NBD - Counterfeit Ric 4004LK

[Eilif]

I’ll measure and let you know.

I agree with you on that. It does have that vibe.

Thanks!
I'm definitely not buying more instruments at this second, but this (or a 4005 clone) is almost something I'd buy on a whim just for the stage value. It's hard to go wrong since you can almost assuredly get your cash back on Craigslist if you sell it later.

 

[GCPENG]

I realize this is an old thread, but what's the nut width on that one?

1-5/8"

 

[Eilif]

1-5/8"

Thanks!

 

[Chef]

I’m against this and all other counterfeit Basses that “wear real nameplates” and pose as a genuine article.
I don’t care about country or origin.
I do care about stealing intellectual property and the hard work that it takes to build a quality product and name brand recognition, and profiteering off it by making crappy knockoffs that people may or may not recognize as a crappy knock off.
Rickenbacker is hardly the only example of this.
I wager any of you that support these counterfeits would feel differently if they were profiteering off something you’d created, designed, built, and were making a living off of.

I’ll never support any of these sort of things.

Paul Wilczynski somehow has the royal blessing to scratch build 4005 replicas and stick Rickenbacker TRCs on there. Presumably he kissed the ring (so to speak!) and RIC get a kickback if/when he sells these instruments?

The problem with the militant morality that sporadically crops up on here is that it is fantastically half-baked at best. It ultimately becomes a bit of a peasant's witch hunt, with a collective hive mind deciding where a thread is going to go. We worry about a buyer in the future being caught out, because they paid $300 for a Chinabacker in a pawnbroker and thought they got a real 4003! That tired excuse gets trotted out on other forums as well, and yet half the time this forum would punish the buyer for not knowing how to spot a Chinabacker. We become the guardian, and the policeman, for the hundreds of poor voiceless bassists out there dodging scams and forgeries on skid row.

Sometimes there is clearly a latent anti-Chinese sentiment at play too. If a US builder created a few 4005 copies and stuck Rickenbacker TRCs on them 'to complete the look' then this forum would probably praise them, with only a few dissenting voices.

We praise the guy who gets the '60s Jazz bass for pennies, then we get angry and dox the guy (and the seller) to try and prove just how terrible a person they are. I'm pretty sure some of the more well loved forum users would get a way easier ride on that one. Had the pink Jazz Bass guy been JimmyM, or one of the other characters then we would praise their eye for a bargain. Instead it transpires they were a guitarist (the horror!), so therefore they simply came here to rub our noses in it, much as OP is apparently rubbing our noses in it by showing off this Lemmy bass thingy.

In terms of morality, this forum is a bumpy ride at best.

 

[jd56hawk]

I have to agree.
Furthermore, for every "good" bass someone gets from one of these disreputable companies, plenty of people are buying unplayable junk. Not to mention, someone singing praise about one lucky deal might encourage someone else to gamble, and let's face it, it's not smart bet...it's a foolish one.

 

[Gunga Din]

Paul Wilczynski somehow has the royal blessing to scratch build 4005 replicas and stick Rickenbacker TRCs on there. Presumably he kissed the ring (so to speak!) and RIC get a kickback if/when he sells these instruments?

PW is indeed JH's anointed one. He and JH are very close.

 

[NecroticImbecil]

I realize this is an old thread, but what's the nut width on that one? Looks a beauty.

Despite being Lemm'ish I think it would look great in my country band.

They always looked country to me.

 

[NecroticImbecil]

I've owned almost 30 Rics in the last 40 years from a 72 up to one made within the last 10 years and may buy a new 4003S soon, I've have had none of those problems, never had a paint problem, no major tail lift, (got a 1979 4001 and a 1985 4003FL right now with no tail lift) intonation is right on and I've NEVER had intonation problems on any of them, most of those problems are due to operator error. I've heard of some paint problems recently but have never seen it. Rics at least the old 4001's are like high end sports cars, you need to learn how to work on them, tune them up etc. Rics sometimes take a little patience to get accustomed to if you are coming from say a Fender, some people just don't have the patience and sell them and then bash them for years afterward and it becomes a mantra for some people. I'm not saying that Rickenbacker has always made perfect instruments, no, but then again neither has Fender, or Gibson. As far as buying a fake, not for this guy, I can definitely understand why Rickenbacker goes after fakes, maybe if Fender had copywritten the Precision or Jazz bass shape and pickup(s) instead of just the headstock and had gone after fakes like Ric does there would be no generic P or J basses around like there are now. I am happy that Rickenbacker goes after them, they are no generic "Ric" basses, Rics are unique basses and if you want one that sounds like one, looks like one and plays like one you have to buy a real one which to me is the way it should be and is why there are copyright laws.

A year late, But I never had these "common" problems, or neck issues with may 4001, or encountered them in any Ric I've played. I don't own one anymore, but I didn't sell mine because of any of these. Funny enough, most Rics in the real world (not on Yes albums) just sound like ...basses to me, nothing magical or unique. I liked mine better with Barts. Also kept the dreaded tone killing cap, sounded better with it. I know all of that's wrongthink. Still love the look of a 4001 with a stripe down the neck though.

 

[Mrmatt1972]

Or, it's his bass, he can do whatever he wants with it. You're hypothetical teenage you couldn't afford a Rickenbacker anyways. I think it's quite rude to post what you did. It may be a fake, but who cares, and to say it probably sounds like *** is uncalled for.

More power to the OP. Happy NBD and sorry people around here like to poo poo on people's NBDs.

I'd rather have a forum of strongly voiced, well argued, opinions than a forum of polite yes-men and women. Wouldn't you?

Yeah, he could have said the @ss sound thing a different way, but for the sake of brevity, meh. Our skins can't be that thin.



Edit. * I didn't notice this was an old thread...

 

[Killed_by_Death]

 

[Gunga Din]

They always looked country to me.

They look like cuckoo clocks to me.

 

[bassstrangler]

I'd rather have a forum of strongly voiced, well argued, opinions than a forum of polite yes-men and women. Wouldn't you?

Yeah, he could have said the @ss sound thing a different way, but for the sake of brevity, meh. Our skins can't be that thin.



Edit. * I didn't notice this was an old thread...

If I recall, this was a time period on TalkBass where an NBD seemed to be open game for insulting someone's new bass. I feel an NBD is a time to show off and share, rather than be bashed for one's new purchase.

I think I was and am tired of people acting like _____ around here. Opinions are one thing, insults are a whole different story. Reminds me of a recent thread about a MIM Fender that one person couldn't refrain from a constant barrage of Fender insults.

 

[bobyoung53]

A year late, But I never had these "common" problems, or neck issues with may 4001, or encountered them in any Ric I've played. I don't own one anymore, but I didn't sell mine because of any of these. Funny enough, most Rics in the real world (not on Yes albums) just sound like ...basses to me, nothing magical or unique. I liked mine better with Barts. Also kept the dreaded tone killing cap, sounded better with it. I know all of that's wrongthink. Still love the look of a 4001 with a stripe down the neck though.

To me most of a bassist's sound is from his technique, that being said I don't think Squire could have gotten that unique sound out of any other bass. I make a bass sound the way I want it to sound within reason. Years ago I figured out a circuit which made one of the tone controls into a cap control, you could dial in the amount of low cut you wanted, problem was that both volume controls bled treble to ground when you lowered them so you had to keep both of them pretty much open. I never tried to figure out if I could fix that problem. I sold a 1978 Azureglo 4001 with that circuit about 10 years ago, if it hasn't been reversed there is a bass out there with it. The treble bleed wasn't real noticeable until you got to less that 3/4 of the way down, this was before Ric put the push-pull knob on their basses.