Dad3353 Posted May 20, 2014 Posted May 20, 2014 [quote name='chriswareham' timestamp='1400622926' post='2455651']...Where did you get it from and how much did it cost?[/quote] [quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1400627424' post='2455692']...So - how much, and where from? I want one! ...[/quote] Careful here, lads; PM only, I would suggest..?
FlatEric Posted May 21, 2014 Posted May 21, 2014 [quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1400627424' post='2455692'] Spectacular! I knew these existed, previously I'd only seen these scraggy little Ebay pics from about 5 years ago: So - how much, and where from? I want one! J. [/quote] Easy, Jon - Easy! I suspect you have had a major GAS attack but it will pass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . [size=6]Perhaps!!!!! [size=6] [size=6][size=6] [size=6][size=6][size=6][size=6] [/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size] [size=6][size=6][size=6][size=6][size=6][size=6][size=6][size=6] [size=6][size=6][size=6][size=6][size=6][size=6][size=6][size=6] [/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size][/size]
Bassassin Posted May 21, 2014 Posted May 21, 2014 No GAS allowed for a month or twenty Eric. I have had a couple of indiscretions recently but the trend is to part with gear rather than to accrue more, due to an imminent house move. Got room for another T40? J.
bh2 Posted May 21, 2014 Posted May 21, 2014 [quote name='John Schoen' timestamp='1400611698' post='2455496'] A Chinese interpretation of the 4004LK, Lemmy's bass. Plays well, sounds good, looks good, I am a happy camper. [/quote] Was it well wrapped? How long was delivery? I've my eyes on the Macca MMT one. They do lefty and righty!
John Schoen Posted May 21, 2014 Posted May 21, 2014 It was packed in a large styrofoam box that was completely wrapped in sellotape. Styrofoam offers excellent protection against shocks and the sellotape holds it together, I think it is a good and cheap way to pack guitars.It took just over five weeks from the moment that I ordered it. Shipping by China Post was free; China Post is cheap but very slow and their tracking system sucks. They are very slow with updates and it ends when the bass is handed over to the airline.
bh2 Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 (edited) Ah... cheers John.... sounds like FastTech. I may give them a go. Quite fancy the sonic blue 'Ric'... we'll see. Edited May 22, 2014 by bh2
steviedee Posted July 5, 2014 Posted July 5, 2014 (edited) I dunno if posting pics of fakers is contentious! So delete if I'm on thin ice! This is my retrovibe bought from a basschater. Dave from retrovibe sent me a black bridge. I sourced some new tuners and had bassdoc make a new black pickguard and blank TRC. Switched out the pups for a set made by Alan at catswhiskers and he added more coil(?) so I could get a warmer tone. Similar to my old 80s Ray. It sounds great and the actual bass is of a decent quality. [attachment=166185:photo 1.JPG] [attachment=166186:photo 2.JPG] [attachment=166187:photo 3.JPG] Edited July 5, 2014 by steviedee
Golden_Sonic Posted July 16, 2014 Posted July 16, 2014 I'm sorry but I'm a n00b in the bass guitars world: what are the cheapest copies of a Rick bass around now? Could anyone tell me the name of the brands and models? I read only these Retrovibe by Pro Bass.
Iheartreverb Posted July 19, 2014 Posted July 19, 2014 [quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1405629805' post='2503922'] In order of cheapness... Retrovibes are fairly cheap, but deviate from the Rickenbacker designs quite fundamentally. The cheapest are probably the ones on the Trade Tang website. Like Ebay, sellers are given a rating of trustworthiness. Many use stock photos of the same instrument for multiple sales or, even more disingenuously, will use photos of real Rickenbackers from Ebay sales. These are cheap Chinese copies. Now, the Chinese guitar plants will build guitars to any given price point, and they will do that exceedingly well. Therefore they can, and will, make amazing guitars with tight tolerances and brilliant materials... but they cost the same as regular good quality instruments. Those £250 Trade Tang specials will not be the best basses you can get. Models vary wildly. Some of the Trade Tang Rickenfakers go right off the map, with mudbucker pickups and other oddities in place of regular hardware. Even the best look visually different from real Ricks. For some reason they can never get the bridge and bridge pickup to sit in the right places... Next best, the Indie IRK. I remember Indie guitars from around 6 years ago. They made a lot of ES-355 type models with Union Jack finishes. Probably the brain child of an individual importer, ala Retrovibe. These had toaster-style pickups in both positions, which makes the bridge pickup look a bit odd. The bridge is also a generic high-mass Fender-style design. Hey, it probably works better than the original Rickenbacker bridge, but it is visually different. Overall I always felt these were a bit overpriced, and they no longer seem to be available. Next up is the Shine RK2000. The pickups are Seymour Duncan on these guys, and some Rickenbacker players upgrade to these models on the real thing! The construction is also right on; maple body and thru-neck all the way. The dimensions look pretty close, though the headstock is well off the map. They also use different sized knobs for the volume and tone controls. Visually it sits somewhere between the 4003, 4001 and 1999RM models as they lack binding on the body but retain the sharkfin inlays. If I had to buy a Rickenfaker I would probably go for this. Who's next? Rockinbetter. Cheeky name, and probably the most high-profile copyists out there. The earliest models look a bit goofy, with the bridge pickup in the middle of nowhere covered with a regular Jazz bass pickup cover. The next iteration of the design was closer, with a toaster neck pickup (presumably a SeiQ copy which is, essentially a Firebird-style minibucker in a housing that 'looks the part'). However, that pickup signals problems! Rickenbacker copyright the design of a chrome pickup with two black stripes on the top, and the Rockinbetter basses flaunt most of the Rick copyrights out there (body shape, headstock shape, bridge shape, pickup design... you name it). Therefore they are hard to find, and even the best ones are visually different from the real McCoy. The bodies are longer, so the bridge doesn't sit so well against the back edge of the body and there is a yawning gap between the bridge and bridge pickup. There are some others. The Schecter Stargazer has been beaten with the Lawsuit stick a few times, so the current iteration looks like a Rickenbacker in essence only. With the neck pickup confortably closer to the bridge than on the real thing, and the bridge pickup being situated much closer to the bridge than the real thing, you can wager they sound different. Likewise the Cort T34 hints at the outline of a 4003 in the horns alone; And the Italia Rimini hints at the 4005 model, as re-imagined by those '60s Italian accordion manufacturers that took up luthiery in their spare time. Nearly done... two other names spring to mind; Anniversary and Career. Career seem to have a re-brand of the Shine model posted above. Anniversary appear to have been a brand name that was stuck on the Rockinbetter models at some point in the past. These can be found, but not reliably. In general, I think there is always an 'audacity premium' that comes with buying a Rickenfaker. These instruments are overpriced for the quality of workmanship and components used, in broad terms. The Rockinbetter I got to try had terrible grounding issues straight out the box. The visual differences would also be a problem for me. Again, if these were all £250 instruments then I would not have an issue, but these are costing the same as a good MIM Fender. Moreover the only people who care enough (other bassists) at a gig will notice your ruse fairly quickly. Is it worth it? The most common complaint I hear is that they don't sound like Rickenbackers. Big deal. Rickenbackers don't sound like Rickenbackers either, to be honest. Chris Squire and Geddy Lee were using models that resemble modern 4003s in outline only, as the pickups are fairly different these days (hotter, for one thing). I think a general Rickenbacker sound (like the Yes and Rush recordings of yore) can be aped fairly easily if you don't mind modding a bass. I might put this to the ultimate test soon, but I wager that any generic P bass, with a hot pickup in the standard position and a weaker pickup under the virtual 24th fret position, will get the job done. What all these copies omit, without fail, is the 4.7 nF capacitor that Rickenbacker installed on the basses used on those classic recordings that give us eargasms. That capacitor eliminates a lot of the comb filtering typically associated with two pickups in parallel; the sound we recognise as quintisential to the Jazz bass. Topologically, the Rickenbacker bass is far closer to a P bass with an extra neck pickup (like the Yamaha Attitude) than the Jazz bass, yet people always try and chase a Rick tone out of a Jazz. I believe that the tone of all these instruments comes at least 75% from fundamental pickup placement, and the harmonic overtones that each pickup gets. Regardless of scale length, a Rick 4003 has pickups at the 24th and 36th fret location, and if you get pickups there, wired in right, you are on the right track. How do I know this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IcTOnIfmOY And, for what it is worth, Geddy, Chris, Sir Paul, Lemmy, Cliff Burton [i]et al[/i] modified their basses beyond stock. [/quote] Lots of very good information there! I have an aniversary which I have put Ric pickups in. I do like it however the body/ bridge situation leaves it needing extra long scale strings which annoys me a bit. The neck feels different to a real Ric but still a good bass for what I paid.
blue Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 (edited) I am big on what I call "hard core" stage bass appeal. It's why I love my 1991 Gibson Tbird and my Gibson Les Paul Gold Top Bass. At this point in my life and while I know no one notices it, I only want the real deal. The Rick is certainly up at the top of my "hard core" stage appeal bass list. Back in my day, if a guy walked out on stage with a Rick, you knew at some level he meant business! Blue Edited July 21, 2014 by blue
Bassassin Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 These days if a guy walks onstage with a Rick, what you know is that he's got £2000 to spend on a fairly one-trick bass. This might be important to some people, I suppose. When I've walked onstage with this: [sharedmedia=core:attachments:73352] - [i]everyone[/i] wants to know about it. J.
Woodinblack Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 Honestly if someone walks on stage with a Ric I assume he is going to play punk and wander off for a bit!
Annoying Twit Posted August 13, 2014 Posted August 13, 2014 Over on the German music forum, there are a number of people discussing the desirability of Harley Benton making a bass inspired by Rickenbacker. (At some level). They already do some guitars which are clearly Rickenbacker inspired, while having (I would presume) enough differences to avoid legal problems. This guitar seems to mix up guitar and bass stylings a bit: I don't like the headstock, however. Given how the Harley Benton range is increasing, and that Thomann have already produced something inspired by a Rickenbacker, you'd think that a bass isn't beyond the realms of possibility. Given that some Harley Bentons have been made by Saien, is there a possibility of an HB branded version of the Shine bass being sold at a significantly cheaper price?
12stringbassist Posted August 13, 2014 Posted August 13, 2014 That one takes some features from the 620 (my 620/12 below). The F-hole isn't very typical Ric. They usually go for a sharkfin design. The lower horn is 4003-ish. It looks very nice indeed.
12stringbassist Posted August 13, 2014 Posted August 13, 2014 If people out there have the money, I believe that a certain Birmingham area luthier (Jhno Brcih) still makes them.
BigRedX Posted August 14, 2014 Posted August 14, 2014 (edited) [quote name='12stringbassist' timestamp='1407972840' post='2526017'] If people out there have the money, I believe that a certain Birmingham area luthier (Jhno Brcih) still makes them. [/quote] The man himself passed away long ago and the company that bears his name is now based in Nottingham. (and IMO the instruments they are producing these days aren't patch on what was being made in Birmingham in the 70s). EDIT: And also IMO the only thing the JB version has in common with a "real" 4001/4003 bass is a similar body shape. Edited August 14, 2014 by BigRedX
Annoying Twit Posted August 14, 2014 Posted August 14, 2014 I haven't looked carefully at the 620 guitars before. IMHO, I don't like the look of them, particularly the pointed lower horn and the lack of any sort of soundhole. In that respect, while I still don't find the Harley Benton a thing of beauty, in some respects it improves on the original. However, I don't like the headstock on the HB at all, the real Rickenbacker headstock looks far better. @12StringBassest, do you have any comments on the sound of the 12 string HB compared to your original? http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_rb_612cs_classic_series.htm
Woodinblack Posted November 14, 2014 Posted November 14, 2014 If only they didn't use those awful bridges like most of the fakers do. If you are going to have a bridge that long then make it like it is on the rick. If not, use an ordinary bridge so you can use normal length strings and have some decent adjustment! Other that that, it is quite interesting but it seems like it was designed by a committee, who all wanted slightly different things. the F hole particularly looks out of place.
Bassassin Posted November 15, 2014 Posted November 15, 2014 I quite like it as an attempt to do a blatantly Rick-inspired bass that infringes no trademarks, and can't attract JH's litigiousness. That said, it's a missed opportunity imo - if it had a cateye soundhole, big inlays & checked binding, I might buy one... Not a fan of the shonky-looking Chickenbacker hardware, though. Jon.
Bassassin Posted November 16, 2014 Posted November 16, 2014 John Hall's on record saying the 4000 series scratchplate isn't trademarked, the other hardware only bears a passing resemblance to Rick parts & couldn't be considered counterfeits by any stretch of the imagination!. Would've looked better with different hardware anyway. J.
kodiakblair Posted December 18, 2014 Posted December 18, 2014 I reckon the RB414 does owe more to the Rimini bass. One arrived on Monday. Don't know if I can do a NBD about it on BC though. Decent bass I think.
Bassassin Posted December 18, 2014 Posted December 18, 2014 [quote name='kodiakblair' timestamp='1418899531' post='2634549'] Don't know if I can do a NBD about it on BC though. Decent bass I think. [/quote] I think it's OK to talk about them! Definitely be interested to hear first impressions & see proper pics, up to the mods whether it's legit or not though, I guess... J.
Billy Apple Posted December 18, 2014 Posted December 18, 2014 [quote name='kodiakblair' timestamp='1418899531' post='2634549'] I reckon the RB414 does owe more to the Rimini bass. One arrived on Monday. Don't know if I can do a NBD about it on BC though. Decent bass I think. [/quote] It's fine to do reviews, but there can be no links to a site that sells them or promoting them for sale in the text.
Musky Posted December 29, 2014 Posted December 29, 2014 Not something you see too often, so I've saved a snap of this German Hoyer for posterity.
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