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NBD - Counterfeit Ric 4004LK

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#61
bassstrangler said:
The fake truss cover says Rickenbacker, just like an authentic Rickenbacker truss cover, the font used makes the "c" look like an "r" in the fake as well as an authentic cover.
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What part of China is USA in? Is there a manufacturing town with that name in order to skirt the truth in advertising laws? It's funny how some of the people here have no qualms about copyright infringements, trademarks, imports, etc, but would be the first ones to argue how identity theft is the number one threat to our society. From a purely naïve point of view, I guess the logical excuse for copying a logo of a famous product line is that the logo is in a foreign language that uses unfamiliar symbols thereby not recognized as a name, but rather as a design. I still don't like the idea of copying someone else's work. I'm going to go sample some riffs for my new song now. ;)
 
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#63
Quadzilla said:
I've owned several real Rics and clones. I've loved them all. I, like the OP don't really give an F about the legalities. He's entitled to his opinion (as are the rest of you). Enjoy that fine lookin clone bro!
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That bridge can only be an improvement over the original p.o.s. Ric tailpiece/bridge. I think the bass is cool. Hope it plays well.
With all this counterfeit talk, HOW in the hell did Warwick not get sued over their theft of the Spector NS ?
 
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#64
Apolicious said:
look, I'm not going to judge your for buying an instrument whose features or design would otherwise be out of your reach. I've been tempted myself. reserving certain basic design features then pricing them out of reach of the average musician upsets me. (see PRS vs. Gibson)
that being said, you need to remove the truss rod cover. I know you made light of it, but I am completely serious. applying a companies name to an inferior product does legitimate damage to their brand, and is unnecessary. infringing on IP is one thing, public fraud is another.
let me give you a real-world example. when I was first starting out, both in playing and the retail industry, before or after the show I'd slide up to the stage and memorize every guitar, bass, amp, and pedal used. if they sounded good, I'd take note of that. if they sounded like cow patties, I'd make a note of that as well.
now, I learned a lot from simple observation (such as the surprising usefulness of the OD-3.) imagine if I'd gone to a gig of yours, heard your tone, saw your bass, then thought that's how "real" ricks actually sound? admittedly, I haven't heard your particular bass, but I'm gonna guess build quality isn't the only thing they skimped on. I'd go so far as to say it probably sounds like @$$. hypothetical teenage me would think that all rickenbackers are trash. and that's a bias that can take a long, long time to overcome. this is probable, because this happened to me when I was like 13 and heard a SPECTACULARLY bad player with a stingray.
so, the way I see it, you have two options: never take it outside. ever. or, remove the truss rod cover and stop pretending. it's not only detrimental to rickenbacker as a company, but the bass playing community as a whole.
just do the right thing, man. it's easy.
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What about option 3? Ignore your opinion because it's not your instrument, and he might not give a rat's rear what you think.
 
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#68
Tvrtko said:
In a few years, I think, next to turn to 11 (chapter 11) will be Ric. Just watch.
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Highly unlikely. Rickenbacker has no large debts.

eff-clef said:
That bridge can only be an improvement over the original p.o.s. Ric tailpiece/bridge. I think the bass is cool. Hope it plays well.
With all this counterfeit talk, HOW in the hell did Warwick not get sued over their theft of the Spector NS ?
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The Lemmy signature bass, which this is a copy of, didn't use the old style bridge/tailpiece.
 
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#71
Cool little piece. I'd dish out extra on duncans C/S Lemmy pickups. last year i purchased from Aliexp a dan armstrong plexi copy bass. I'm building a new neck for it - only cause the one a lot of those sellers sell are all long scale. So i'm doing the work to make mine more of a replica to the letter. Minus the high mass bridge, tuning keys & MM style pickup (which i installed a Kent armstrong mm pup, blackout cover, but underneath is a dual blade pup kinda like the dan armstrong pups)

Congrats, enjoy!
 
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#73
Trouztrouz said:
Here I am to throw that shade you predicted. Even if you're fine with it being a fake, and you never intend to represent it as the real thing, you really should not be supporting the counterfeit instrument market. Not every bass they make is as obvious a fake as that one, and the next guy may not be so savvy. That's the guy who's really going to pay for your cheap bass.

Glad you're happy with it tho.
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Can you imagine someone buying a fake Ric and not getting the bridge lift, crappy paint, intonation issues etc of the "real deal"? I'd be bummed!:roflmao:
 
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#74
Apolicious said:
hypothetical teenage me would think that all rickenbackers are trash. and that's a bias that can take a long, long time to overcome. this is probable, because this happened to me when I was like 13 and heard a SPECTACULARLY bad player with a stingray.
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So you judged a bass on how it sounds when it was being played by a hack. It's a wonder you managed to find your own sound when judging the worth of an object by how it sounded through another person's signal chain.... not to mention their hands.
 
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#75
I’ve contemplated buying a Ric copy from aliexpress or dh gate. I’m just a little apprehensive at spending any amount of money on something directly from China. But success stories like yours help to build confidence. I actually think I will end up going the route of pitbull guitars. They have a Ric kit that looks pretty cool. I love DIY stuff so if I could build my own Ric copy that would ideal. Plus their Australian so a little more reliable and have a great forum for building help.
 
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#77
Thumpin6string said:
So it was a custom build? I've got to ask: What did it cost?
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It wasn’t really a custom build. It was a matter of it being in stock. But I get the feeling that some of these sellers do allow for some customization. I’ve seen stories on TB about it.

This bass was $520CAD, including shipping. That included a $15 discount for members week. ~$400USD.
 
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#78
Qlanq said:
Now then, that is nice.
Can you imagine Rick doing a Lemmy Sig bass. Not gonna happen.
Rock that, with your c?ck out.
Respect.
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Actually, Rick DID make a Lemmy sig bass - that's what a 4004LK is. I can understand that the real thing is way too expensive for most of us to afford, but I don't understand the desire to own a fake...it would always, always bug me, even if it was a perfect fake (which this isn't - even the logo looks dodgy). I'd be comfortable with an "honest" copy that had its own logo - living a lie is just sad.
 
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#80
GCPENG said:
I know that I'm probably going to get some shade thrown at me, but I don't really care.

A few weeks ago, I was perusing AliExpress and DHGate and I got the idea to look for a replica 4004LK. I found a few sellers and I bought one from a seller on DHGate. Heeding some advice from people on getting photos of the merch before it gets shipped, I asked the seller for same. The photo that he sent didn't match at all. Bent "L" fender-style bridge. Chrome pickups. Clover tuners. Perimeter of the body matched the color of the middle stripe. I told him that maybe I should just get my money back. Then, he sent another photo. Bridge was better. Proper-shape tuners, but the body color pattern still didn't match. I wrote some color comments on the photo and seller suggested another one, which was a pretty good match. A little different, since this one had three pickups plus a pickup cover (actually, there's another pickup under it) in the middle, similar to the way Lemmy had his. The bridge was still not a Rec replica, tuners are not in the right position, pickups still a bit different, pickup cover is not the right shape and the central stripe was much lighter than a real 4004, but it was really close enough for me. It was shipped from China last Friday and arrived here at my home in Canada today.

I've just unpacked it and plugged it in to see that it works. It does. No setup yet - I'm going to wait a day or two to acclimatize. It's not stellar craftsmanship on close inspection, but it's a cheap, knock-off Chinese bass.

Side by side with a real 4004LK, you could certainly see the difference. But nobody's ever going to do that. In the real world. Not that I'll ever be trying to seriously represent it as anything other than that which it is.

This was a novelty purchase for me, and a tribute to Lemmy. I'm delighted. It needs some polishing, tightening and tweaking, but I expected nothing different.View attachment 3006355 View attachment 3006356 View attachment 3006357
And now the shot that will enrage many of you.

View attachment 3006358

Feel free to list all the ways that this differs from a real 4004LK. For about $15,000 less.

:)
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I like it.

Sort of bummed the carving isn't open behind and chambered.

But I really like it.
 
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