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NBD - Well Sort Of!

ClassicJazz

ClassicJazz

Bottom Feeders Unite!!
Supporting Member
Sep 19, 2005
4,768
9,842
63
Delray Beach, Florida
#1
So two months ago I ordered this really cool looking bass from DHgate. Yea that Chinese site! The bass is a copy of a one off bass made by Spector for Kip Winger. Since it has the same body shape as a Rickenbacker, Spector made it overseas to avoid any legal issues! Anyway I thought it was cool and if it played decent, a good modding platform. Well they were sold out and ask if I could wait two months for more to be built. It was only around $300 so I said sure. They did send me progress pics before and after it was painted, so I was confident I would actually be getting it. Before it shipped the seller sent me pics of the finished bass. Cool!

So it arrived Monday, yea!! Got it home and opened it up and ***!!!

Was a completely different bass!!! Seriously!!! It was some cheesy Rickenbacker copy five string! I waited two months for this!!! Was so pissed off!! So I messaged the seller and relayed how pissed off I was!!! Initially they offered me a full refund. But I really wanted that other bass! So long story short, ends up the factory shipped my bass to the wrong person and I got that person’s bass.

So they will send new another, the correct one I hope. Gotta wait a few weeks before it ships, it’s in the process of being painted. Soooo…I will end up with two basses for the price of one! lol

In the meantime, I cleaned this one up, oiled the fretboard and popped on some better strings. Not the greatest fret work, but it actually doesn’t sound too bad believe it or not! Don’t think I’d ever use it on a gig, maybe to light on fire! Lol. Or make a nice wall decoration piece!


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#4
Curious to hear if what shows up is playable out of the box. The few Aliexpress clones I've seen in person needed a full fret level and polish, and the electronics may be a crap shoot, but you never know about basses from China. It varies from half decent to absolute dreck, hope it works out for you. I bought a couple inexpensive items from Aliexpress back in their early "Wild West" days and got ripped off, so I haven't tried since. Supposedly more reputable now, though I'm not sure how that word applies to a business model of ripping off other peoples IP. If nothing else, you may have a decent qulaty "husk" as an upgrade platform. Their paint jobs are usually pretty good with a few minor blems, sort of a "looks great from three feet" level anyway. Check the truss rod for full function right away.
 
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#5
mdogs said:
I find it interesting that this is a cheesy copy, but that you seem to expect the one that you ordered to be anything but.
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It’s a cheesy copy because Rick never made a five string that looked like that. And it’s very cheap looking.

The bass I ordered looks way better and is an active PJ. From the build photos they sent it looks like it is actually well made.
 
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#7
ClassicJazz said:
So two months ago I ordered this really cool looking bass from DHgate. Yea that Chinese site! The bass is a copy of a one off bass made by Spector for Kip Winger. Since it has the same body shape as a Rickenbacker, Spector made it overseas to avoid any legal issues! Anyway I thought it was cool and if it played decent, a good modding platform. Well they were sold out and ask if I could wait two months for more to be built. It was only around $300 so I said sure. They did send me progress pics before and after it was painted, so I was confident I would actually be getting it. Before it shipped the seller sent me pics of the finished bass. Cool!

So it arrived Monday, yea!! Got it home and opened it up and ***!!!

Was a completely different bass!!! Seriously!!! It was some cheesy Rickenbacker copy five string! I waited two months for this!!! Was so pissed off!! So I messaged the seller and relayed how pissed off I was!!! Initially they offered me a full refund. But I really wanted that other bass! So long story short, ends up the factory shipped my bass to the wrong person and I got that person’s bass.

So they will send new another, the correct one I hope. Gotta wait a few weeks before it ships, it’s in the process of being painted. Soooo…I will end up with two basses for the price of one! lol

In the meantime, I cleaned this one up, oiled the fretboard and popped on some better strings. Not the greatest fret work, but it actually doesn’t sound too bad believe it or not! Don’t think I’d ever use it on a gig, maybe to light on fire! Lol. Or make a nice wall decoration piece!


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A two fer! Congrats!!
 
#15
They often blur the logo or headstock TRC on the knockoffs, not sure why they bother. It’s not like anyone is successfully policing all the counterfeit basses coming in droves. Customs is busy (and rightly so) trying to catch .002% of the illegal weapons, fentanyl, and trafficked human beings being stiluffed into containers to worry over much about counterfeit basses. If they let the OP keep both basses, I’ll call that a win for him. Hard to get too worked up about a counterfeit Winger bass, kind of a niche item anyway. One thing I like about the Chickenbacker basses is the relief carved in the upper bout. They are actually more comfortable to play than a real Ric, but sound nothing like one.
 
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#18
I'd be pretty mad if I expected a knockoff p/j Spectorbacker and received that 5 string Fakenbacker. I'd love to know the thought process on whoever sent that out thinking it wouldn't be noticed. I have little faith in society and posts like these lessen it every time.
 
#19
lamarjones said:
To be fair, I went looking for that spector and wow, pretty cool. That said, apparently that was made in a far east factory as well? Might just need to throw a spector neck on it.
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From what I read Spector made is overseas to avoid legal issues. The only reason he made the bass for Kip Winger was he just sold the company to Korg so he didn't care! So I read....
 
#20
Snibborwocky said:
I'd be pretty mad if I expected a knockoff p/j Spectorbacker and received that 5 string Fakenbacker. I'd love to know the thought process on whoever sent that out thinking it wouldn't be noticed. I have little faith in society and posts like these lessen it every time.
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Well as I said the seller owned up to it and did offer me a full refund. The factory where they are shipped from screwed up, it happens.
 

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