It was a gift. Enjoy it. Play the hell out of it. I’d take a free fake Rick any day.
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Rickenbacker Model help!
- Thread starter Clark106345
- Start date
As others have already said, that is a Rickenfaker. I didn't need to see more than the first picture.
No need to sugar coat it. Just say what you think.
Nothing on it is Rickenbacker, not even the truss-rod cover. Illegal Chinese copy. Sorry.
The law is clear as mud on this, plainly illegal for the Chinese to build them, technically illegal to import them, but is it illegal for someone to buy one? I remember for a while a Canadian company was selling them, out of curiosity, I contacted them. They said it was legal to physically drive to Canada, buy one, and return to the US with (one) bass, counterfeit or not. Of course, customs would be within their rights to seize it, but I presume they have their hands full looking for drugs, illegal weapons, and undocumented workers stuffed into containers. If seizing counterfeit basses is about 100th on the list of US Customs priority (as it probably should be), the Legality may be functionally irrelevant. I don't recommend anyone buy one of these for a host of reasons, but as an average American, who may (or may not) have DVR'd a baseball game or two without the express written permission of MLB, or used a piece of pirated software, music, or game a few times in my youth, I have no High Horse to ride on the issue. Let's also recall that Rickenbacker Inc., those paragons of IP protection, pretty blatantly ripped off the Tubeampology Treble Bezel when it suited them, so I'll shed no tears about Chickenbackers. Ric seems to be doing just fine financially. At the least, the OP should take the fake TRC off, that's really what makes it a counterfeit in my book.Nothing on it is Rickenbacker, not even the truss-rod cover. Illegal Chinese copy. Sorry.
I'm - sorta reluctantly - forced to agree. No, it isn't a real Rickenbacker, but you didn't buy it; you didn't import it. So, aside from maybe feeling a little guilt about the "Rickenbacker" on the TRC (which, as the owner of 3 Rickenbackers, and a Warmoth Mini-Precision Bass with many, many Fender bits and pieces on it - including a neck plate with a big, fancy "F" on it - I wouldn't be), I don't think I'd have a problem, if it was mine. As long as it was left handed, anyway...
If that bass feels good; plays and sounds good; and makes you happy? Then play on, Brother; play on...
It’s interesting, my wife knows a couple women with fake Gucci handbags, and nobody batts an eyelash about it. There’s probably a Gucci Handbag Enthusiast Forum where people agonize about the morality of owning a fake purse, but they could care less about counterfeit basses. In the case of receiving a faker as a gift, having contributed $0.00 to international IP thievery, I’d feel 0% guilt about it. Flog that sucker hard!
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Heh. My son's girlfriend owns a second hand clothing and consignment store, she can spot a fake Gucci pretty quick, but they are considerably more convincing than the average Chickenbacker, which, other then the general outline of body and headstock, are pretty much one big "tell".
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
Funny story about that kind of thing. I bought a Rickenfaker from the 1970s from a seller in British Columbia. I paid for it remotely, which was an act of faith, I suppose. The seller had a reason to come down to Seattle before the sale, but the reason evaporated. Which meant the bass was in Vancouver and I was in Seattle. Fortunately, a friend in Vancouver who is actually on this thread, was able to connect with the seller and collect it. A couple weeks later, more or less, I was finally able to get up to Vancouver to pick it up.
Heading back through customs, the agent asked if I was bringing anything back. I said yes, a bass guitar. He looked pained and asked if I bought it this trip. I said no, just picking it up. I bought it a while ago. He looked very relieved and said that it was fine and told me to proceed. I was expecting to pay import duties or something and wasn't going to try to sneak it through, being a knuckle head who isn't very good at playing games. Turns out telling the truth completely worked out pretty well.
For what it's worth, it's a more convincing 4001 copy than the fretless, and the TRC doesn't say Rickenbacker. If that fretless is a decent player, I would change the TRC so it isn't pretending to be a Ric and just play it.
The 70’s Japanese “Lawsuit” basses are highly desirable now, the best of them as good or better than genuine Rics of the same era, and an order of magnitude better than the average Chickenbacker. The brand names were all over the place, but the most common were Ibanez, Fernandes, and Greco. The neck-through copies are up into the $800 range now. Ric used to aggressively police them off sites like EBay, but now they seem to have lost interest. I’ve seen Chickenbackers on EBay for weeks at a time.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
Mine is El Degas. So it is a little obscure. The machines are Japanese of that era, the finish is poly, and it has a single trussrod. Other than that, it is neck through and accurate down to the Ric-o-sound wiring.
During the 70's, the brand name El Degas was everywhere here in Canada. You could find copies of all makes (Gibson Fender etc) all over the place. Most were not held in high regard during that time frame, but became desirable a decade later.
Fishheadjoe
