The Rick Nielsen Collection - Oct-24, 2026

[Steve Haynie]

The red and yellow Sunbursts would be fun to have around.  

It would also be nice to get the Fender combo that could be seen on the side of the stage years ago.  

[bry4321]

Cardboard "Uncle Dick" now at $1250. 👀

[alantig]

10 hours ago, cmatthes said:

As far as auctions go, there is nothing resembling a trick here.  If you haven't participated in an online pre-auction like this or sat in an auction house (I have in the past and successfully bid on a guitar), everything that Julien's is doing is exactly how it's always done.  You ALWAYS have to show extensive proof of who you are and that you have the ability to pay for an item and the house premium if you throw a successful winning bid. 

My issue w/Julien's now is that their proof requirements have gotten more extensive and I have to basically start from ground zero if I want to bid again, and I've won at least one auction from them in the past.  Their shipping is high, but the stuff comes packed well.  I knew that the shipping was a bit higher, and I knew what the buyer's fee was, but I may have neglected to communicate that to my wife, who was a tad less than happy when she saw the final cost.

[The_Cali_Kid]

The 28% buyer’s premium is the kicker for me 

[Ham Rex]

On 10/17/2026 at 2:43 AM, cmatthes said:

Not sure how familiar you are with Cheap Trick or how bidding at an auction house works, but from your post, I'm assuming you have a limited knowledge of either! 

Rick really has no financial worries, and could have retired years ago and lived off the songwriting income alone.  Rick also didn't fire Bun E. (not "Bunny").  Bun had been having worsening health issues that limited the band's ability to tour beyond limited/short opening sets, and tensions between he and Robin Zander finally came to a head 16-17 years ago and he was then replaced as touring drummer (and eventually performing member) by Rick's son, Daxx, who had filled in for Bun E. many times over the years before things came to a head.  Bun is still a 25% co-owner and business partner and he shares the income the band generates without making a single drum hit.  Band litigation got kind of ugly for 3-4 years, but appears to be settled and they've moved along by now.  It is unfortunate, and got ugly, but that was settled a decade and a half ago, when they went their separate ways (except for the RNRHOF induction show in Brooklyn in 2016 where Bun played 4 songs with the band).

As far as auctions go, there is nothing resembling a trick here.  If you haven't participated in an online pre-auction like this or sat in an auction house (I have in the past and successfully bid on a guitar), everything that Julien's is doing is exactly how it's always done.  You ALWAYS have to show extensive proof of who you are and that you have the ability to pay for an item and the house premium if you throw a successful winning bid.  This is to protect the auction house as well as serious bidders from scam or shill bidders as well as to keep things fair by fully verifying and vetting prospective bidders.  It's not eBay!  House premiums can range from 24-28% at most places and those are tacked onto the hammer price, as well as any additional fees, taxes and shipping costs that get added in after the fact.  These celeb auctions are not for the faint of heart...or wallet, typically.  I just watched the entire Johnny Marr Christie's auction a few weeks ago, which was far more significant than this one.  It had a 350 page bound, lavishly-illustrated top-quality book available, and was heavily promoted by displays in NYC and London beforehand.  That raised close to $5M, which was 3 times the pre-sale estimate.  

As far as the guitars, #0004 is honestly in pretty rough shape, which is likely why it was retired from touring nearly 40 years ago - the fingerboard is separated from the neck at the first few frets and it will require some work to get it back up and running condition (according to Mike Adams, the guitar tech who prepped the instruments for this auction).  Rick also has displayed most of his extensive collection of guitars and personal/band memorabilia for fans to check out in person via several museum exhibitions over the last few decades, and now has many choice pieces on permanent display at the HRC Casino in Rockford.  Nothing (guitar-wise) I've seen in the auction is what I'd consider Rick's "keepers".  There are some cool guitars, but nothing I'd consider "iconic" apart from #0004, and there are only a few things I really would have dug - the Red and Yellow Sunbursts, a Lonnie Mack V, the '65 SG, '81 Explorer, the "One on One" Standard, and the '84 LP XPL.  Maybe the #000 of 000 Korina RN model, which DOESN'T have the ORIGINAL checkerboard case despite what the auction copy says, because that case has been sitting in my basement since December, 1998. 

Trust me, he's not letting any of his really good stuff go here, and he still has a shit-ton more lying around and in the vaults...

Yeah... you're right again.

I'm not knowledgeable enough. 

I heard differently about Bun E. Carlos. More bad information on my end as usual. 

Seeing all the Data breeches lately I just didn't want to give my Biometric data.

It can be used against you if it is hacked.

I just thought it would be more inspiring to see some of these pieces in a museum.

I'm nieve that way and it's been pointed out.

Thanks again for all your insight and knowledge as always Chris!

You're the best!

If I upset anyone with my posts, it isn't my intention to do so.

M

[DarkHammer]

From my experience bidding at the auctions prices tend to get inflated and you end up paying way more than you planned to, especially with 28% buyer premium. For example, I recently bought a military item for less than 50% of what someone won at the auction 15 years ago, and that's not even counting the auction premium in. On top of that, this item was sold through consignment via a dealer, so after factoring in dealer commission and auction fees seller probably recovered 25-30% of what he paid.

I prefer to stay away from these auctions.

[alantig]

1 hour ago, DarkHammer said:

From my experience bidding at the auctions prices tend to get inflated and you end up paying way more than you planned to, especially with 28% buyer premium. For example, I recently bought a military item for less than 50% of what someone won at the auction 15 years ago, and that's not even counting the auction premium in. On top of that, this item was sold through consignment via a dealer, so after factoring in dealer commission and auction fees seller probably recovered 25-30% of what he paid.

I prefer to stay away from these auctions.

You definitely have to be aware of the added fees, but you have to be aware of your limit and not get caught up in the moment.  Years ago, I remember reading an article in ICE Magazine (a magazine about CDs) about eBay and warning about not getting caught up.  They talked to one guy who'd gotten caught up in a bidding war for a promo CD and that "I can't lose this" feeling took over for a while, and he said bidding got up around $500 and he finally said, "What the hell am I doing here?"  There's a record store in Tennessee that does live auctions every night on YouTube (and a few others), and there are some things I've bought there, but every now and then something I really want comes up and the price gets out of my comfort zone very quickly.  One night, we watched a bidding war for a 45 of Dylan's "Hurricane".  Two guys were going back and forth, and the price was escalating rapidly.  At one point, somebody said, "These guys know something the rest of us are missing".  I looked on Discogs when the bidding went over $600, and there were copies that were in the $40 range.  Final price was over $900.

[Ham Rex]

This is pretty interesting. 

The Economics of Cheap Trick!

This should be computer link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=yAsNBnY7-C0

This should be phone link.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yAsNBnY7-C0

 

 

[specialk]

 

[hamerican gigolo]

On 10/2/2026 at 6:36 AM, Spinaltap said:

when Walter Becker passed a few yrs back, they auctioned off his tools of the trade.  I bid, conservatively on a few guitars and amps.  I watched the bids climb to where it was not reasonable, and just passed on everything.  The extra 28% was calculated into every bid I made, and the outrageous shipping too.  It looks like a great idea, till you pay double or more what any of it is worth.

Happy Bidding

I wanted to bid on some of his amps, but no such luck. Too expensive. 😞

[Spinaltap]

there is a stage used checkerboard prop head that's $1,500.00 and #004 is $150,000.00

ahhhh, no

Edited Friday at 10:01 AM by Spinaltap
size of pic

[ARM OF HAMER]

                                   All these auctions with items by major music stars always end up costing much more than their "Estimated" selling price. That along with buyer premium and shipping costs make these auctions really unobtainable for the average joe and cater to the buyers with really deep pockets. I guy I used to know was in an auction bidding on a "PEARCE" guitar amp that was used and owned by guitarist Ronnie Montrose. It sold for twice what you could have bought it for on Reverb and that was before the buyer premium and shipping was added to the total. I know it was Ronnie's but............

[Spinaltap]

On 10/22/2026 at 4:51 AM, hamerican gigolo said:

On 10/2/2026 at 6:36 AM, Spinaltap said:

when Walter Becker passed a few yrs back, they auctioned off his tools of the trade.  I bid, conservatively on a few guitars and amps.  I watched the bids climb to where it was not reasonable, and just passed on everything.  The extra 28% was calculated into every bid I made, and the outrageous shipping too.  It looks like a great idea, till you pay double or more what any of it is worth.

Happy Bidding

I wanted to bid on some of his amps, but no such luck. Too expensive. 😞

There was a Nash Strat, and a few other guitars i bid on, as well as a few Gibson Lab amps.  as you know, the prices went Boom...

[Dave Scepter]

[hamerican gigolo]

On 10/23/2026 at 10:37 AM, Spinaltap said:

There was a Nash Strat, and a few other guitars i bid on, as well as a few Gibson Lab amps.  as you know, the prices went Boom...

He had a couple of Headstrongs, also. I wanted Wayne's version of the 6G16 brown Vibroverb that WB owned. 

No such luck. 😞

[mrjamiam]

No Cardboard "Uncle Dick" update?

[bry4321]

1 hour ago, mrjamiam said:

No Cardboard "Uncle Dick" update?

SOLD! for $1920. 

5-neck: $313,600

0004 Standard: $256,000

 

 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by bry4321