Rickenbacker Electro Model "Ace"

[Bob Snelgrove]

What is a good price for a used one with cracked tuner knobs?

How is this model compared to other Rics?

thx

bob

[Noah Miller]

A lot of these had Kluson tuners, and a lot of them had buttons that crumble over time. The buttons can be replaced and are not really a detriment to the instrument's value, though you'll get more for it if it's in usable condition.

[Bob Snelgrove]

I'm lookin at buying one for around $500?

[Rick Aiello]

Rickenbacher Ace/Academy … best kept secret in Hawaiian Steel Guitars.

[Nathan Laudenbach]

Needing to replace or repair tuners is worth 100.00 easy. And putting new buttons on old tuners is not an easy job. I think that definitely should be considered when buying a guitar

[Lee D Kaiser]

For reference, one sold recently on Reverb.com for $499 + Shiping. Tuners weren't original, but otherwise seemed solid with some wear.

For another example, I bought one recently for $470, total, with case. It had crumbly tuner buttons, which I replaced for $15. (A littler tricky to do, but doable.) Otherwise, guitar is in very good condition.

[Noah Miller]

Needing to replace or repair tuners is worth 100.00 easy. And putting new buttons on old tuners is not an easy job. I think that definitely should be considered when buying a guitar

If it's easy for me, it's easy for anybody. Replacing the buttons costs maybe $20 if you already have a heat source like a soldering iron. Even the heat gun I bought specially for the purpose was about $30.

[Rick Aiello]

I use the “push on” method with ivoroid buttons … drill out a hole a little smaller than the post/wings … line them up in a vise … slowly closing the vise pushes the button on … works like a charm