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Who currently makes a nice Rickenbacker 4001 copy?

#21
Just for the record – I first heard about this copy on TB, on many different occasions, so I hope I didn't break and rules by posting a link. If I did, please delete the link, JT.

Odd thing is, if Rickenbacker could halt the Japanese copiers back in the 70s, it seems they should be able to stop this one now. Tokai is a Japanese company.

As to me, I'll stick with my real 4003.
 
#24
john turner said:
yeah, obviously they can't - guess rickenbacker doesn't have the guns to handle an international lawsuit. it's a shame that one of the real innovators in electric bass history is getting scammed this way.
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By no means do I think that they deserve to get their trademarks ripped off, but honestly, I think that what jojo was saying is brutally true -- they're kind of doing it to themselves.

I mean, Rics are popular instruments, and right now demand is FAR outweighing supply. Some people see this as an opportunity to make some easy money. They make a copy, and they sell it for a bit (or a long time apparently, if they aren't in the U.S.). People buy them because they don't want to shell out enough for a Ric, or because they don't see Rics as being that much higher in quality that it would justify an extra $1000, or both.

Now, say what you will about whether or not Rickenbacker should develop a budget line. Either way, not enough instruments are coming out of the Ric factory to satisfy everybody's Ric GAS, and some people aren't willing to wait around for the prices to drop or to shell out enough for what they cost now, so until the supply from the Ric factory catches up with this spike in demand, theres going to be a market for those Rickenfakers.

Those facts aside, it's my personal prediction that once the current Ric fad dies out (and I truly believe that it will), Rickenbacker is going to be in a pretty bad position in sales, at least if they keep going the way they are now. Resting on their laurels and restricting supply as much as they are will work well for them as long as people are willing to jump on the Ric bandwagon and pay what their charging. But once the next big thing comes along, John Hall is going to be sitting on a whole bunch of really expensive instruments that not many people want anymore.

Just my .02.
 
#25
^^^ That said, I believe Rickenbacker could be in a very good position once the Ric fad dies out if they do a bit of modern touch up on the instruments they're selling. Not necessarily a budget line, but I think they had the right idea with the 4004 line. New bridges, PUps, tuners perhaps, the works. Fender did it with their 2008 line, why can't Ric for 2009? Heh, I rhymed. Anyway, then the players who want their vintage mojo Rics can buy a 4003, and players who like more modern styles can opt for their other, more modern line. The players get what they want - an axe that fits their style - and the company gets what it wants - sales. Everybody wins.
 
#26
I can readily understand why Hall and all would want to keep new Ric clones from being built....I bet Fender wishes they had been as proactive forty years ago-- but at the same time, i'd like to know how exactly he can go after someone who isn't referring to Rickenbacker or any of its trademarks in the advertising or listing.

Plus, personally, I think it's a bit petty to drop bricks on people who are selling their personal property, rather than someone who's producing them for sale. IMO, he should stick to worry about manufacturers, not people re-selling thirty year old lawsuit basses.

And as far as shutting down people who make aftermarket parts.... I think that's just plain dumb. Then again... Ric sticking with a ******** bridge design for 40-odd years is just plain dumb too.
 
#27
The Lurker said:
I can readily understand why Hall and all would want to keep new Ric clones from being built....but at the same time, i'd like to know how exactly he can go after someone who isn't referring to Rickenbacker or any of its trademarks in the advertising or listing.

Plus, personally, I think it's a bit petty to drop bricks on people who are selling their personal property, rather than someone who's producing them for sale. IMO, he should stick to worry about manufacturers, not people re-selling thirty year old lawsuit basses.

And as far as shutting down people who make aftermarket parts.... I think that's just plain dumb. Then again... Ric sticking with a ******** bridge design for 40-odd years is just plain dumb too.
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My thoughts exactly.
 
#28
not to go against the flow, but honestly i hope ric doesn't do any kind of "new coke" modernization. i like what they have going on - i think the only real updates the original designs needed were addressed. and i'm glad they don't license their designs to anyone - look at mac and the pc. ibm didn't enforce their patents and allowed folks to make copies, macs did. apple may have suffered some for it briefly, but ibm isn't even in the pc business anymore. if rickenbacker were to go out of business, or have their business suffer in any way whatsoever, because of asian ripoffitis, that would be a tragedy of epic proportions imo. i don't see any way that rickenbacker could license a quality low-cost line and have it be true to the ric tradition and also not hurt their core business.

i just wish they had a custom shop. i really want a 7 string rickenbacker. my first real bass was a ric, and they have always remained attractive to me despite their less-than-optimal string count :atoz: ;)
 
#29
headstock_front_outside_1.jpg


These Jackobackers are getting harder and harder to find, too.

Jack O'Backer
 
#30
moomoocajoo said:
As a designer I know how gutting it is to be ripped or copied or plagiarised. But saying that I think rickenbacker are far to aggressive in their practice.
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Agreed. Obviously, they have the right to go oafter copycats based in the US or wherever there are working intellectual property laws, but they lose the high ground as soon as they go after someone selling a second-hand axe that they're *not* trying to pass off as a real Ric. And Fanboys who stand on the sidelines and cheer them on for that kind of bullying are definitely not helping the company's image... I mean, the management obviously doesn't care for legality when it's them illegally gettign someone's eBay posting removed for an imagined slight against the sacred Ric.

I also don't think that the last price hike kept them on the right side of the price/performance fence, but that's neither here nor there.

I'd love a 4005, though.
 
#31
roadkill2309 said:
Agreed. Obviously, they have the right to go oafter copycats based in the US or wherever there are working intellectual property laws, but they lose the high ground as soon as they go after someone selling a second-hand axe that they're *not* trying to pass off as a real Ric. And Fanboys who stand on the sidelines and cheer them on for that kind of bullying are definitely not helping the company's image... I mean, the management obviously doesn't care for legality when it's them illegally gettign someone's eBay posting removed for an imagined slight against the sacred Ric.

I also don't think that the last price hike kept them on the right side of the price/performance fence, but that's neither here nor there.

I'd love a 4005, though.
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Word.

What people with these clones should do, if they want to sell them, is to sell a mousemat and give the rick away with it. ie, buy this mousemat for $500 - get a free Rickenbacker 4003 lawsuit bass!

Then there really isn't anyway they could pull the auction unless they try to ban giving these basses away! :rolleyes:
 
#33
moomoocajoo said:
Word.

What people with these clones should do, if they want to sell them, is to sell a mousemat and give the rick away with it. ie, buy this mousemat for $500 - get a free Rickenbacker 4003 lawsuit bass!

Then there really isn't anyway they could pull the auction unless they try to ban giving these basses away! :rolleyes:
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wow thats nefariously brilliant.
 
#34
I don't really think that this "Rockinbetter" is going to steal customers away from Ric, especially as it is a cheap knock-off anyway. It's not really competing in the same market.

Rickenbacker's bigger problem is not being able to supply product to their own market segment and losing potential customers to the other big brands, all of which have much more product in stores and vastly shorter waiting times.
 
#36
Darkstrike said:
The bridge looks good, lol, probably better than the proper Rickenbacker one!
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That said, I don't think it could be worse than a Rickenbacker bridge!

FWIW, I don't like Rickenbacker's bully-boy tactics. Cracking down on sellers for getting rid of second hand gear made 30 years ago is ridiculous. Perhaps Rickenbacker are so scared of imitators because

A) someone will do it far better, Sadowsky style

B) cheaper imitations will flood the market, everyone will realise that the "real" Rics aren't much better and stop buying them

C) they're stuck in the past and outdated, and must fiercely defend their share in the bass market as a whole. Becuase the fact is, there are better basses than Rickenbackers made in every corner of the globe, and some for a lot less than a Ric.
 
#37
off-topic: I really do not know, but can anyone tell me what is the difference between a Rickenbacker 4001 and a Rickenbacker 4003 ?

on-topic: I think that it doesn't matter if Fender didn't do what Rickenbacker did to stop the Copies, if you look at facts, fender is the biggest seller of musical instruments (especially the basses I think) since forever (I think I read this somewhere) in the world, now it's true that they introduced the bass guitar, but still, they make good instruments, and everyone just loves to have a headstock saying Fender ( I do at least, with my Fender MIM Jazz)
 
#38
john turner said:
wow, that's pretty lame. you know, ric deserves not to have their designs ripped off.
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Just like Fender doesnt deserve to have it's Geddy Lee Jazz basses copies?



There used to be another one up until recently, under the name "Wesley" (one of those cheap basses that just get rebranded later). Was pretty cool looking. Looked nicer than the standard Ric. Was neckthru and active too, so it wouldnt sound like a Ric, and probably wouldnt play very well.

Companies would have a hard time trying to protect something like the shape of an instrument over here, it's just the way the different systems work.

Though I must admit, I do love the hypocrisy in threads like this. People will go on about how Ric or Ernie Ball shouldnt have designs ripped off, yet Fenders seem free game.
 

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