RICKENBACKER PORN

[prowla]

9 minutes ago, AMV001 said:

Yep. That's a Chickenbacker. Bridge, pickup surround and the shape of the 'toaster' gives it away. That's just on first glance.

Aye - it was the strap buttons I first noticed. 

[msb]

I don’t think that’s Chinese , looks made in Japan.

[geofio]

Shape is all wrong on the body so defo not a Rick, in fact everything is wrong, inlays, fretboard wood, bridge, tailpiece, pickups etc, Chinese copy by anniversary, going by the bridge and general appearance.  They are horrible, they tended to use Seymour Duncan pickups. 

[prowla]

12 hours ago, geofio said:

Shape is all wrong on the body so defo not a Rick, in fact everything is wrong, inlays, fretboard wood, bridge, tailpiece, pickups etc, Chinese copy by anniversary, going by the bridge and general appearance.  They are horrible, they tended to use Seymour Duncan pickups. 

I don't think the Chickenbackers use SD pickups - they're cheapos.

@Bassassin?

Edited June 1 by prowla

[prowla]

8 hours ago, msb said:

I don’t think that’s Chinese , looks made in Japan.

I'd wager that bass has never been near Japan.

[geofio]

It is Chinese , I had one .They did use Seymour Duncan pickups, again I had one . Take my word for it . Why do people try and prove you wrong when you have had experience of that actual Bass, it’s a pile of junk incidentally. If you don’t believe my experience I can’t help you.

Edited June 1 by geofio

[mikebass456]

Short-scale anyone?😁

[prowla]

19 minutes ago, geofio said:

It is Chinese , I had one .They did use Seymour Duncan pickups, again I had one . Take my word for it . Why do people try and prove you wrong when you have had experience of that actual Bass, it’s a pile of junk incidentally. If you don’t believe my experience I can’t help you.

Did you buy it new?

[prowla]

Incidentally, my Chinese headless doubleneck has Retrovibe Ric-style pickups on the bass neck and will have a pair of SD pickups on the guitar neck when I get round to fitting them.

 

 

It was supplied with "EMC" branded pickups, but nobody thinks they were genuine EMC parts.

 

 

The original bridges were rubbish and I've replaced them too.

 

Edited June 1 by prowla

[Bassman1974]

I'm pretty stoked how this 2023 model is getting a nice yellowing on the binding. I might get a faded custom pickguard made to match, but I'm happy with the look atm.

[Bassassin]

6 hours ago, prowla said:

I don't think the Chickenbackers use SD pickups - they're cheapos.

@Bassassin?

Chinese Fakers are bottom-end stuff, they won't be fitting a branded pickup set with an RRP higher than the bass itself!

 

However modern Fakers have come factory-fitted with SDs - the Shine copies (made in Korea by Saein) which appeared in the early/mid '00s had them. As well as that they seemed to debut the classic 'design' of the modern Chickenbacker bridge, the tinny bridge pickup surround & a heel the size & shape of a housebrick. I'd speculate that's what @geofio had - Saein is an OEM manufacturer so it's entirely probable they made the Anniversary brand.

 

However I don't think that's what Bruce F's so-called old bass is (it's absolutely 100% not MIJ!), and those pickups are 100% not SDs. That first generation of 00s Fakers included Rockinbetters & briefly, the Bass Centre's own take (was it called a California or something?), these were Korean-made & a cut above Temu Chickenbackers & that's what this looks likr to me. So maybe this is Bruce's old bass, but only 20-odd years old rather than 50.

Edited June 1 by Bassassin
Emphasis.

[prowla]

2 hours ago, Bassassin said:

Chinese Fakers are bottom-end stuff, they won't be fitting a branded pickup set with an RRP higher than the bass itself!

 

However modern Fakers have come factory-fitted with SDs - the Shine copies (made in Korea by Saein) which appeared in the early/mid '00s had them. As well as that they seemed to debut the classic 'design' of the modern Chickenbacker bridge, the tinny bridge pickup surround & a heel the size & shape of a housebrick. I'd speculate that's what @geofio had - Saein is an OEM manufacturer so it's entirely probable they made the Anniversary brand.

 

However I don't think that's what Bruce F's so-called old bass is (it's absolutely 100% not MIJ!), and those pickups are 100% not SDs. That first generation of 00s Fakers included Rockinbetters & briefly, the Bass Centre's own take (was it called a California or something?), these were Korean-made & a cut above Temu Chickenbackers & that's what this looks likr to me. So maybe this is Bruce's old bass, but only 20-odd years old rather than 50.

Cheers!

So, it's not a Rickenbacker and it's not Japanese.

Possible Korean (with the Treble pickup in the right place).
Is there any evidence of Bruce Foxton playing one?

[geofio]

15 hours ago, prowla said:

Did you buy it new?

Yup, from a small music shop in paisley, I own many Rickenbacker basses so I had to try the thing out, bloody awful, it did have Seymour Duncan pickups, whether people believe it or not,  didn’t really make any difference as the bass was a pile of junk, I sold it for almost nothing to a youngster who was desperate to have a Rick lookalike to play in his band, the brand was Anniversary made in China. It looked exactly like the bass in the picture, neck, tailpiece etc. exaggerated Body shape out of proportion of course . 

[geofio]

For those in doubt about the Seymour Duncan pickups. https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1360217

[Bassassin]

1 hour ago, geofio said:

For those in doubt about the Seymour Duncan pickups. https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1360217

 

Looks like that's been fitted by a previous owner, using a Pickguardian surround. Neck unit's absolutely not an SD.

 

And read this - from 2009 so unfortunately pics are gone - a post from a member called Darkstrike actually points out that the Anniversary doesn't have SDs.

 

 

Had a quick dig & found a pic of a stock Anniversary.

 

[prowla]

7 hours ago, geofio said:

For those in doubt about the Seymour Duncan pickups. https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1360217

The description says the Treble pickup is an SD and the Bass one a Ric Toaster upgrades "Considering the upgraded and goodies I think this is a good price."; the Treble pickup surround is aftermarket and "The truss rod cover is a home made affair", so those are not original parts.

It also says "It has a set neck rather than being neck through", so it differs from the "Barnoldsrick" one (which is ia thru-neck).

[King Tut]

I’ll get in touch with the guy who runs the venue and see if I can get any more info

[police squad]

On 17/04/2025 at 10:04, Bassman1974 said:

I've resisted removing the chrome surround for years, but it was affecting the playability. I'm surprised by how much I like the look of the new bezel to be honest. Next up: Tomastik flats

what is this surround please?

[ezbass]

37 minutes ago, police squad said:

what is this surround please?

https://www.rickysounds.co.uk/product/4003-4001-treble-bezel-standard-chrome/

 

[police squad]

21 hours ago, ezbass said:

https://www.rickysounds.co.uk/product/4003-4001-treble-bezel-standard-chrome/

 

superb thank you

I'll get one for my incoming HW 4003

[Bassman1974]

2 hours ago, police squad said:

superb thank you

I'll get one for my incoming HW 4003

I commissioned a nice HW C64 4001 many years ago with a nice slim neck. That was a great bass. You'll not regret removing that pickup cover for sure, makes it a much easier bass to play.

[AMV001]

I tried to commission a HW last year. Initial communications were fine, agreed most of the specs than when I tried to confirm and pay a deposit, he just blanked me. Won't answer any of my messages. Peculiar.

[Bassman1974]

2 hours ago, AMV001 said:

I tried to commission a HW last year. Initial communications were fine, agreed most of the specs than when I tried to confirm and pay a deposit, he just blanked me. Won't answer any of my messages. Peculiar.

That seemed to happen very often. Folks ended up tagging him on that FB group to get his attention. Very strange. I'm no longer on FB so I don't know if it's improved or not

[Skybone]

@AMV001 a subtle take on a 4003 from HW:

 

[mikebass456]

33 minutes ago, Skybone said:

@AMV001 a subtle take on a 4003 from HW:

 

Quick question - what/who is HW? I've not been following the thread well enough and can't find the origin of it......