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Greco Rickenbackers: Rare as hen's teeth?

#21
KevInDaBassment said:
I'm very leery of buying a Ric bass sight-unseen. The idea of Ric copies (not fakes) is intriguing to me, as there are some things I'd like to be different on the basses. Similar or same pickups, thinner neck, different bridge, no stereo output, and lack of body binding would all be appealing to me. I'd like to see somebody like Ibanez do their version of one. However, I'd want it to be passive and not active. Ibanez does love their active basses quite a bit ;)
Click to expand...

Ibanez lawsuit Ric, voila!

rickad.jpg
 
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#22
KevInDaBassment said:
I'm very leery of buying a Ric bass sight-unseen. The idea of Ric copies (not fakes) is intriguing to me, as there are some things I'd like to be different on the basses. Similar or same pickups, thinner neck, different bridge, no stereo output, and lack of body binding would all be appealing to me. I'd like to see somebody like Ibanez do their version of one. However, I'd want it to be passive and not active. Ibanez does love their active basses quite a bit ;)
Click to expand...

Ibanez did have a Ric copy back in the lawsuit days. Found one at a pawn shop once as a teen and passed it up because I didn't know what it was.

EDIT: damn!
 
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#24
KevInDaBassment said:
Man, they probably went for more Ric-like dimensions on the neck though. I'd want one with a Jazz bass or SR500 sized neck. That bridge is ugly, but the adjustable foam mutes in there are a neat feature. Wish more basses had that today.
Click to expand...

I don't know about the neck dimensions...its these sorts of things that would be really helpful to discuss and know, which is it why a shame that there aren't more discussion threads about these basses. As it stands, I'm rather surprised the Rickenwaffen haven't swooped in here yet to shut this one down. Then again, I may have blocked so many of them by now that they could be trying as I write this and I wouldn't even know. :)

Anyway...I would also guess that the dimensions are fairly Ric-like, although a positive on them could be that they are more 4001-like? I know for myself I haven't felt a 4003 neck that I liked as they are all too chunky, but my 4001 has a lovely thin neck. It is too wide at the nut, I wish that was more jazz like, but at least one of the dimensions is right. Since the lawsuit basses are all from the 70s, maybe they were done in that thin-necked 4001 style.
 
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#27
Zombie Thread! And yes, many (but not all) of the Japanese "Lawsuit" Ric clones were as good or better than 4001's of the same era. The prices for these have gone way up, so the "deal" aspect over a genuine Ric is a little more tenuous, but if you can find one in good shape.... buy it.
 
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#28
Gilmourisgod said:
Zombie Thread! And yes, many (but not all) of the Japanese "Lawsuit" Ric clones were as good or better than 4001's of the same era. The prices for these have gone way up, so the "deal" aspect over a genuine Ric is a little more tenuous, but if you can find one in good shape.... buy it.
Click to expand...
I had a Univox Stereo Bass in natural that I probably should have kept. It was a dead ringer for a Rick, except someone had added a Hipshot bridge and a (Bartolini?) split coil pickup hidden in a Rick-shaped cover as the neck pickup. Great bass, but I already has a couple of real Ricks, so I left it go.
 
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