Anyone else note the irony of a Ric clone on a website that is a Ebay clone?
That's funny right there
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What brands made rickenbacker copies?
- Thread starter St Drogo
- Start date
Anyone else note the irony of a Ric clone on a website that is a Ebay clone?
That's funny right there
here's my old Electra-backer - 70s MIJ, bolt on neck
I love playing this thing - the neck pup is heaven to my ears and the banjo neck is comfy for hours
I made the leather pickguard myself cuz I was tired of the white plastic look
I love playing this thing - the neck pup is heaven to my ears and the banjo neck is comfy for hours
I made the leather pickguard myself cuz I was tired of the white plastic look
I used to have a Left Handed Red Fireglo Ibanez Ric copy back in the mid 70's, it was a really good copy but it had an absolutely awful deadspot on the A string at the 7th fret, so I didn't hang on to it too long. It was mono but I had it re-wired for stereo. The neck/headstock was "correct", i.e. as per a right handed model.
A company called Shaftesbury also made a reasonable copy around this time as well, the "Shaftesbury" wording on the headstock in the style of the Rickenbacker wording.
A company called Shaftesbury also made a reasonable copy around this time as well, the "Shaftesbury" wording on the headstock in the style of the Rickenbacker wording.
That company name sounds like a British action movie about a black detective fighting the mob.
*low soulful voice*
"Shaftesbury...can ya dig?"
You are correct to the certain extend. But, on the long run, Ric is going to be extinct. They can keep their prices high. Many people will turn around and buy something more modern and discover new possibilities. Something what was happen with Tune Guitar Maniac and Bass Collections brands. If they keep their prices too high, more and more copies are going to be produced. At the end, they will not be able to sue those companies (lawyers, court expenses). So, at the end of the story, you would have small number original Rics, that would keep happy just their owners and trillion different kind of copies.
Copies will be better and better. Same thing is going on with Fender and Gibsons.
I am not paying more than $600 for old designed 4003, way behind the time. Ric needs to come out from ancient caves of guitar making. Otherwise, they are going to die.
You stated in post 34 that you didn't want to start a war but then want to act like your opinion on this matter is fact.
I brought up Harley-Davidson for a reason earlier. H-D is, by many accounts, overpriced garbage barges on two wheels and yet they sell out of them every year. People continue to pay the high prices, despite many cheaper copies being made by foreign manufacturers.
Fender and Gibson clones have been unchecked since the dawn of the electric bass. Rickenbacker wasn't as free with their patents as those two manufacturers are. Fender and Gibson have lost their battle with copies and can really do nothing about it at this time. Had they enforced them from the beginning, the bass world would be very different today.
Rickenbacker copies won't be imported in large numbers as long as RIC management and the legal department see fit to enforce their patents and copyrights.
Their game plan isn't flawed despite how much anyone wants to buy inexpensive Rickenbackers. The market they have will more than likely continue to buy their basses and that's all RIC needs to sustain itself.
Rickenbacker will not be extinct so long as they can produce instruments that people want at a price that sustains the company. Wishing it was different doesn't change any of this and doesn't make the instruments any cheaper.
</opinion>
You know what? After playing a real Ric and being unsatisfied I`m totally GASing for a copy. You can`t beat the look of a Ric, but maybe a fake will sound much more to my liking or I could mod it to how I would like it.
My opinion is just my opinion. I hope to live long enough to see Ric went belly up. Many Empires went down trying to impose same on, same on... I am pretty happy with my Tune. I can emulate Ric very close and have much more....
It became quite obvious you were bitter but has it occurred to you that your bitterness is blinding you some?
"empire"?
Usually empires are big...and don't restrict the production of their "weapon of choice".
Not at all. I owned Ric 30+ years ago. I am just saying - existing Ric policy is going to destroy them. They should consider demand of the market. They are losing customers left and right.
It's funny, but the fact that there is a production backlog means that there are more orders than guitars being produced, and this has been a fact for years now, and the recent price increases were intended to reduce orders to help bring the backlog down.
I can't see how that would bring down the company. Dealers and their customers are constantly ordering more every year without fail, the company sees a profit every year, the employees all have immense job security, how is that a bad business model?
It's much the same as a boutique builder who charges enough to keep him in business, and also has a waiting period.
Neither are trying to be or beat Fender or Gibson.
It's a niche market, and seems very self supporting as it is.
It's strange that the subject brings out such negativity and open hostility among some.
I don't personally like a lot of the boutique maker's product, but I would certainly not want them to go belly up for any reason.
That's just mean-spiritedness.
On another note, that Burgundy copy looked quite good (what I could see of it) for what little was being asked for it, but as for ordering something from China, I wouldn't take the risk myself.
There's really no way to get compensated if you get ripped off.
There's really no way to get compensated if you get ripped off.
Nope - RIC are losing customers for cheaper basses left and right. That's a big difference.
John Hall isn't interested in making cheaper basses, or catering for those who want them. Rickenbacker is part of his personal heritage, and that obviously means more to him than diluting the brand and cashing in. I think he's very much considering demand - he's got full order books and long waiting lists as things stand, which suggests RIC have been charging less than the market will bear. So they upped the prices. Their order books are still full.
If demand drops off RIC might reconsider their pricing, but I don't see that happening any time soon.
I bought this Greco from a fellow TB'er a couple of years ago after selling my 4003 and regretting it. I didn't have the money for another Ric so I bought this for $750. I don't have the desire for a real Ric anymore. This bass is as good IMO.
I bought this Greco from a fellow TB'er a couple of years ago after selling my 4003 and regretting it. I didn't have the money for another Ric so I bought this for $750. I don't have the desire for a real Ric anymore. This bass is as good IMO.
that's a gorgeous finish, too - won't find that on a Ric
bet it'd look sharp with a leather pickguard
Are you thinking of the film with the black detective named 'Shaft'?
Shaftesbury is actually a town in Dorset, England and (I presume) is where Shaftesbury Basses were manufactured.
