thedarxide Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 After a long wait due to the seller giving birth, I've finally recieved my unbranded rickenfaker. Paid £335 for it, which I know most of you think is silly, but it's the closest I can see my getting to a real rick for a long time.... Have just unboxed it at work so the thread will develop in a bizarre way It's definently cheap and Japanese. The paint is peeling around the headstock, and the pickup selector is the type that I hate because they invariably stop sticking in position. Body appears to be plywood, similar to my Columbus Les Pauls. The neck pickup is currently dead, which is hardly suprising when you look at the wiring!! i think the stereo option may have been added later because the jack is of the beefy plastic kind, and it looks like it's currently got three tone controls. Initially got excited because it had a rickenbacker truss rod cover on it that I was planning to sell, but if you look closely you can see where the paper has been cut to fit the clear TRC. Nice idea, will replace it with a logo of my own. The bridge pickup sounds very nice. Nice and growly on the little practice amp I have at work, but I'll report back later once I've stuck it through my Hartke, hopefully with working neck pickup!! The mutes on the bridge work well, if a little unevenly. Neck is really nice. Binding feels bumpy if you run your hand down it, but you don't notice it playing. Am going to measure it when I get home because it feels like it's a slightly shorter scale length, but it might just be me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobiebass Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Plywood seams a little daunting (to me) didnt realise you could make the bodies out of it. does it sound ok??? Im sure with some TLC you can get pretty close to that Rick sound your after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarxide Posted May 13, 2008 Author Share Posted May 13, 2008 [quote name='Jobiebass' post='197995' date='May 13 2008, 02:33 PM']Plywood seams a little daunting (to me) didnt realise you could make the bodies out of it. does it sound ok??? Im sure with some TLC you can get pretty close to that Rick sound your after.[/quote] Sounds fine thus far I've had loads of instruments with stripy-wood insides, whether it's plywood or something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerdragon Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 You say its cheap and Japanese. yet it was £335!. from what pics you have put up the colour looks ok. what model is it a copy of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarxide Posted May 13, 2008 Author Share Posted May 13, 2008 [quote name='beerdragon' post='198045' date='May 13 2008, 03:26 PM']You say its cheap and Japanese. yet it was £335!. from what pics you have put up the colour looks ok. what model is it a copy of?[/quote] The price was what myself and another bidder fought for, it was a lot cheaper before we got silly I know I paid over the odds for it, but I wanted it. The colour is really nice, and it's all there, which I why I was prepared to dump some serious cash on it. It's a 4003 copy. Binding is cream rather than cheqeuered I'll get some body shots up later once I've re-wired it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerdragon Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 [quote name='thedarxide' post='198049' date='May 13 2008, 03:33 PM']The price was what myself and another bidder fought for, it was a lot cheaper before we got silly I know I paid over the odds for it, but I wanted it..[/quote] Yeah, been there. done that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarxide Posted May 13, 2008 Author Share Posted May 13, 2008 ooooooooooooooooooh this is good! Have just done a cowboy wiring job as I can't let my 18 month old out of my sight, so I've taken out the tone controls and wired the pickups to one jack. These are *really* powerful pickups. The bridge as I've said has growl and dirt and really drives my amp. The neck has bags of low end but doesn't sound muddy. Really quite shocked, I honestly wasn't expecting to get an authentic sound out of it. Not just saying that to convince myself I haven't bought a clanger either!! Half considering not bothering wiring up the tone controls. Will almost certainly not bother with the stereo wiring either, might have one socket per pickup instead, but it depends how often I'll use it. Will take some more pics when the wife gets home and she's supervising the small clanger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Looking pretty good to me - I am [b]so[/b] relieved for you that both pickups work - trying to find replacement Rickenfaker pups is a nightmare - and real Rick ones cost the earth! Right - the only plywood Rick copies I've seen are Hondo - and this brand's predominantly Korean, so I'm guessing that's what this is. However the hardware here looks identical to that found on many Japanese copies - and the bridge pickup is a far more accurate copy than the one on the top-end Matsumoku/Aria copies. Shame about the trc - but it's otherwise complete, & having the bridge pup cover is a huge bonus (whether you use it or not) as these are the first thing to get binned. I haven't seen many 70s copies with the cover still there. This one's a 4001 copy - it has a skunk-stripe and a small gap between the pickup & neck, unlike the 4003, which has no stripe and a 1" gap. And to those surprised at the price - bear in mind these basses - 70s Rick copies - are [i]incredibly[/i] collectable. This one originally had a BIN of £499, and I've seen others bid to well beyond that. They're very, very rare, and those that do appear on Ebay usually end up being cancelled, due to Rickenbacker's draconian enforcement of their copyrights & trademarks. Anyway thedarxide - looking forward to seeing more pics. Loads more pics! Jon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarxide Posted May 13, 2008 Author Share Posted May 13, 2008 [quote name='Bassassin' post='198161' date='May 13 2008, 06:27 PM']Right - the only plywood Rick copies I've seen are Hondo - and this brand's predominantly Korean, so I'm guessing that's what this is. However the hardware here looks identical to that found on many Japanese copies - and the bridge pickup is a far more accurate copy than the one on the top-end Matsumoku/Aria copies. Anyway thedarxide - looking forward to seeing more pics. Loads more pics! Jon.[/quote] I wouldn't have bought it if it hadn't had all the bits - I went for purely because the look was so accurate. The rest is a bonus!! I also think Japanese - although I bow to your superior knowledge The neck plate and bolts are another thing that are soooo similar to my colombus basses, but then the plate doesn't say "Made in Japan", it just has a partially peeled serial number sticker. Thanks for the 4001/4003 info, you nerd More pics... you can see the hump in the binding on the fretboard pic. That fretboard is gorgeous. It's got a finish like glass. Notice that the jack socket cover has been nailed on I can't tell how the hell this thing was wired. There's no way in hell it ever worked properly (well, not after it was rewired anyway). The neck pocket is interesting, that's hiding the damage with a scratchplate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerdragon Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Nice, i think i would have paid £335 and more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarxide Posted May 13, 2008 Author Share Posted May 13, 2008 Squint and it could be [url="http://www.rocknrollvintage.com/prodimages/1973-rickenbacker-4001-bass-fireglow%20b.jpg"]http://www.rocknrollvintage.com/prodimages...ireglow%20b.jpg[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Oh that's very tidy. Well - apart from the nailed-on jackplate. WTF? If you're interested at having a crack at wiring it properly, help is available from the most surprising of quarters: [url="http://www.rickenbacker.com/pdfs/19507.pdf"]http://www.rickenbacker.com/pdfs/19507.pdf[/url] I think we can assume it's the same as a real one... The half-peeled sticker will be the model number - can you still read it? The sticky blob on the back of the headstock will be where a round inspection sticker once lived. I'm 99.9999% that this is a Hondo based on these - I have a (surprisingly nice) Hondo LP copy waiting for me to put it back together - it has similar stickers & residue. Anyway, Hondo, Jap, Korean, whatever - it's a looker alright. I'm usually not a big fan of the Fireglo colour copies - they're often washed out & sickly pink-looking, but this one looks quite deep - puts a few real Ricks to shame. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarxide Posted May 13, 2008 Author Share Posted May 13, 2008 [quote name='Bassassin' post='198212' date='May 13 2008, 07:55 PM'][url="http://www.rickenbacker.com/pdfs/19507.pdf"]http://www.rickenbacker.com/pdfs/19507.pdf[/url][/quote] Oooh interesting. That's a bit different to the one I got from Seymour Duncan. I'll probably replace the pots and do it properly, it can be a bit crackly and occasionally cuts out which I think is the selector - tapping it rectifies the problem Some elephant ear tuners might be nice as well. These ones are a bit slippy. I found this site [url="http://www.joeysbassnotes.com/Joeys%20frameset.htm"]http://www.joeysbassnotes.com/Joeys%20frameset.htm[/url] which has a lengthy article on copy spotting which is quite interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 [quote name='thedarxide' post='198217' date='May 13 2008, 08:00 PM']Oooh interesting. That's a bit different to the one I got from Seymour Duncan. I'll probably replace the pots and do it properly, it can be a bit crackly and occasionally cuts out which I think is the selector - tapping it rectifies the problem Some elephant ear tuners might be nice as well. These ones are a bit slippy. I found this site [url="http://www.joeysbassnotes.com/Joeys%20frameset.htm"]http://www.joeysbassnotes.com/Joeys%20frameset.htm[/url] which has a lengthy article on copy spotting which is quite interesting.[/quote] Here's a direct link to the article: [url="http://www.joeysbassnotes.com/Fakericks.htm"]http://www.joeysbassnotes.com/Fakericks.htm[/url] Very interesting - if a little biased! There are some fascinating pics of copies the likes of which I've never seen on there - but I guess that's not [i]quite[/i] the point... I do feel very strongly about copies being passed off as the real thing - I'm currently restoring a neck-through Matsumoku copy, which came to me through a friend of someone who'd bought it as genuine. This thing was a dilapidated basket-case (as it was when I got it) being passed off as a '73 4001 - the poor sod who bought it paid $1200. It is a very convincing copy (neck-through, twin rods, binding gap, had a genuine 4001 trc) so I suppose the seller might've thought it was real - but that's not the point. Anyroad - it won't be going back into the marketplace -or wearing a fake trc - while there's activity in my synapses. However it should be making its debut in the bass builds & projects board soon! J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarxide Posted May 14, 2008 Author Share Posted May 14, 2008 [quote name='Bassassin' post='198290' date='May 13 2008, 09:40 PM']I do feel very strongly about copies being passed off as the real thing[/quote] As do I, especially with things like Squier's and Epiphone's. What gets me about the Ric crowd is the evangelism you see on their forums and that website, the genuine hatred that someone would dare make a copy of their beloved instruments.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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