker website and it was pretty interesting to read some of the archives of old catalogues on the site. Herb's right, they were expensive - even in the 1930s they had amps over $100, which was a lot of money at the time!!! Shocked

I'll post more pics when I start working on it. Very Happy