prowla

The price thing is a bit of a myth, if you compare to US Gibson & Fender.

Hmmm - they do look rather nice.

I find I play more precisely with a plec and more random noodley …unless I’m noodling with the plec and playing a song fingers.

I think you need some new glasses! 🙂

And then there's Michael Manring, who puts them on every string, but he doesn't seem to have the chops to use a 5-string. 🙂

I wasn't confused, as I clarified I was showing 4-strings, but would you like me to remove my post?

Looks like one of them has resurfaced on FB Marketplace for £1200. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/295601332540682 (Looking at other items, the seller does seem to be inclined towards "optimistic" pricing.)

Here y'go (on 4-strings)... They're handy if you need 2 more frets down. The way they work is that they slightly rotate the tuner to go down a tone; the little thumbwheel fine tunes the lowered note. I've bought several from BTN Music (https://www.btnmusic.co.uk/), though they are small and their stock is dictated by Hipshot's random production runs.

Some time ago I picked up a 6/4 doubleneck for not a lot of money. Both its bass and guitar "Overlord of Music" bridges were pooped and the original owner had given up on it and just wanted rid. I've got the instrument to a working state: I managed to repair the guitar trem bridge, but I've had to lock it in position as the trem just plain doesn't work. The bass bridge was a bit grim, with some of the string-pull claws failing; the tuning bolts were actually stock M4 bolts with a knurled end slotted over them and they were way stronger than the soft metal string pull claws and just graunched their threads. I bought a replacement unit, but it arrived faulty too (the claws snagged against the upper cover and so it wouldn't tune); I got a partial refund and managed to make one working one out of the two. But the thing is that both bridges cannot in any way be considered reliable. The shame is that the rest of the instrument is quite nice and very playable (maybe bar the nut-end string clamps which leave sharp ends pointing out, ouch!). I also fitted a pair of copy Ric pickups, which were exact replacements for the fake-branded EMGs it had. So, my question is, are there any decent quality headless tuners available at a decent price; the Hipshot ones are too much and Steinbergers seem to be a rarity? The guitar: The bass bridge:

One of my fakers... 🙂

They're the best basses money can buy.

But I like the twin truss-rods!

Nah - the has never been a factory bass you couldn't spot.

Plenty of other forums, groups, and sites carry genuine and faker ads; apart from some staunch RIC-only SIGs, BC is the only one to ban sales for either. Indeed, I started this thread to point out the irony of BC banning Ric sales but carrying ads for other site(s) showing them.

unfortunately, RIC are now making single truss-rod basses.

Is Trademark infringement retrospective?

You mean ask them to endorse the sale of fakers?

🙂 And those 70s fakers were made before RIC registered the trademarks.

Crowd: "We're all individuals." Brian: "I'm not!"

I think there is a big difference between a company taking action against a counterfeiter or distributor vs. going after private one-off sales between individuals via the classifieds. That said, RIC don't even appear to be going for the folks selling counterfeit £4.99 TRCs for £25+ on ebay.

Tokai should've complained as well, as they don't make Rockinbetters!

This is the one I bought in 1977, along with one or two others...

My lessons from the previous occurrence of an uncannily not dissimilar scam is do not pay by unsecured means (bank transfer, friends & family, etc.); if the seller doesn't like it then be prepared to walk away (it's happened to me). Also, don't pay for something and you arrange collection - the item in the box could be faulty, damaged, or a box of bricks for all you know. The bottom line is if there's anything you feel uneasy about then there may be good reason for that; in my case I have my suspicion-o-meter set to high sensitivity these days. Regarding police and other recourse: Try reporting to the police in the seller's location too. Report to Action Fraud - they can be slow to respond. Report the seller's items on ebay/Reverb/Gumtree/FB/etc. Coordinate with other people (eg. in the previous case, the scammer was giving people the same shipping reference as proof of the item being returned after failed delivery).

I guess I've been lucky with Rics; I have '64, '72, '78, '88. 2010 x2, 2012, and 2013 ones (4001, 4003, 4004 models) and I like them all; the one which is markedly different is the 2013, which has a noticeably thicker neck, but it was for a project with a whammy bar so I'm OK with that. I also had one of the newer 5-strings, but I didn't really bond with it and found I preferred other 5-strings instead; it felt like a 4-string with an extra appendage rather than an integrated unit, so I sold it back to the person I bought it off. I guess some of it is what you've become used to; a lot of folks seem to criticise the Ric for not being more Fender-like (just a generalisation, not saying that's you!), but it isn't and it shouldn't be, so the answer to that is to just buy a Fender! (Actually, I have more Fenders than Rics...)

I just noticed that BC is running ads for Rickenbacker sales...