prowla

I fink he was referring to the Hipshot unit...

OK - "the company which is now RIC". 🙂 It was worse than that for JH - he retired to Birmingham! 🙂 🙂 As far as being hassled over 70s fakers; I'm still not quite sure how action can be taken against things which were made decades before the trademarks registered, but BC's "sod you then" approach to handling the situation is worthy of a wry smile at least! 🙂 🙂 🙂

I use 40-100. In the past I’ve used lighter gauge.

I’ve had Hipshot, Badass, Schaller on Ric basses and I just prefer the stock unit. I probably will try a v2 sometime too.

Don't use heavy gauge strings. There are a few ways of addressing tail-lift: If it happens, just buy another tailpiece and put that on to start from the beginning again. Don't over-tighten the 3 screws under the bridge. Get a Hipshot replacement bridge (if you like the look of them). Put an extra two screws through the end of the tailpiece to bolt it back down (unsightly, but RIC did it on some). Get a RIC v2 bridge, which eliminates the issue; it does need new holes drilling, though. Come up with a Heath-Robinson fix of your own, for example slotting a bent-steel bracket under there somehow. Get a custom made tailpiece which is stronger (I looked into it, but a local aluminium workshop wasn't interested in doing a short run of them). Put a Badass or Schaller 3D bridge on the bass - it does need the under-bridge bays to be filled in, though. Geddy Lee had a Badass on his and RIC themselves used Schallers on the 4004 and 4003/5 models. (Some folks even put Kahler whammy bridges on their Rics.)

RIC hadn't trademarked the designs in the 70s and the fakers never had the "R" word on them.

The better photos do show they're well used; I think the fireglo's tail-lift is at about the limit. I've seen the binding separate before - they used a softer material than real Rics and it does tend to detach on the concave surfaces. The fireglo does have some signs of wear (or you might call it "mojo"!). The black one's neck pickup's pole pieces are rusty - I've seen that before too. The photo from the jack plate angle of the fireglo shows quite a gap between fretboard and the bottom-E string. All in all, I'd say they are fairly well-used and may need some TLC to get ship-shape. FYI, I sold the CMI one in the above picture for £250 last year; I'd shored up some neck-lift to stabilise it, but it needed doing properly.

@Bassassin My vintage Rics' TRC's lettering is heavier than those. They could possibly be newer plexi reissue ones, though.

FYI, this is one I owned (a CMI), next to a real Ric; the ones you've posted have nicer tuners.

Based on the blurry pictures, I'd be happy owning both of those; however, it really comes down to their condition and the price. You can embed links to pictures on other sites (eg. imgur) to get their full resolution.

FYI, The reason I asked if the black one was a bolt-on is because the body looks rather thick. Also, the Fireglo one is showing tail-lift; that's where the bridge tailpiece starts to bend upwards and pull away from the body. It happens on real Rics too, so it's 100% authentic! One thing to beware of these vintage instruments is the converse of tail-lift, neck-lift, which is where the thru-neck starts to bend upwards at the weak point under the Bass/neck pickup due to the pull of the strings; a symptom if this is a high action even though the truss-rods have the neck straight and the the bridge is bottomed out; it is fixable, but requires woodworking skills. Again the authenticity is there because it happens on real Rics too; Rickenbacker used to stipulate as a warranty condition that you had to use their strings. Though the pictures aren't great, it appears that the action is high-ish.

As for the original brand, it’s pretty much impossible to say, as the same instrument came out of factories with different labels on them. I always think it’s a shame when folks swap the TRC for a vanity RIC one.

Cool. Yes, the jack plate would say Stereo-Sound & Standard. Value is dependent upon thru vs bolt on neck; a good thru neck is north of £500.

It’s quite difficult to tell much from those pictures. They look vintage Japanese; I’m thinking Shaftesbury, but they could be other. The tuners look interesting, but can’t see the backs. Is the black one a bolt-on neck?

That white stripe ain’t great, is it.

It's a no from me...

Is £399 a lot for one of those?

Quality work on the neck attachment...

Whilst an odd case here or there may be incidental, if a number collaborate and do the cross-referencing then it can have more of an effect.

I was thinking £80 would be a lot for it.

That's a cheapie (and it's a Precision not a Jazz).

I could smell it a mile away! 🙂

Didn't look, but I'm guessing Cologne? I do wish ebay had an "ignore" feature.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373984068404

Wouldn't want him to lose his head. OTOH, his gonad-shaped tuners might be more appropriate at the other end of the instrument!