NBD times three, including a Fakenbacker

[Rib 13]

My 4001 and 4003 both have subtle tilts in the headstock. Granted not 45 degrees, but slanted nonetheless. Am I seeing things?

this one isnt subtle

 

[4001]

you can reduce stank received by losing the fake Ric TRC, or put a sticker over it. That’s what roles people up most.

How about a Ric shaped TRC that says Rickenfaker ?? I would think that would reduce stank...

 

[creaturegods]

Gotta put a Fender waterslide decal on that Ric headstock.

 

[StereoPlayer]

I’m sure I feel like some others here.
I wish think controversy with chickenbacker and Ric’s are getting old.
StereoPlayer 8/12/18

 

[4001]

The lower right part of the headstock on the Ricfaker looks a bit too big but on the whole, it looks better than the headstocks I've seen on 4003's for the last 15 or more years.

 

[kodiakblair]

@BassikLee
Inspired by your good fortune I've decided to play my faker this week

 

[onamission]

Local once a month musician's swap meet. I haven't been in a while. Anyway, I show up early, walk thru the partially set up booths, and see this decent looking fake Ric. Neck thru, binding, shark tooth, toaster looking neck pickup, marked at $299. Walk past it. There really isn't much else to look at in the other booths, so I strike up a conversation with the guy with the Fakenbacker. He's got that, and a Yamaha BB300, and a Tobias 4 string. Possibly Toby, definitely Korean. He's dealing more in guitar stuff and parts than bass stuff. I make him an offer on all three basses, he accepts, and I brought them home.

All three are surprisingly decent basses. The "Ric" looks close enough that it gets the idea across. I can flip the Yamaha and the Tobias (even with custom weight relief) for more than I paid for all three. Sunday morning score.

Love the Fakenbacker! That's a nice piece!

 

[jamro217]

Yay!!!

 

[Ric5]

Cool bases! In In before the bootleg Ric crowd ruins the thread...

Ya … why do they do that??? somehow a fake Fender is ok but a fake Ric makes them blow a head gasket ...

 

[groucho]

Local once a month musician's swap meet. I haven't been in a while. Anyway, I show up early, walk thru the partially set up booths, and see this decent looking fake Ric. Neck thru, binding, shark tooth, toaster looking neck pickup, marked at $299. Walk past it. There really isn't much else to look at in the other booths, so I strike up a conversation with the guy with the Fakenbacker. He's got that, and a Yamaha BB300, and a Tobias 4 string. Possibly Toby, definitely Korean. He's dealing more in guitar stuff and parts than bass stuff. I make him an offer on all three basses, he accepts, and I brought them home.

All three are surprisingly decent basses. The "Ric" looks close enough that it gets the idea across. I can flip the Yamaha and the Tobias (even with custom weight relief) for more than I paid for all three. Sunday morning score.

When I did the test/review of a Chinese Ric it had what appeared to be that same bridge.
Was surprisingly well made but for one rather odd but serious shortcoming.
No radius adjustments (all saddles made same height) they basically totally ignored the
radius of their fingerboard! The cheap n' dirty fix is 1/16th metal shims under the A and D
saddle blocks. If this is a newer one, I am curious if they ever got their act together on
what was otherwise an OK bridge.

 

[BassikLee]

I'll have to give that a quick look when I have her apart. I just grabbed a set of Peavey SF pickups out of either a Foundation or a Dyna. These are my current favorite single coil pickups. I'm going to see if I can leave that toaster looking cover on there. I know I'm crazy, but I have a good time. Everybody say "OH, yeah"....

 

[Skybone]

Question on the Faker bridge, are the saddles individually height adjustable, and do the “knobs” do anything, or are they just for show?

The saddles are not individually height adjustable, though there are 5 height adjustable allen grub screws on the bridge piece, 2 at either end (height & tilt), and 1 in the middle (radius).

The "mute" knobs lock the bridge into place once the adjustments are made (loosen them to make any adjustments required).

NOTE: the scale length on "modern" Faker is generally 34". The saddle position is roughly half an inch further forward than that of a genuine Ric. Therefore, adding a Ric bridge (genuine or pattern) OR a Hipshot replacement will affect the scale length and the intonation of a Faker. They're designed for a 33.25" scale length bass, not a 34" bass.

Nice score BTW. The Tobias are underrated basses IMO.

 

[bjabass]

I'll have to give that a quick look when I have her apart. I just grabbed a set of Peavey SF pickups out of either a Foundation or a Dyna. These are my current favorite single coil pickups. I'm going to see if I can leave that toaster looking cover on there. I know I'm crazy, but I have a good time. Everybody say "OH, yeah"....

OH YEAH!

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I’ve started seeing the Chinabacker bridges for sale from various sources, not sure who the intended market is if they don’t have individual saddle adjustment, but Chinese will sell anything to anybody. It’s weird that they would have the technical prowess to build a bridge, but ignore the requirement to match fingerboard radius.