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RickenFakers

Happy Jack

By Happy Jack,
in Bass Guitars

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Buzz Community Regular

Buzz

Posted
Posted

Cheers for the information, and yes, I did grab the titles from the previous sales link, but they are the brands that appear on other listings.

looks like I'll be on the lookout for an Aria/Arbiter/CMI one then if I do decide to take the plunge and grab one cheaply.

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Bassassin Grand Master

Bassassin

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You might have a long wait if you insist on being that specific - these things are pretty rare in general.

Going back through the topic, our very own Dangerboy was selling one back in September - it's a Fujigen copy, the odd finish made me think it was an originally an Electra - they sold their Corsair bass in the same colours:

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=6146&hl=copy"][url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=6146"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=6146[/url][/url]

This was likely a private import, Electra was a US brand name owned by Saint Louis Music, and as far as I know, not sold in the UK.

I think they're great - but then I'm not bothered how authentic they look, I like 'em for what they are. :)


J.

Edited by Bassassin
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Bassassin Grand Master

Bassassin

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And another one pokes its curly head above the parapet:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=150183675535"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=150183675535[/url]

Bit of a mystery - seems to have genuine hardware - hence the serial number - but a single truss rod in a 4001/4003 never happened.

Pics are a bit iffy, but that Fireglo looks unconvincing, too. With so little detail I can't even guess at a maker - but it's not a Tokai - they never did a 4001 copy.

Unfortunately the ad title means it's doomed to near-instant extermination.

J.

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Bassassin Grand Master

Bassassin

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[quote name='Happy Jack' post='89496' date='Nov 16 2007, 04:34 PM']All the same, Jon, £300 with over nine days to go? For something he pretty much accepts is a fake? That's pretty impressive speed-bidding ...[/quote]
If he's got contact details for any of the bidders, he'll do OK even if it does get pulled. Looks like his reserve was around the £200 mark.

Although, don't you find those "bidders' ID hidden" auctions [i]just a bit[/i] suss? :)

I'm half persuaded to think he knows damn well it's a fake, but is playing ignorant to encourage bids. Based on the photos, it's a pretty convincing copy.

J.

Edited by Bassassin
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Happy Jack Grand Master

Happy Jack

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[quote name='Bassassin' post='89504' date='Nov 16 2007, 04:55 PM']Although, don't you find those "bidders' ID hidden" auctions [i]just a bit[/i] suss? :)[/quote]

Nope - I'm one of them! I bid the £151.30.

This is how it looks to me:

***********************************************

Bidder Bid Amount Bid Time

Bidder 4 £300.00 16-Nov-07 12:23:50 GMT



Bidder 3 £166.00 16-Nov-07 12:01:05 GMT



h4ppyjack( 187) £151.30 16-Nov-07 10:01:21 GMT



Bidder 3 £135.00 16-Nov-07 12:00:32 GMT



Bidder 1 £50.00 16-Nov-07 09:38:07 GMT


Starting Price £50.00 15-Nov-07 22:01:01 GMT

**************************************************

The anonymity system is supposed to protect me from spamming and scamming, and in fairness the amount of dodgy e-mails I receive these days offering me "Second Chance Offers" has dropped pretty much to zero.

Jack

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Happy Jack Grand Master

Happy Jack

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Yup!

We've touched on this subject before. His crazy prices and persistent presence means that, every month or two, someone stumbles across him for the first time and posts a link on some message board or other.

As a form of cheap advertising, and one that's almost guarantee to get straight to his target audience, it's hard to beat. And it's actually being done for him by people who think they're laughing at him ...

At those prices, he doesn't need to make many sales for the whole thing to be [b]very[/b] profitable!

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Bassassin Grand Master

Bassassin

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[quote name='Bassassin' post='89211' date='Nov 16 2007, 01:06 AM']And another one pokes its curly head above the parapet:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=150183675535"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=150183675535[/url][/quote]

Update on this one - contacted the seller & he sent a few pics - very small, but still interesting all the same.
[attachment=3684:rick4.jpg][attachment=3685:ricky1.jpg][attachment=3686:ricky2.jpg][attachment=3687:
ricky3.jpg][attachment=3688:ricky5.jpg]

Lovely wood it's made from & a very, very authentic looking copy. The only thing to convince otherwise is the fact it has a single truss rod.

I've not seen every Rick copy ever made - but from those I am familiar with, I'm inclined to think it's a Giannini, (perhaps with some genuine Rick parts) - they're the only ones I know of which have the binding gap at the end of the body.

J.

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neepheid Grand Master

neepheid

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[quote name='Happy Jack' post='89534' date='Nov 16 2007, 05:53 PM']Yup!

We've touched on this subject before. His crazy prices and persistent presence means that, every month or two, someone stumbles across him for the first time and posts a link on some message board or other.

As a form of cheap advertising, and one that's almost guarantee to get straight to his target audience, it's hard to beat. And it's actually being done for him by people who think they're laughing at him ...

At those prices, he doesn't need to make many sales for the whole thing to be [b]very[/b] profitable![/quote]

I contacted him and offered to take that butchered Ripper off his hands for considerably less than he wants (I have this strange compulsion to fix it - probably cut the sides off and put on new ones on like a thru neck) but I didn't get a reply. It's probably the most talked about bass on eBay so that would explain his reluctance.

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Happy Jack Grand Master

Happy Jack

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[quote name='Bassassin' post='92110' date='Nov 21 2007, 12:57 PM']Update on this one - contacted the seller & he sent a few pics - very small, but still interesting all the same.

Lovely wood it's made from & a very, very authentic looking copy. The only thing to convince otherwise is the fact it has a single truss rod.

I've not seen every Rick copy ever made - but from those I am familiar with, I'm inclined to think it's a Giannini, (perhaps with some genuine Rick parts) - they're the only ones I know of which have the binding gap at the end of the body.

J.[/quote]

He sent me the same photos Jon, and it is a lovely looking copy except that the Fireglo seems quite unconvincing to me. It may be a trick of the photography, but it seems too red around the edges and too transparent in the centre.

Did you see that a helpful eBayer has informed him categorically that this is an Ibanez? (Distant hubbub, shouts of "Surely not!" and "Order! Order!", noises off.)

At >£319 this would still be worth a punt ... except that I've just spent £1200 on my dream bass and am completely borassic.

:)

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Bassassin Grand Master

Bassassin

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I did ask him, just out of curiosity, like, if he had a BIN - & he said he'd be prepared to end early for a "reasonable offer". Tut tut... :huh: Unfortunately, if I was to buy a Giannini Rickalike, I'd prefer it to have the original hardware, trc and everything - and considering a BC member sold one for about £250 in the summer, I don't think my idea of a reasonable offer would be acceptable.

Mind you, if the Rick Police pull their fingers out & it gets taken off, I might be cheeky & ask him if he'll accept £200 for it. :)

And I have informed him in no uncertain terms that it's not an Ibanez. Or a Tokai. Or a Rickenbacker...

J.

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Happy Jack Grand Master

Happy Jack

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[quote name='Bassassin' post='92170' date='Nov 21 2007, 03:06 PM']Mind you, if the Rick Police pull their fingers out & it gets taken off, I might be cheeky & ask him if he'll accept £200 for it. :)

And I have informed him in no uncertain terms that it's not an Ibanez. Or a Tokai. Or a Rickenbacker...

J.[/quote]

Listing pulled at 08:04 this morning.

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Bassassin Grand Master

Bassassin

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[quote name='Happy Jack' post='92547' date='Nov 22 2007, 09:11 AM']Listing pulled at 08:04 this morning.[/quote]
Oops.

It was being discussed on the RickResource board last night - I admit I contributed my (in)expert opinion...

J.

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Happy Jack Grand Master

Happy Jack

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Email just received from the vendor:

[i]Hi

As you may have noticed Rickenbacker had the bass removed from Ebay. So I can probably conclude that it is a copy. Of the many emails I recieved the majority said it was, though a number said it wasnt. What left me more confused was when I recieved an email from a guy from the states who was an ex-employee of Rickenbacker telling me it was a Rickenbacker and it was a rare prototype from the 80's!!

So its not there to bid on, but anybody wanting to make a reasonable offer feel free to do so, otherwise it will be placed in a trade paper/free ads over the next few days.

Cheers
[/i]

Here's your chance to offer £200, Jon!

:)

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Bassassin Grand Master

Bassassin

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Just when it looked like this once-vivacious thread had flatlined -

A Shaftesbury 360-shaped semi, made by Eko, demonstrating its unsuitability for hammering in fenceposts:
[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=280179422808"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=280179422808[/url]

Not exactly sure what you're meant to do with the jack socket. :)

J.

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Bassassin Grand Master

Bassassin

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Never seen one of those before! Thanks for posting that - first pink Rickenfaker I've ever seen. And yes - I definitely would gig with it! :huh: And it just gets better - it's called the "Sw***y Spider"! Brilliant! (btw why the fark is the autocensor upset by that? What a silly bunt.)

Doesn't bear much relation to the "real" thing beyond the body shape - but that's probably enough to get uncle John Hall twisting his gusset in outrage! :)

J.

Edited by Bassassin
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nick Experienced

nick

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[quote name='Happy Jack' post='97411' date='Dec 1 2007, 09:26 PM']To play that, you need to be [i]either[/i] as camp as a row of tents [i]or[/i] so macho that no one dares comment.

I wouldn't recommend trying both at the same time ...[/quote]

Butch & Camp? :)


A nasty Kay - sorry got to keep this thread alive!
[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/70s-kay-bass_W0QQitemZ150190445109QQihZ005QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/70s-kay-bass_W0QQite...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url]

Edited by nick
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SJA Collaborator

SJA

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Posted

I'd like to have a Rick-alike bass that had all the looks of the original, but with the fake bridge pickup surround that looked like the real thing from a distance, but was actually flat, like a chrome scratchplate, so you could rest your thumb on the pickup unhindered.
maybe a photo of the real thing under a piece of perspex to go round the pickup, and a similar thing to go round a conventional bridge too...

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nick Experienced

nick

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[quote name='SJA' post='97701' date='Dec 2 2007, 05:51 PM']I'd like to have a Rick-alike bass that had all the looks of the original, but with the fake bridge pickup surround that looked like the real thing from a distance, but was actually flat, like a chrome scratchplate, so you could rest your thumb on the pickup unhindered.
maybe a photo of the real thing under a piece of perspex to go round the pickup, and a similar thing to go round a conventional bridge too...[/quote]

Hi,
Do you mean something like this?
[url="http://www.pickguardian.com/pickguardian/RICBridgePUPlate.html"]http://www.pickguardian.com/pickguardian/R...dgePUPlate.html[/url]

Cheaper alternative is what I did here:
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=2229&hl=rickenfaker"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...;hl=rickenfaker[/url]

Edited by nick
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Bassassin Grand Master

Bassassin

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Posted

Sounds like you want a Pickguardian replacement:

[url="http://www.pickguardian.com/pickguardian/RICBridgePUPlate.html"]http://www.pickguardian.com/pickguardian/R...dgePUPlate.html[/url]

Or just knock up your own out of a bit of 3mm acrylic & silver card, like wot I done on my Rickenbugger:



I'd happily gig that Pink Thing - I look enough of a twat anyway. :)

J.

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