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How Do You Feel About This Ric Copy? MIJ Content...

RyanJD

RyanJD

Apr 19, 2011
1,828
1,232
Iowa
#1
It has no name on it, so I'm not sure what to think. It does appear to be MIJ due to the neck plate on the back.

00S0S_3Ub2dXn4vMV_600x450_zpsa95f542d.jpg


00v0v_IV88HwvBC7_600x450_zpsd54bcc6c.jpg


00909_gcEWdlnQTbb_600x450_zpsc2ad7af1.jpg


00M0M_34QxGYX2Ijc_600x450_zps1121bd8f.jpg


01515_ibK5HXPO4xt_600x450_zpsf63d93be.jpg


What would you pay for it? Assuming it was a decent player with a decent sound...
$500? $400? $300?

The dude who owns it doesn't know much about it, so I was hoping the TB experts could weigh in.

Thoughts, opinions?
How true is it to a real Ric?
How do you feel about those pickups?

I appreciate any and all responses.
 
#2
This looks like am Ibanez copy I had back on the 70s. It sounded more like my '76 P-bass. When I got my first real 4001, I had both in hand to compare. To be honest, it felt like junk. I wished I'd just saved the $300 it cost me towards my 78 4001, which cost me $650.
 
#6
there was a very similar looking one on my local craigslist recently for $400. it had a logo but i dont recall the name. i saw the listing the day it was posted (bc i check craigslist a bit too often) and by the time i emailed him it was gone.

considering this has no logo, that can bring down the price. IF it plays and sounds good (i would expect it to) $300 ish i think is fair. maybe offer him $250.

but it may play and feel like junk, too.
 
#12
If it's Matsumoku, it's probably built better and much easier to work with than a real Ric.
I owned one real Ric in the mid '90s, and I would gladly pay $400 for a MIJ copy versus the current prices. I never got the hallowed tone out of mine either. If you want a Ric's looks, then get it. You could always get a real Ric pickup if you are after the 'sound'. I am convinced that the "sound" (Geddy/Squire) isn't easy to just obtain, and it is going to cost quite a bit and take some patience. This sunburst copy looks waaaaay cooler than the Mapleglo 4001 I had. Hated that thing, but still love to hear the vintage tones and they look cool as hell.
 
#13
Squire and Geddy's tones are completely different. Their basses were made ten years apart with completely different pickups, and they each use way different amp setups with completely different playing techniques. How can the Uncle Mat copy be easier to work on than a real Rick? The most problematic part, the bridge, is essentially the same. Adding Rick pickups isn't gonna get the sound either, since Ricks are all maple neck thru's and the copy is a bolt on neck to a body that's usually some kind of laminate top over who-knows-what wood. There have been some really good double truss rod, neck thru Rick copies, but this isn't one of them.
 
#14
Aceonbass said:
This looks like am Ibanez copy I had back on the 70s. It sounded more like my '76 P-bass. When I got my first real 4001, I had both in hand to compare. To be honest, it felt like junk. I wished I'd just saved the $300 it cost me towards my 78 4001, which cost me $650.
Click to expand...

Wow, I just checked an inflation calculator and the current buying power of $650 in 1978 is $2,429.49 today... So Ric has stayed pretty up to speed with all that, or done better, since some are going for $1,700ish on eBay.
 
#15
Hey guys, I'm going to check this out today.
Thanks for all the replies.

Just out of curiousity, to all your Matsumoku bass owners, is it possible that the serial number '764291' would indicate the year anywhere in it?
 
#18
This thing is real nice. I'm going to keep it for a long time.

The previous owner had some fish hooks in it in place of strap buttons.
I used the handy old 'toothpicks and wood glue' method so I could install some new ones and it worked like a charm.

I do have two questions though.
Is there any place I can get a blank truss rod cover without have to send one in or a tracing?
The original is missing, as you can see from the pictures.

And then the bridge has that built-in mute thing, but it doesn't raise up high enough to be useful.
Is there an easy fix for that? Just glue a chunk of wood under it or something?

Thanks.
 
#19
RyanJD said:
It has no name on it, so I'm not sure what to think. It does appear to be MIJ due to the neck plate on the back.

00S0S_3Ub2dXn4vMV_600x450_zpsa95f542d.jpg


00v0v_IV88HwvBC7_600x450_zpsd54bcc6c.jpg


00909_gcEWdlnQTbb_600x450_zpsc2ad7af1.jpg


00M0M_34QxGYX2Ijc_600x450_zps1121bd8f.jpg


01515_ibK5HXPO4xt_600x450_zpsf63d93be.jpg


What would you pay for it? Assuming it was a decent player with a decent sound...
$500? $400? $300?

The dude who owns it doesn't know much about it, so I was hoping the TB experts could weigh in.

Thoughts, opinions?
How true is it to a real Ric?
How do you feel about those pickups?

I appreciate any and all responses.
Click to expand...

more than likely this is a Penco Ric Copy

Penco was a brand of guitars manufactured circa 1974 to 1978 in the same factory (Hoshino Gakki) in Japan as Ibanez and Greco guitars and was distributed by the Philadelphia Music Company on the East coast..

they were sisters to the Greco line...

i have one just like it that is sitting here waiting to go out to a fellow TB'er

however it appears that the Bridge pickup is not original to the bass
 

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