Which Rickenbacker 4001 copy is this?

[Desecrator666]

Hello,
I bought a Rickenbacker 4001 Bass copy yesterday in alocal music shop and i wanted to ask if anyone which copy this is. The Shopkeeper also wasn't sure which bass this is but he said that it has many japanese parts in it. He said that the bass is from the 70s but he isn't completely sure because he only had it for 20 years. Unfortunatly i don't have the label plate anymore. It sounds in my opinion almost the same as a real 4001.
Thanks in advance!

 

[StereoPlayer]

Hello,
I bought a Rickenbacker 4001 Bass copy yesterday in alocal music shop and i wanted to ask if anyone which copy this is. The Shopkeeper also wasn't sure which bass this is but he said that it has many japanese parts in it. He said that the bass is from the 70s but he isn't completely sure because he only had it for 20 years. Unfortunatly i don't have the label plate anymore. It sounds in my opinion almost the same as a real 4001.
Thanks in advance!

Don’t know, but that’s nice! Congrats!

Edit: welcome to TalkBass!

 

[Desecrator666]

Don’t know, but that’s nice! Congrats!

Edit: welcome to TalkBass!

Thanks!

 

[GTHintz]

Sweet bass! I'd love to get a nice MIJ Ricky at some point. Ibanez, Graco, tokei, have made them in the past. You probably got one of the better ones. I'd take those over the Chinese made copies out there today. You might get lucky and find something under the pickguard that'll tell you who built it. One of the guys that knows these basses well is going to hit this thread up and probably tell you exactly what. And have a few on hand. Lol

 

[Lo-E]

The term “Rickenfaker” is commonly used here when talking about those Japanese copies. Used as a search term you may be able to get a bunch of info from old threads.

Nice bass! Enjoy!

 

[blacktocomm]

No idea who made it, but it sure looks nice. I have an Ibanez “Ric” that I love. Congrats on a cool new bass. Play it in good health.

 

[elgranluis]

It looks a lot like a “maya” or “elmaya”. Short headstock , single truss rod , and no lacquer in the fretboard. The maya basses are the only ones that I’ve seen with unfinished fretboards.

 

[Dalewyatt]

Could be a El degas.

 

[Pet Sounds]

Nice score, whatever its provenance. I sometimes regret letting go of my Univox Stereo Bass, a very nice MIJ Rick copy. Those old MIJ Ricks were fine basses.

 

[ac100X]

That is a very good copy, hard to tell from the real thing.

 

[D.M.N.]

It looks a lot like a “maya” or “elmaya”. Short headstock , single truss rod , and no lacquer in the fretboard. The maya basses are the only ones that I’ve seen with unfinished fretboards.

The Greco 4001s clone, the PMB-1000, also had unfinished fretboards, but this isn't one of them. The only clone I've seen in walnutglo/autumnglo before is a Giannini (a Brazilian make), but I haven't seen any examples of those made as a 4001s, sans binding and triangle inlays. Doesn't look like a Greco, Ibanez, or JooDee. Could be an El Maya, with changed tuners? I also haven't seen an El Maya without binding or shark inlays, but it's possible they're out there. Either way, looks like a very nice copy! I'd have snagged it too.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

One of the nicer clones I’ve seen, the neck through design puts it on the higher end of the scale, almost certainly Japanese manufacture, but they sold them under various brand names. Post it on the Show Your Fakenbacker thread, somebody may recognize it.

 

[Engle]

It looks very similar to my Fakenbacker, but mine had a Ric TRC on it when I got it, so I don’t know what it is either - other than it’s a very faithful MIJ copy from the 70’s.

The same instrument could be sold under a number of different names, so there’s a very good chance you’ll never know for sure what it was branded as when it left the factory.

 

[elgranluis]

The Greco 4001s clone, the PMB-1000, also had unfinished fretboards, but this isn't one of them. The only clone I've seen in walnutglo/autumnglo before is a Giannini (a Brazilian make), but I haven't seen any examples of those made as a 4001s, sans binding and triangle inlays. Doesn't look like a Greco, Ibanez, or JooDee. Could be an El Maya, with changed tuners? I also haven't seen an El Maya without binding or shark inlays, but it's possible they're out there. Either way, looks like a very nice copy! I'd have snagged it too.

I was the proud owner of an El Maya with dots and no binding. And the previous owner had changed the tuners , so when I bought it it had t40 (schaller?) tuners.

I uploaded the pics in one of those “lawsuit bass “ threads some time ago.