If the p/u is mounted correctly and the nut cut to a useable height, OP, you are already ahead of the game!
Fishheadjoe
Fishheadjoe
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Paul Wilczynski somehow has the royal blessing to scratch build 4005 replicas and stick Rickenbacker TRCs on there. Presumably he kissed the ring (so to speak!) and RIC get a kickback if/when he sells these instruments?
The problem with the militant morality that sporadically crops up on here is that it is fantastically half-baked at best. It ultimately becomes a bit of a peasant's witch hunt, with a collective hive mind deciding where a thread is going to go. We worry about a buyer in the future being caught out, because they paid $300 for a Chinabacker in a pawnbroker and thought they got a real 4003! That tired excuse gets trotted out on other forums as well, and yet half the time this forum would punish the buyer for not knowing how to spot a Chinabacker. We become the guardian, and the policeman, for the hundreds of poor voiceless bassists out there dodging scams and forgeries on skid row.
Sometimes there is clearly a latent anti-Chinese sentiment at play too. If a US builder created a few 4005 copies and stuck Rickenbacker TRCs on them 'to complete the look' then this forum would probably praise them, with only a few dissenting voices.
We praise the guy who gets the '60s Jazz bass for pennies, then we get angry and dox the guy (and the seller) to try and prove just how terrible a person they are. I'm pretty sure some of the more well loved forum users would get a way easier ride on that one. Had the pink Jazz Bass guy been JimmyM, or one of the other characters then we would praise their eye for a bargain. Instead it transpires they were a guitarist (the horror!), so therefore they simply came here to rub our noses in it, much as OP is apparently rubbing our noses in it by showing off this Lemmy bass thingy.
In terms of morality, this forum is a bumpy ride at best.
The problem with the militant morality that sporadically crops up on here is that it is fantastically half-baked at best. It ultimately becomes a bit of a peasant's witch hunt, with a collective hive mind deciding where a thread is going to go. We worry about a buyer in the future being caught out, because they paid $300 for a Chinabacker in a pawnbroker and thought they got a real 4003! That tired excuse gets trotted out on other forums as well, and yet half the time this forum would punish the buyer for not knowing how to spot a Chinabacker. We become the guardian, and the policeman, for the hundreds of poor voiceless bassists out there dodging scams and forgeries on skid row.
Sometimes there is clearly a latent anti-Chinese sentiment at play too. If a US builder created a few 4005 copies and stuck Rickenbacker TRCs on them 'to complete the look' then this forum would probably praise them, with only a few dissenting voices.
We praise the guy who gets the '60s Jazz bass for pennies, then we get angry and dox the guy (and the seller) to try and prove just how terrible a person they are. I'm pretty sure some of the more well loved forum users would get a way easier ride on that one. Had the pink Jazz Bass guy been JimmyM, or one of the other characters then we would praise their eye for a bargain. Instead it transpires they were a guitarist (the horror!), so therefore they simply came here to rub our noses in it, much as OP is apparently rubbing our noses in it by showing off this Lemmy bass thingy.
In terms of morality, this forum is a bumpy ride at best.
Rickenbacker is selling all the basses they can make, there is almost always a backlog, don't know why you would think that.
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!
I've owned almost 30 Rics in the last 40 years from a 72 up to one made within the last 10 years and may buy a new 4003S soon, I've have had none of those problems, never had a paint problem, no major tail lift, (got a 1979 4001 and a 1985 4003FL right now with no tail lift) intonation is right on and I've NEVER had intonation problems on any of them, most of those problems are due to operator error. I've heard of some paint problems recently but have never seen it. Rics at least the old 4001's are like high end sports cars, you need to learn how to work on them, tune them up etc. Rics sometimes take a little patience to get accustomed to if you are coming from say a Fender, some people just don't have the patience and sell them and then bash them for years afterward and it becomes a mantra for some people. I'm not saying that Rickenbacker has always made perfect instruments, no, but then again neither has Fender, or Gibson. As far as buying a fake, not for this guy, I can definitely understand why Rickenbacker goes after fakes, maybe if Fender had copywritten the Precision or Jazz bass shape and pickup(s) instead of just the headstock and had gone after fakes like Ric does there would be no generic P or J basses around like there are now. I am happy that Rickenbacker goes after them, they are no generic "Ric" basses, Rics are unique basses and if you want one that sounds like one, looks like one and plays like one you have to buy a real one which to me is the way it should be and is why there are copyright laws.
Well spoken, Sir Axe, I've often waded into these pointless morality plays by pointing out (often to howls of self-righteous derision) that virtually every Chinese product imported into the US is based in whole or in part on pirated intellectual property, but we ignore most of it. We are bass players, so we kvetch about counterfeit basses, never mind the Wife's fake Chinese Gucci bag. I think it's a safe assumption that the vast majority of TB users have owned, traded, downloaded, or otherwise obtained copyrighted software, music, movies, programming, etc. without a second thought as to paying the proper royalties, licenses, or user fees. Anybody who claims otherwise is either a Saint or a hypocrite, haven't met any Saints recently but I'm sure they are out there. John Hall wears the Big Boy Pants over at Ric, I admire his business acumen even if he is a bit of an arrogant a**hole in his online dealings. He doesn't show much concern or consideration to his nearly fanatical customer base, sticking them with shipping costs amounting to 1/5th or so of the cost of a new bass in order to get warranty repairs for poorly applied peeling finishes, so I'll let him sweat pursuing Chinese vendors selling copies of basses he hasn't built in 20 years, or longer in the case of the 4005. Since the sale and cloning of basses he doesn't make isn't costing him one red cent, I'm having trouble identifying the aggrieved party on this one, it gets a lot grayer on the clone 4003's. If I sound conflicted, that's because I am, no Saint here.
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,004
- 1
- 31,697
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
I think he is. But just to be safe, we should slice his head off and see if he picks it up and walks away...
@ctmullins
Since we are both “forgers” who have built Ric clones, that WILL (according to this thread) be sold as genuine Rics to poor unsuspecting innocents in some distant future, we should get a head start on feeling guilty now. Never mind that they are better built than the average Ric, it’s the PRINCIPAL at stake. Come to think of it, somebody might sell my crappy Walmart particle board bookcase as genuine IKEA when I die, I better work up some guilt on that one too. Heh.. all this makes me want to build a Lemmy.....
Since we are both “forgers” who have built Ric clones, that WILL (according to this thread) be sold as genuine Rics to poor unsuspecting innocents in some distant future, we should get a head start on feeling guilty now. Never mind that they are better built than the average Ric, it’s the PRINCIPAL at stake. Come to think of it, somebody might sell my crappy Walmart particle board bookcase as genuine IKEA when I die, I better work up some guilt on that one too. Heh.. all this makes me want to build a Lemmy.....
What!!? Why,i oughta.....I hate white basses. Everyone should hate white basses. It enrages me that other people like white basses. Anybody who owns a white bass and insists on talking about it is a Troll! Open discussion of white basses should be banned on TB!!! (Unless they have tort guards, then it’s ok, because I like tort)
Btw,that’s a chinese bass on the left.....
To the OP-just watch out for that hand-slice bar when playing that Lemmay bass!
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,004
- 1
- 31,697
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
Indeed. If you wanted to clone the tones of Rickenbacker basses, it would be incredibly easy to do. Use similar materials for the neck and body, use similar pickups (single coils for the 4003, humbuckers for a 4004 clone), and put them in the right spots. And that would be that. But no one actually seems to try.No, they are more interested in the shape, which is the protected part - the tone isn't.
The 4004LK, which this is a copy of, did not have the old style tail piece and bridge. I believe it came with an ABM style bridge.
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.
I have a RH Paul McCartney "Magical Mystery Tour" knock off Rickenbacker from aliexpress. I love it. I spent an addl. $60 with a luthier to correct some top end fret buzzing and new strings. I'm a bass hobbiest and play casually with a bunch of other old farts (all pushing 70) and this bass does the job at an affordable price. I'm in the game at a few hundred bucks not a few thousand.
I realize this is an old thread, but what's the nut width on that one? Looks a beauty.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.
Despite being Lemm'ish I think it would look great in my country band.
I hope the OP is enjoying his bass. He paid his money fully knowing it was counterfeit. I'm guessing he won't mind if he ever sells it, the buyer will give him the fake money.
Bones
Bones
I do enjoy it, and thanks for thinking of me. Your best wishes are appreciated.
If I ever do sell it, I will check the bills very carefully. Or take PayPal. Thanks for your concern!
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