Rickenbacker D8

[Dave Seddon]

I am not a lap steel player but a friend of mine brought this Rickenbacker to me to set up for him, one neck is set up for C6 but have no idea what the other neck should be set to. It comes in the original case plus a stand. Also he would like to get an idea of it's value. Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks Dave.

[Dave Seddon]

Considering the amount of looks on this I am amazed that no one has made made a reply. surely someone in the States knows something about this instrument. Is it worth anything or not. Well thank you for your interest Dave.

[J Fletcher]

$1000 to $1400 , C6 and E13 . That's a starting point for discussion at least .

[Dave Seddon]

Thankyou Mr Fletcher I thought it must be worth something. I am in the UK so in this country it is not worth a lot as there are very few lap steel players and those that we do have are more interested in Fender. Anyway Thanks again. Dave.

[Tim Whitlock]

I have the D6 version of your lap steel. I have C6 and Leon's E13 on mine, for old country styles and western swing. A lot depends on what type of music you want to play.

[Dave Seddon]

Thankyou Tim, would you give the same valuation for the guitar I have?

[Ken Pippus]

That value sounds about right. Though it’s a small market of shoppers, scarcity over there likely increases the price a bit.

[Joe Burke]

$1000 to $1400 , C6 and E13 . That's a starting point for discussion at least .

I agree - C6 and E13 will go a long ways.

[Tim Whitlock]

Thankyou Tim, would you give the same valuation for the guitar I have?

I agree with the others $1000 - $1400. The stand is quite rare and will move it towards the upper end of that range, if it's included.

[Michael Kiese]

https://reverb.com/item/77189527-ricken ... t=77189527

There is a D8 being listed for $870 out of Bakersfield, California right now. The listing is 7 months old and no one is biting.

From what I understand, the D8 Rickenbacher’s are notorious for being the least liked horseshoe Ricks.

That said, you can make any steel a player if you put the right gauge strings on it for your tuning and scale length, and pair it with a properly matched volume pot.

If you want to play Western Swing, C6 and E13 (Noel’s or Leon’s) is common.

I highly recommend C6 and A6. It’s a highly giggable setup. The majority of Hawaiian and Western Swing stuff lives on a major 6 tuning. C6 and A6 combined will cover all the common keys of songs and place them in comfortable positions.

A6 is also easily converted to B11, if you want to learn a few one-off songs in that tuning.

I learned a few songs on Noel Boggs’s E13, and found that I really don’t use it much for my gigs. I play Hawaiian music, pop, and jazz, so I live on the major 6 tunings.

B11 and E13 are more like specialty “strum” tunings where you strum a whole chord with the melody on top. I prefer B11 more than E13, it’s a bit more lush sounding.

There are no solutions, only trade offs. Experiment and find what you like. Most important is to have fun and enjoy!