neilli
New member
I’ve been looking for a nice RBM2 for quite a while now, and trying to find one with some flame on the top at a reasonable price was proving pretty much impossible.
Back in early December 2016, one was listed on ebay by a pawn store in Oregon, but I was outbid in the last couple of seconds. When I checked the bidding history, it looked super sketchy and while I was given a ‘2nd chance offer’ I decided to pass because something just didn’t sit right. It was relisted with a 3k BIN, and then again at $2700, then $2500 twice, then no reserve (it ‘sold’ for $2200) then for 2k BIN. And mysteriously the same buyer keep 'winning' only for it to be relisted a day later. And I’m sure I’m not the only one looking at that history that sees that something weird was going on. On top of that, they didn’t seem to know guitars too well, and the pics they put up were just terrible (these aren't resized
If I’d been in the US I’d have probably taken a chance on it, knowing that returning it wouldn’t have been a giant hassle. But with an international border in the way, I just didn’t want to risk it so I relegated it to ‘what might have been’. But a couple of weeks after the final ebay listing, it appeared on reverb and I was tempted again. So I decided I’d ask a favour of a store in the US that I deal with a lot: basically, would they be prepared to be a middle-man for me i.e. receive the guitar, check it over and if it was a dud (trussrod, frets, general condition) then return it, or if it was decent send it on to me. Obviously, it was missing its pickguard, the pickups had been swapped and the mini toggle was plugged. But it’s got a much nicer top than most of these, and I had an hss set of EMGs to drop in so that was a big plus.
I've had it a couple of weeks and had chance to clean it up, install the EMGs (and a dummy tone pot to hide the mini toggle hole) so I just need to figure out getting a pickguard for it. I was a bit disappointed that the screw holes have been enlarged by the counter sink of the screw head, as my original plan was to 'fill' them with beeswax and that's just not going to work, hence the need for the pickguard. Also, the figuring on the treble side kind of disappears pretty much where the guard would be - it's flamey at the bottom corner, and at the horn, but not in the middle. So the pickguard should keep it looking more 'balanced' even if the design of the guard is something of an acquired taste LOL
Back in early December 2016, one was listed on ebay by a pawn store in Oregon, but I was outbid in the last couple of seconds. When I checked the bidding history, it looked super sketchy and while I was given a ‘2nd chance offer’ I decided to pass because something just didn’t sit right. It was relisted with a 3k BIN, and then again at $2700, then $2500 twice, then no reserve (it ‘sold’ for $2200) then for 2k BIN. And mysteriously the same buyer keep 'winning' only for it to be relisted a day later. And I’m sure I’m not the only one looking at that history that sees that something weird was going on. On top of that, they didn’t seem to know guitars too well, and the pics they put up were just terrible (these aren't resized
If I’d been in the US I’d have probably taken a chance on it, knowing that returning it wouldn’t have been a giant hassle. But with an international border in the way, I just didn’t want to risk it so I relegated it to ‘what might have been’. But a couple of weeks after the final ebay listing, it appeared on reverb and I was tempted again. So I decided I’d ask a favour of a store in the US that I deal with a lot: basically, would they be prepared to be a middle-man for me i.e. receive the guitar, check it over and if it was a dud (trussrod, frets, general condition) then return it, or if it was decent send it on to me. Obviously, it was missing its pickguard, the pickups had been swapped and the mini toggle was plugged. But it’s got a much nicer top than most of these, and I had an hss set of EMGs to drop in so that was a big plus.
I've had it a couple of weeks and had chance to clean it up, install the EMGs (and a dummy tone pot to hide the mini toggle hole) so I just need to figure out getting a pickguard for it. I was a bit disappointed that the screw holes have been enlarged by the counter sink of the screw head, as my original plan was to 'fill' them with beeswax and that's just not going to work, hence the need for the pickguard. Also, the figuring on the treble side kind of disappears pretty much where the guard would be - it's flamey at the bottom corner, and at the horn, but not in the middle. So the pickguard should keep it looking more 'balanced' even if the design of the guard is something of an acquired taste LOL
