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Antoniotsai Ritter copies!

#61
Jens:
Great to see you on TB. I am blessed to own one of your amazing instruments. The problem is, I need more Swordsteel strings and the only place I can find them is at the Bass Emporium in Texas! Unfortunately, they only ever seem to have six-string sets. I will put no other string on my Roya 5, so how can we convince you to find more U.S. distributors? Juan Ortiz at Basses Electric & Acoustic would be a really good guy to have your strings in stock! God bless and keep up the great work!

Mark
 
#63
Lokire said:
1161806994580_1.gif



It's taunting me...:help:
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I bid up until 500 something, couldn't go past that, too much for me, whoever won it, grats. Damn this thread.
 
#64
bassmutant said:
I bid up until 500 something, couldn't go past that, too much for me, whoever won it, grats. Damn this thread.
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:eek: :hiding:

It appears that I was the 2nd highest bidder......and the guy who won changed his mind and swapped the win for another bass.


I'm crazy, I know. But the style, headstock, inlay, 26 frets, HSC. It was just too perfect :D
 
#65
Lokire said:
:eek: :hiding:

It appears that I was the 2nd highest bidder......and the guy who won changed his mind and swapped the win for another bass.


I'm crazy, I know. But the style, headstock, inlay, 26 frets, HSC. It was just too perfect :D
Click to expand...

Oops, you did it again !!
(Antoniotsai Club Member # 1 ?)
 
#66
Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. But, I can not believe they sound, feel or play like a Ritter. Any one can copy another's idea, it takes talent to produce something truly unique.
 
#67
I just thought it looked cool, and you probably couldn't get a ritter gig bag for the price of one of these basses. The wood and inlay work look nice. If the necks are in good shape, almost everything else can be upgraded and repaired. As long a the guy isn't advertising it as a replacement Ritter, I don't personally have any issues with them "copying" the design. It's not like you'd be actually considering one of these if you could afford and wanted a ritter anyways.
 
#68
Lokire said:
:eek: :hiding:

It appears that I was the 2nd highest bidder......and the guy who won changed his mind and swapped the win for another bass.


I'm crazy, I know. But the style, headstock, inlay, 26 frets, HSC. It was just too perfect :D
Click to expand...
Yeah, be careful, I bid up to 501.00. If you were second highest, you must of been below 511 but above 501....
 
#71
jens ritter said:
Hey John!!!!!! What's up man? Long time no see! We have to talk on the phone soon! I have to tell you about a special bass I just finished and which will be released end of november in the Robb Report Magazine! Anyways! I just did some "organisations" and contacted the guy of the instruments above.... Will see........ :-)
See You at NAMM?
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yeah, i'll be there. that bass sounds awesome, as usual :) what you need to do is shed some light on the "sultan's" bass :ninja:.

:hyper:
 
#73
morf said:
I'm amazed you guys dont feel any shame in buying an illegal copy of a bass and discussing that in a thread where the original luthier being copied is posting.
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How is there anything illegal in this? It's obviously not a direct replica of a Ritter, and Antoniotsai isn't using the name "Ritter" at all to try and sell the bass. It's just a cool bass that has been modeled after a Ritter body style. Jens didn't come here with any specifically negative attitude about the basses either. At least he's open minded to the idea ;)

What, do you think people who are about to purchase a Ritter bass are going to change their mind all of sudden just because they can get this Antoniotsai instead? I can't see how it could hurt Jens' business in any way.
 
#77
morf said:
I'm amazed you guys dont feel any shame in buying an illegal copy of a bass and discussing that in a thread where the original luthier being copied is posting.
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There seems to be a rash of "OMG, they're copying XXX basses!" here on TB. Shame in buying a copy? Hmmm...

If these looked as close to a Ritter as some of the Fender clones look to the originals, I might see your point. Anyone who could truly be duped into thinking these basses are some sort of substitute for a real Ritter probably deserves whatever they get. And I guess Mark Eshenbaugh should be flattered too, they made an attempt at his headstock.

The selective indignation here on TB over "who" copies" what is pretty odd IMO. At least these are cheap and nowhere near the pricepoint of the real thing.

If there's any shame, I'd guess some people who paid way more than this for some of those other copies should be crippled by it.
:D
 
#78
SMASH said:
That's been said twice so far, by Ritter owners I note. Not to be combative, 'cause I agree with you, but I wonder why this is seldom, if ever, said about Fender copies - cheap or "boutique" - some of which are far closer to Fenders in appearance than these are to Ritters.

Ultimately, as with all the Fender copies, it's good advertising and arguably only elevates the brand being copied - the mystique of graduating to a *real* Ritter someday. On the flipside, rather than helping make the look ubiquitous (as I believe Fender copies have done), it could just cheapen it.
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The issue is one that we are familiar with in south China. It's fakes of designer labels ... anything you can find in a Gucci, Bulgari, LVHM, etc. shop in New York, you can find a good looking copy of in Zhuhai for less than $5. What's wrong? Well the copies are designed to sell once ... they only start to fall apart when you take them home. If these actually get into shops like, say, Nordstrom, or other normal retailer in the US, then they are very likely to be mistaken for the real thing ... and customers will then get very upset with the real company, not the folks producing the cheap knockoffs.

This is why upscale brands get very obsessive about piracy ... it's not that someone is taking their business, it's that these pirates are degrading their brand, the most important asset they have.

As a Ritter owner myself, I've at times responded to postings asking what you really get for all that money, and why, e.g., the crazy shapes, and big p'ups. You don't really appreciate the Ritter until you've owned it and lived with it for awhile... then you realize how incredibly brilliant Jens is as a designer and builder. He has every right to get obsessive about the brand and reputation of his instruments, and Antonio Tsai with these designs is threatening that brand.

I think the issue is a bit different with Fender, because copies have been both worse, and much better than Fender. Consider Nino Valenti or Roger Sadowsky's work. Basically these builders are saying that Fender has a great design, but the workmanship can be improved and this is how. Sadowsky's keep their resale value better than anything. Fender's themselves are of so-so quality compared with Valenti or Sadowsky. On the other hand, Jens Ritter is producing cutting-edge quality instruments in the same vein as Roger Sadowsky, with entirely new designs.

Tsai's knockoffs are likely to confuse the design with the quality; you don't have the same problem with a Fender.
 
#79
westland said:
The issue is one that we are familiar with in south China. It's fakes of designer labels ... anything you can find in a Gucci, Bulgari, LVHM, etc. shop in New York, you can find a good looking copy of in Zhuhai for less than $5. What's wrong? Well the copies are designed to sell once ... they only start to fall apart when you take them home. If these actually get into shops like, say, Nordstrom, or other normal retailer in the US, then they are very likely to be mistaken for the real thing ... and customers will then get very upset with the real company, not the folks producing the cheap knockoffs.

This is why upscale brands get very obsessive about piracy ... it's not that someone is taking their business, it's that these pirates are degrading their brand, the most important asset they have.

As a Ritter owner myself, I've at times responded to postings asking what you really get for all that money, and why, e.g., the crazy shapes, and big p'ups. You don't really appreciate the Ritter until you've owned it and lived with it for awhile... then you realize how incredibly brilliant Jens is as a designer and builder. He has every right to get obsessive about the brand and reputation of his instruments, and Antonio Tsai with these designs is threatening that brand.

I think the issue is a bit different with Fender, because copies have been both worse, and much better than Fender. Consider Nino Valenti or Roger Sadowsky's work. Basically these builders are saying that Fender has a great design, but the workmanship can be improved and this is how. Sadowsky's keep their resale value better than anything. Fender's themselves are of so-so quality compared with Valenti or Sadowsky. On the other hand, Jens Ritter is producing cutting-edge quality instruments in the same vein as Roger Sadowsky, with entirely new designs.

Tsai's knockoffs are likely to confuse the design with the quality; you don't have the same problem with a Fender.
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I'm not following the logic... it's okay to copy if it "improves' on the original? So cheaper copies = bad, more expensive copies okay?

I'm just curious at the logic on this one.

Do you really think anyone is going to confuse these basses with real Ritters and that will somehow affect his reputation? I honestly can't see that.
 
#80
westland said:
Tsai's knockoffs are likely to confuse the design with the quality
Click to expand...

That's where you're wrong. I highly doubt that anyone here on TB who saw these Antoniotsai basses thought that they might anywhere near the same quality as a true Ritter or any other high end bass.

And your analogy to designer fakes doesn't apply to these basses. As the fake designer handbags (or whatever) are specifically made to try and fool you into thinking your getting a real Gucci or Prada. They often have the exact same look and even designer labels and insignia all over them. These basses are not being advertised as Ritter basses, or even "Ritter style" or anything like that.
 

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