Robin Rival

[Kristine Schlueter]

Hi all,
I'm not sure what posting etiquette is or how best to find the information I'm looking for, so her goes. When I was 15 or 16, my folks gave me a guitar for my birthday which I strummed a few times before putting into my closet where it has remained since 1988 or 1989. I am now interested in passing it on to a real guitar lover but have NO idea how much to ask. It's a metallic gold Robin Rival (RG-50?) purchased new in 1988 or 1989. Any idea what a fair asking price would be? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks! Kristinehttp://robinlovers.com/discus/messages/5/1342.jpghttp://robinlovers.com/discus/messages/5/1343.jpghttp://robinlovers.com/discus/messages/5/1344.jpg

[Rick Snyder]

Well, I couldn't say what a fair price would be. I would suggest keep it, take some lessons, and come to the next Robin Reunion with it. http://robinlovers.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif

[Kizanski]

Damn! That's nice!!

[Smitty]

Does it have a case?

I suspect the bidding will begin here shortly.
Welcome to Robinlovers...

Smitty

[Kristine Schlueter]

It has the original case. A little dusty but still with the mandatory teenage stickers...1 peace symbol sticker, 1 Great Britain sticker, and one Jagger sticker...all black and white.

[John Williams]

Let the bidding begin with an open of $400.00 from Joyful Noise music.Do I hear $500.00?If not call me at 440-632-1663 (Big John)

[Ken Jones]

This appears to be a Rival neck on a body of unknown origin. Here's a picture of a Rival:

http://robinlovers.com/discus/messages/6/1332.html?1105486407

If the bridge saddles have "ROBIN" stamped on them, the body might be an "RG" series body. However, this color of gold was never a color offered on early Tokai-made Robins (RG & RH series). A Rival's bridge saddles would be plain.

Rival necks are 22 fret necks. An RG body is routed for a 21 fret neck. Looking at how far the bridge screws are adjusted, I would bet that the neck pocket on this guitar was never deepened to accommodate a 22 fret neck.

Only a few Rivals were ever made. The old catalog lists a Rival with humbuckers as available, but these were never put into production. Perhaps only 20 Rivals were ever produced.

In other words, this guitar is not a Rival and is probably just a Rival neck that someone at one time screwed onto a strat-copy body.

[Ken Jones]

One possibility I neglected to mention:

If the guitar came in a Robin logo'd case, there is a remote chance that this guitar was assembled from leftover parts at the Robin factory. I have seen a few "Rider" guitars (misprints of "Raider" necks) that were put together and sold. I have never seen any of them on a "Strat" style body.


Perhaps Dave Wintz has some input?

[Kristine Schlueter]

Very stupid question from a non-guitar person...what are bridge saddles? I can check the guitar when I get home tonight. It just seems like a weird thing to have a fake that my dad purchased from a store brand new in 1988 when the company was still so new then.

If this is not a Robin body, any suggestions to its value? And if it is a Robin body?

Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

[Dave Wintz]

As usual Ken is correct...way to go bro!

Dave Wintz

[Dave Wintz]

But then again one would have to inspect that body closely

Dave

[Smitty]

Kristine... If you can take some nice closeup pics of the saddles (the little metal feet where the strings come out of the body) we'll figure out exactly what ya got there...
Smitty

[Kristine Schlueter]

Righto. I'll post them tomorrow morning.

Thanks, everyone!

[Mike peters]

Ken or Dave, what was the retail price of the Rival when it was introduced?

Mike

[Ken Jones]

Sorry about the crappy scan quality.

http://robinlovers.com/discus/messages/5/1357.jpg




Here's the page from the catalog. Notice that the descriptions indicate two other Rival models - the RL-1 & RL-2. These humbucker models were never put into production.

http://robinlovers.com/discus/messages/5/1358.jpg

[Mike peters]

Wow, I had no idea. Thanks alot for the scan. I put a humbucker in my bridge slot a few years back and I use the Rival for recording and playing out. I love the hard rock neck.

Thanks again
Mike

[Kristine Schlueter]

I hope the quality of these are okay. I didn't see a stamp on the the saddles. The only place I saw "Robin" was the metal plate on the back. The plate also has the number 10611 imprinted.

Does any of this help?http://robinlovers.com/discus/messages/5/1367.jpghttp://robinlovers.com/discus/messages/5/1368.jpghttp://robinlovers.com/discus/messages/5/1369.jpghttp://robinlovers.com/discus/messages/5/1370.jpghttp://robinlovers.com/discus/messages/5/1371.jpg

[John Williams]

Well Ken?

[Kristine Schlueter]

I forgot to mention that the case does not have any logo on it.

[BCRGreg]

I would just like to say that I think it's cool WHATEVER it is, and kudos to Kristine for the pics.

[John Williams]

ditto

[Kristine Schlueter]

I just wanted to bring this discussion back to life to see if anyone was able to figure out what this was. Did the Robin plate on the back or the number 10611 help at all? If no one knows here, do you think Robin might know what that number means? The mystery of figuring out what this guitar is has become very intriguing to me! http://robinlovers.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif

[Jack Kennedy]

Hi ,
Try giving Robin ( Allen or Dave) a call . With all the pictures you have and the knowlege of some of the people on the Robin Forumn someone should be able to figure this all out.
Blue Lightning

[Rick Snyder]

And I thought it was the collective charming wit of everyong here that kept you coming back.

[Kristine Schlueter]

It's the collective charming wit that keeps me reading. It's the mystery of the guitar that keeps me posting!

[Smitty]

GOOD ANSWER!!!

I'm gonna go out on a limb. I suspect that yours was a rare piece that came in with "traditional S-style" body, and assume that it's original as purchased...

Now, I have almost nothing to base that on other than it's the story that makes the most sense.

Smitty

[John Williams]

Seems logical to me,but.....(the plot thickens)

[Ken Jones]

I still stand by my original post: Rival neck on a body of unknown origin.

Rival necks are 22 fret necks. The neck pocket on this guitar was probably never deepened to accommodate a 22 fret neck. Look at how far out the bridge saddle screws are adjusted for intonation.

There is a remote chance that this guitar was assembled from leftover parts at the Robin factory. As Dave Wintz posted "one would have to inspect that body closely".

[Smitty]

I'm certainly not gonna second guess Ken. I was just reconciling his statement, Dave Wintz' statement, and the time the guitar was sold...

... probably more to the point, it's probably worth about the same today in either case, give or take a few bucks... I'm sure we'd all be curious to see the innards and whatnot but I don't wanna beg Kristine to put a screwdriver to it...

FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!

Smitty

[BCRGreg]

Pop off the neck!

[Jack Kennedy]

Hi,
Taking that neck off like BCR Greg said may answer the unknown here. I can't help at all on this one. If your in too football have a great superbowl weekend (I will be doing my taxes ).