The All New RickenFaker Thread

[Skybone]

Definitely worth a punt, if the price is right. Factor in the cost of parts, especially the bridge. Allparts have a pattern Ric bridge for a reasonable amount.

[prowla]

Got a picture of the ends of the straplock buttons?

[prowla]

Presumably the truss rods adjust from the other end of the neck (like the first 4003 models with the split pickguard)?

[Richard T]

I'll get a pic of the buttons, they're little black Schaller type 'screw through' jobs. Interesting, so there were some early 4003s with truss adjustment at the body end? Obv the headstock was never routed for the usual big retaining plate and this screamed 'knockoff' at me but maybe not.....either way I'm not stripping it down until the owner's brother is around...

 

[prowla]

Genuine Ric strap buttons are one piece including a threaded shaft; strap buttons with a screw through don’t fit a Ric. 

[prowla]

Yep, some Rics had the adjustment from the body end. But the pickguard was in two parts. I don’t know what the headstock looked like under the TRC. It was only the first iteration of the 4003..

[Bassassin]

I think that's a 1983 4003, (possibly a 4003SB) with a plethora of replaced & bodged parts. The additional bridge screws are consistent with this era of 4003.

I know my Fakers pretty well, my Ricks a only little less well, and this is no Faker I've ever seen. 100% worth acquiring and restoring, imo.

Edit: pic of heel-adjust headstock end in this TB thread.

Edited August 3, 2018 by Bassassin
Linkage

[Richard T]

Thanks all, really useful replies. That thread is fascinating Bassassin, first matching headstock I've seen and yet another insight into the uniqueness of the Rick bass.  It's been a steep learning curve! Someone has to rescue this thing then, I'd better start thinking about £numbers.....

 

[prowla]

11 hours ago, Bassassin said:

I think that's a 1983 4003, (possibly a 4003SB) with a plethora of replaced & bodged parts. The additional bridge screws are consistent with this era of 4003.

I know my Fakers pretty well, my Ricks a only little less well, and this is no Faker I've ever seen. 100% worth acquiring and restoring, imo.

Edit: pic of heel-adjust headstock end in this TB thread.

It's a shame Joey's Bass Notes has disappeared!

[Bassassin]

2 hours ago, prowla said:

It's a shame Joey's Bass Notes has disappeared!

Only found out myself yesterday. Hopefully it'll be back, best resource of ID info out there.

Thread about it on RickResource, looks like it may get incorporated into the RR forum, which would be good. Not really clear why Joey took it down, but it's his site, so whatever!

http://www.rickresource.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=415609

Edited August 4, 2018 by Bassassin

[Grahambythesea]

On 26/06/2018 at 08:46, Rick's Fine '52 said:

Here's my pair, UK hand made from scratch, no Chinese crap, and not cheap either. I couldn't decide on WB or not, so decided to have both!

4005 Fireglo, chequerboard binding to rear, full width crushed pearl inlays, 60's spec throughout. 

4005 WB, Mapleglo, plain white binding to front and back. Both full 60's spec in every way. 

 

 

Not so much fakers  - perfect clones. Fab-u-Lous.

[AndyTravis]

They’re worryingly gorgeous...

and I suspect worryingly expensive...

[prowla]

Oops - this bridge looks on a wonk...

[Skybone]

Compensated...

[Skybone]

Thread resurrection time!

Has anyone done a pickup swap on their Faker?

What have you tried?

What do you want to try?

Been looking at the Gemini Pickups site again, thinking about getting a set of the Tsunami pickups. Tried the Retrovibe "Classic" pickups, they were ok, but didn't quite have the sound I was after, not interested in trying any of the humbucker options either, I do like the single coil sounds.

Thoughts?

Opinions?

General observations?

Etc 

[Storky]

1 hour ago, Skybone said:

Thread resurrection time!

Has anyone done a pickup swap on their Faker?

What have you tried?

What do you want to try?

Been looking at the Gemini Pickups site again, thinking about getting a set of the Tsunami pickups. Tried the Retrovibe "Classic" pickups, they were ok, but didn't quite have the sound I was after, not interested in trying any of the humbucker options either, I do like the single coil sounds.

Thoughts?

Opinions?

General observations?

Etc 

Yes, I’ve got a Retrovibe and I’ve just brought a set of Gemini pickups for it: Rougue Wave bridge pup under a Thunderbird cover with coil tap push/pull and Waverider neck pup. I’m looking forward to getting them in, should look great.

[prowla]

I've put real Ric pickups on a faker before.

I've got SD pickups on a Ric, too.

[Stub Mandrel]

 

[Maude]

On 26/06/2018 at 08:46, Rick's Fine '52 said:

Here's my pair, UK hand made from scratch, no Chinese crap, and not cheap either. I couldn't decide on WB or not, so decided to have both!

4005 Fireglo, chequerboard binding to rear, full width crushed pearl inlays, 60's spec throughout. 

4005 WB, Mapleglo, plain white binding to front and back. Both full 60's spec in every way. 

 

 

I think I have the link between your two from the same builder, maple without front binding. 

 

Pickup series switch and thumb rest added 👍

Edited April 27, 2019 by Maude

[stewblack]

New addition arrived yesterday 

 

[Stub Mandrel]

The best thing about this thread is the ingenuity in the silly names 🙂

 

[kodiakblair]

Couple of Fakers. 

On the left is Mr Konig's retired Renegade. Simple as get out, just vol/tone and a series/parallel MM.

On the right is Sunday's purchase. Bolt on Hondo II 🙂

 

[barrycreed]

Using my limited language "skills", I've managed to find fakers being sold in Italy, via Chi-na. Also some in Latvia, but they're not fakes, they're ones that might make you Rock Better.

There's also a Spanish gumtree style website which has a Jayo and Oakland (private sellers selling them on used obviously), both of which I've not heard of, and they're around the €600 mark, which seems a bit pricey but if they're as good as what they claim they are, then they could be worth a punt.

There's a store selling a new faker in Spain as well (can't remember brand), and someone on the Fretboard pointed out it was a chinese job, but is also over the €500 mark. I'm half tempted to dob them in, seeing as if I didn't know, I'd have paid that for it!

I wouldn't mind, there used to regularly be some ones that make you Rock Better for sale on an Irish classified site over the years, and I used to always chuckle at the name. Now they're nowhere to be found!

Speaking of fakers, I vaguely remember in the early 90s a guitar brand called deVille or something like that, used to make guitars very much like Rics.

Edited May 19, 2020 by barrycreed

[kodiakblair]

7 minutes ago, barrycreed said:

I'm half tempted to dob them in, seeing as if I didn't know, I'd have paid that for it!

Why would you do that ?

Unless it's branded as "Rickenbacker" where's the problem.  Is it the €500 that bothers you ?

Basses from China are typically in the €200 to €300 price range. Call it €250.

Seller has VAT, it's now €300.  Seller has a store. Rent,rates,insurance,utilities and wages need paid. Money for those bills are added the the €300, could be as much as 20%. Bass is now €360 and he's yet to turn a profit.

 

Another cost folks don't think about are QC fails,returns etc. Seller has to allocate part of his sale price to cover those.

 

This seller may only make 20%.

[prowla]

31 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Why would you do that ?

Unless it's branded as "Rickenbacker" where's the problem.  Is it the €500 that bothers you ?

Basses from China are typically in the €200 to €300 price range. Call it €250.

Seller has VAT, it's now €300.  Seller has a store. Rent,rates,insurance,utilities and wages need paid. Money for those bills are added the the €300, could be as much as 20%. Bass is now €360 and he's yet to turn a profit.

 

Another cost folks don't think about are QC fails,returns etc. Seller has to allocate part of his sale price to cover those.

 

This seller may only make 20%.

Well, if someone is bumping up the price of something in the hope of conning someone out of their money, then I would happily snitch on them.

It's often said that you make your profit when you buy, not when you sell, so if someone has a shop and isn't making a profit then they're buying too high and it's pretty shabby charging excessive amounts to have someone else cover the cost of their mistakes.

If they're charging £100+ more than it takes to buy and import from AliExpress then dob away!