Rickenfakers on a Chinese website

[Lambic]

Couldn't resist this one (from a supplier named Jademan), which gives a bit of an insight in Chinese trade traditions:

About us:
1.I am an honest and reliable seller, pls trust me !
2.Our company promises: good +nice service+fast shippment+reasonable price !!!
3.PLs contact me at any time,if you are a wholesaler, pls email to me for a better price,thanks!
4.I am a power seller and big seller in china.I also do long time business in the tradetang.I have own factories and many suppiers in china which can supply me many good products.So i can supply the best products,best price,best service.looking forward to doing good business with all my friends in the world.I will be one of your best partner!

This comes from the overview of an item, a P-bass called

Free Shipping New Arrival Bass Guitars blue

Too sad to continue, unless you're a real businessman...

 

[Toastfuzz]

I want to read a review, but I want it to be a blind test. Like someone buys the bass, takes it over their bass-player friends house, and says "I just got a deal on this, play it and tell me what you think." I have no faith in these being any kind of quality instrument, but I'm curious for sure. Put a legit player in front of a quality amp, let him A-B a knockoff Stingray vs. the real thing...

But really yeah these are dangerous for the economy of bass buyers/traders. I wonder if people ever try to pass them off in the classifieds, buyer takes it to the mods and they get quietly banned, or the buyer never knows the difference?

 

[Toastfuzz]

Haha weird bass with an equally weird description. Nothing instills buyer confidence like Cheap. Cheap.

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"This guitar is of the finest , and yet it is only fraction of the cost that you would normally pay. You may be wondering how such an amazing product could be so cheap, It is possible because it has been manufactured in china, where labour is cheap. Cheap "

 

[P. Aaron]

Pros know where to go for good instruments, even beginners have better options.

The best thing this site can do is spread the freedom of music made on the cheap to oppressed lands where freedom can eventually-hopefully break out.

 

[Lambic]

Now you really *have* to [DEL]admire[/DEL] stare at the color, the neck-through, the pick-up cover, the overall build quality and the Rick nameplate on this one:
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Dang, this makes my last one the penultimate one...

 

[allexcosta]

I want to read a review

I have played several of these... They feel like a Jay Turser... They scream "cheap" from everywhere you look at.

They CAN be setup to play ok and the sound is not too bad for a beginner.

Anyone would do better with an SX or Squier...

 

[jwbassman]

I got a kick out of their cell phone selection:

4th Gen iPhones:

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5th Gen / 4S iPhones LOL!

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[Lambic]

Free Shipping Richenback 4 Strings Electric Bass bule newest

and the details:

Description
Place of Origin:CHINA(Mainland)
Brand Name:Richenbacker
Type:Electric Bass
Fingerboard Material:Rosewood(Ebony fingerboard can be customized, plus $ 20)
Body Material:Mahogany
Back/Side Material:Maple
Vivid characteristic
We n make all style of signed guitar for any bandsman and guitar seller .What you only need to do is give us your blueprint or describe the guitar you want ,inude the wood and the fittings etc. Our most vivid characteristic is that not only we n make all style of guitar you n find now, but also we n make a special guitar only for you to meet your needs
Strict material selecting and manufacture
We have a very strict to select the wood .With our superexcellent handcrt technique we want to insure that every guitar we made has nice resonance and sustain unpled. What`s more , we n guarantee that all our employee have received strict training and have great technique on guitar making and a good apperception on music to make the best guitar.

"Superexcellent handcraft technique": why didn't Rickenbacker US think of that?

 

[Spinal Tapper]

best advice I ever got...if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

you might get something that resembles a Rick if you're lucky, but good luck trying to get any money back when you're truly disappointed with what you find.

 

[progrmr]

I might buy a fake gibby LP because who cares about a guitar...but a bass - no thanks!

 

[LilloEsquilo]

Hope their level of fraud becomes a little better.

Why is that? Wouldn't you rather see them go to "pound me in the *ss prison"? Not that it will happen, the Chinese government is probably the biggest criminal organization on earth, worse even than the US, so no doubt they have no problem with this sort of thing and that won't happen.

If you really think you are getting a bargain by these swindlers, consider it's going to be a low cost piece of junk made by slave labor and the quality (lack of) is going to be obvious when you play it. I have never yet seen a good bass come out of China, even legit slave labor basses, let alone total rip offs like this. Sure you are saving some money, but look what you get, you could get a low cost bass by a manufacturer that will stand behind it, and have a lot more for your money than this crap. When you need help from them, you know where you can go, right? (Hint: it's a very warm place).

I'd rather see people just ignore these crooks. That's the only way to make them go away. I've never liked what I've seen out of China, for ANYTHING really, the basses I've seen that were made in China were to be honest junk even when they had decent components, and the ones that don't are that much worse. Heck ANYTHING I buy that says "Made in China" on it, I'm lucky if it lasts 6 months before it goes to hell. I'm not being racist or political in saying this, because it's the TRUTH. It's junk, quality is not part of this equation, the only factor is price, and what good does it do you to save a little money if it's a POS and you just gotta replace it shortly anyway? How much did you really "save"?

Just ignore these buffoons, that will best deal with the problem here.

 

[Andy_D]

I work in Asia on a ship. I needed a practice bass for when I'm away from home so I found and bought 2 Rockbass Corvette std. knock-offs. Made in China I paid $140 each. I kept one on the ship and brought 1 home. Surprisingly enough with some decent strings these basses were actually quite good. Easily as good as my SX. I was under no illusions and knew I wasn't buying a Warwick but I was completely satisfied considering that you will pay MORE for a name brand bass say like an Ibanez at most vendors in Asia than in the US.

All of that aside I can't see how anyone buying a fake Rick would expect to get anything even close to a real Rick. I was just looking for a cheap practice bass and didn't really care what was on the headstock. Everything else aside the Chinese have been upping their game lately and with the advent of high tech machinery they are now able to produce some darn good instruments, Many of the manufacturers on Alibaba and TradeTang now have ISO certification they will soon be following in the path of the Koreans, who have followed the Japanese, and so on. It's a business cycle that's been repeating itself.

 

[TNCreature]

I dont know about the quality of the guitars (i would love to read some reviews of actual buyers/players), but here are pages of reviews by mainly discgruntled buyers:

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Sooo.... I will assume that most of us will not take the chance!

 

[arsie]

I work in Asia on a ship. I needed a practice bass for when I'm away from home so I found and bought 2 Rockbass Corvette std. knock-offs. Made in China I paid $140 each...

I assume you had the opportunity to try out the basses before you bought them. Which is probably the biggest difference from buying online, you could ensure that you actually got a half decent bass.

 

[arsie]

...If you really think you are getting a bargain by these swindlers, consider it's going to be a low cost piece of junk made by slave labor and the quality (lack of) is going to be obvious when you play it. I have never yet seen a good bass come out of China, even legit slave labor basses, let alone total rip offs like this...

OFFICIAL SQUIER VINTAGE MODIFIED JAGUAR CLUB #14

Aren't you glad you got the VM that is made in Indonesia instead of the CV that is made in China. Ask the guys who are playing Epiphones and Brubaker Brutes.

 

[Duke21]

I've seen a few sites out there, such as: China Wholesale, Buy Wholesale Products from Chinese Wholesalers - TradeTang.com as well as
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Who supposedly sell Rickenbackers. Now I'm not a moron (despite my handle), so I know that these are obviously not Rickenbackers, however, i was wondering if these are viable Rickenfakers. I've wanted a Rickenfaker for a while now, but those things are rare nowadays, adn if you finde one, its usually expensive as hell. The chinese "Ricks" are cheap, and even if they sound like garbage, I was thinking they could make nice projects. A poster named Grommit bought one late last year. He said it seemed playable, and he would post pictures, but then he went MIA. So, I was wondering if anyone has had experience with either of these sites, especially buying instruments, and what your experience was. I apologize to the mods if this is in the wrong place. Move at your discretion.

These Chinese copies are cheep, some of them actually sound and play quite good, not like a real Ric, but not bad at all. The Tokai Rockingbetter 4003 model I have tried once in London was not a bad bass for the price. It looked like a Ric from 5m away, sounded somewhat like a real Ric. BUT these are copies that are not approved by Ric which have design protection on their basses, simple. Want one? Fine, buy one, but it is not a Ric. Personally I strongly believe in brand& design protection, is it a bass, cheese, wine or even music.

 

[Duke21]

Look at this.....fake fenders....

YouTube - Guitar Factory China electric & acoustic guitars manufacture ?

I cant say this video made me wanting one of these basses!

 

[LilloEsquilo]

Aren't you glad you got the VM that is made in Indonesia instead of the CV that is made in China. Ask the guys who are playing Epiphones and Brubaker Brutes.

Yes, I am. The quality of the VM is honestly light years ahead of anything I've seen out of China, and I wouldn't call the quality of the VM the same as a 2000 dollar bass but it wasn't 2000 dollars. For what you pay, it's good. I can't say that about the crap I've seen out of China.

Let the guys with Epiphones and Brutes have em, as long as they're happy that's what counts, I'll pass. I stand by saying that the vast majority of stuff out of China, bass or otherwise, is cheap crap. I can't count the number of times I bought some made in China item and it didn't last 6 months. Fact, not opinion. I purposely avoid buying basses I might even be otherwise interested in if I learn they are made in China based on poor past results.

 

[Andy_D]

It's possible to do alright purchasing from China as long as you use the old adage "Buyer Beware". Look for manufacturers with a track record. On Alibaba.com tyou can loook for suppliers who have been reviewed, have audited ISO approved factories, etc... Though most of this website is geared towards setting up suppliers with distributors abroad who will buy more than one unit. This can work to your advantage because suppliers who provide "samples" (small orders), may actually provide better quality products because they are hoping to sell you more.

 

[Duke21]

Aren't you glad you got the VM that is made in Indonesia instead of the CV that is made in China. Ask the guys who are playing Epiphones and Brubaker Brutes.

there is nothing to do with China or Indonesia. VM and CV are Fender licensed bass made by Squier in China& Indonesia, same goes to Ampeg making amps in China. But this Chinese company makes illegal copies which are not approved or licensed by Ric or Ernie Ball etc. I do not think that the VM or CV are manufactured in the same messy and unprofessional matter as in this video.