Harley Benton Rickenfaker?

[King Tut]

Interesting!

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_rb_414cs_classic_series.htm

[ped]

Merry Xmas Mr. Hall!

[ezbass]

Obviously derived from their experience of producing a faker 12 string and getting away with it (one of the guitar players in my band uses one).

[4000]

Er....ok. 

[PatrickJ]

I wasn't a member when the whole Rickenbacker thing happened.

What constitutes a "fake", was it directly cloning the body and headstock shape?  If so are these sufficiently different that they are not in infringement of any copyright.  And if that's the case can they be bought and sold on this forum??

[Pea Turgh]

I can’t work out if it’s bad or good.  Interesting, yes.

[songofthewind]

I think that is butt-ugly. YMMV.

[Lozz196]

I like it.

[NancyJohnson]

That's really quite nasty 

[Sparky Mark]

Thomann has been selling these for a few years now. The photos on its site show good detailing such as a set neck, body and neck binding, decent hardware and finishes. For the money they look very good. Obviously the aesthetics have been adjusted to avoid litigation. I've read they don't sound much like a Ricky but for less than a tenth of the price I think they're a stylish alternative to ubiquitous Fender copies. 

Edited December 21, 2019 by Sparky Mark

[stewblack]

It's absolutely beautiful and I'll do a proper review when it arrives. 

[stewblack]

1 hour ago, Sparky Mark said:

Thomann has been selling these for a few years now. The photos on its site show good detailing such as a set neck, body and neck binding, decent hardware and finishes. For the money they look very good. Obviously the aesthetics have been adjusted to avoid litigation. I've read they don't sound much like a Ricky but for less than a tenth of the price I think they're a stylish alternative to ubiquitous Fender copies. 

Didn't the one they sold before have a hole? Sure I saw a photo with a hole top half of the body. 

[kodiakblair]

1 hour ago, stewblack said:

Didn't the one they sold before have a hole? Sure I saw a photo with a hole top half of the body. 

Aye. The original version were semi hollow. 

 

[skidder652003]

probably plays better than the "origional"

[King Tut]

It's described as hollow in the description. Body wood is Mahogany which would probably make it quite a dark sounding bass, so not s Rik soundalike!

[JohnDaBass]

I quite like it. Maybe good fun tinkering with different PUPs & controls. I bet a black would look good! 

[kodiakblair]

28 minutes ago, JohnDaBass said:

I bet a black would look good! 

I'm afraid it was a mistake saying that 🤣

 

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_rb_414bk_classic_series.htm?sid=68996b485894d5bcc89c4cce97a8a99d

1 hour ago, King Tut said:

Body wood is Mahogany which would probably make it quite a dark sounding bass,

Even strung with flats I don't remember it being particularly dark sounding. Pickup positions and strings trump body wood every time.

[JohnDaBass]

Yup black looks gorgeous. It probably sounds darker than the Sunburst 😂

[prowla]

They're vaguely Ric-like, based on the Rockinbetter/Chickenbacker 34" scale and bridge.

I plan to finish off one of my Ric-a-likes today - a black one.

[stewblack]

1 hour ago, JohnDaBass said:

Yup black looks gorgeous. It probably sounds darker than the Sunburst 😂

I went for the cherry burst for this very reason. The black would doubtless be good for metal but I need a lighter more colourful sound. 

[scrumpymike]

I think these look great in both colours!

[prowla]

8 minutes ago, scrumpymike said:

I think these look great in both colours!

I think they look awful - I guess we just have differing opinions! 🙂

[stewblack]

8 minutes ago, scrumpymike said:

I think these look great in both colours!

Mike has spoken. You can have a bash on mine at the next bash mate. 

[prowla]

34 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Mike has spoken. You can have a bash on mine at the next bash mate. 

I'll be there!

I'll bring along my latest faker too...

(For the record, it's the one on the right which is a real Rickenbacker and a couple of folks had a go on it at the last SE Bass Bash!)

Edited December 21, 2019 by prowla

[stewblack]

9 minutes ago, prowla said:

I'll be there!

I'll bring along my latest faker too...

Excellent  I have a couple you can try too!