ID a Japanese Rick Copy

[Geek99]

3 hours ago, WHUFC BASS said:

 

£470 plus postage. I've actually never really liked Rickenbacker bass aesthetics and the eccentric bridge and awkward pickup cover but I've always loved the sound of them. A real Rick is just way out of my price range so I've never really coveted one but the other night I was on ebay and saw this and decided to put in a BID.
 

Alcohol may have been involved in this but I always think that's the best time to buy something 😂

I totally agree (with the first statement)

saying “no comment” to the second (separated above for clarity)

 

Edited Sunday at 20:32 by Geek99

[Geek99]

I have just been down the deepest rabbit home on eBay searching for “ Japan bass guitar” 

[prowla]

2 hours ago, Bassassin said:

 

 

That's probably this very one, then!

 

Also have an idea that Jim Lea played a shortscale Faker made by JayDee, although that was probably a one-off.

 

John Birch's Fakers were enough of an irritant & an infringement that they got a C&D off Big Johnny Hall, back when Big Johnny Hall was stomping around chucking out legal threats left right & centre. Also, I seem to remember the Rick type actually having 4001 as its catalogue model number! I think they deserve to be on the list.

 

Unfortunately I'm far too mentally disorganised to write a book about MIJ basses - there are several reasons, the main one being there's not enough definitive info to fill more than a short pamphlet, and half of that will have been revised by the time it got to print. I am also a sufficiently undisciplined writer that I fear there would be a tendency to veer away from a detailed comparison of typical through-neck constructions across three separate manufacturers, into a twisted hellscape of eldritch horror pornography where the shrieks of the damned and doomed echo across an apocalptic wasteland of blackened, creeping, undead flesh, beneath a leaden, burning sky as a baleful and bloody moon rises. Although that might serve to broaden any potential readership demographic.

 

And yes, @WHUFC BASS - they are pretty rare. I've had one for nearly 20 years & I think I've only seen 2 or 3 (including yours) come up since. I do need to get some new pics of it.

Didn’t John Diggins work for John Birch at the time?

[Bassassin]

20 hours ago, prowla said:

Didn’t John Diggins work for John Birch at the time?

 

Actually, early 70s, he probably did. Was probably a JB after all!

[WHUFC BASS]

On 12/01/2025 at 18:53, Bassassin said:

 

And yes, @WHUFC BASS - they are pretty rare. I've had one for nearly 20 years & I think I've only seen 2 or 3 (including yours) come up since. I do need to get some new pics of it.

 

Wow, that's really nice, almost looks like Birdseye Maple from that camera angle. The chequerboard edge binding was what caught my eye when looking at the eBay ad as well as the bolt on neck. I've heard some stories about tuning stability and neck movement on the neck through copies as well as difficulties with setting the basses up but hopefully this one isn't too bad that a shim can't sort out.

Edited Monday at 20:29 by WHUFC BASS

[Maude]

41 minutes ago, WHUFC BASS said:

 

Wow, that's really nice, almost looks like Birdseye Maple from that camera angle. The chequerboard edge binding was what caught my eye when looking at the eBay ad as well as the bolt on neck. I've heard some stories about tuning stability and neck movement on the neck through copies as well as difficulties with setting the basses up but hopefully this one isn't too bad that a shim can't sort out.

 

The bolt on necks are less desirable than neck throughs due to not being true to real Ricks, but like you I was happy with a bolt on as it makes a decent set up easier if neck issues were to arise. 

This is my Matsumoku faker, apparently an Aria but as the seller had lost the TRC it now has no identity, just a Matsumoku build. 

 

 

[Geek99]

How like the real thing does it sound ?

[Maude]

8 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

How like the real thing does it sound ?

 

My personal opinion, no different. 

The 70s Japanese copies were mainly faithful replicas, apart from the bolt on neck ones, even incorporating the things that turned out to be flawed, the rediculous intonation adjustment and tailpiece that lifts for example. 

Mine is a 4001 (I think) and our guitarist has a 4003 Rick and I can't tell the difference in sound, apart from them having different strings. The classic Rick tone is certainly there and in a band situation I don't think anyone could tell them apart. 

[Geek99]

3 minutes ago, Maude said:

 

My personal opinion, no different. 

The 70s Japanese copies were mainly faithful replicas, apart from the bolt on neck ones, even incorporating the things that turned out to be flawed, the rediculous intonation adjustment and tailpiece that lifts for example. 

Mine is a 4001 (I think) and our guitarist has a 4003 Rick and I can't tell the difference in sound, apart from them having different strings. The classic Rick tone is certainly there and in a band situation I don't think anyone could tell them apart. 

That’s good enough for me. If someone tasteful enough to play bass says there’s little to no difference, Joe Public has zero chance 

[Paul S]

I had an MIJ Faker that the massed brains of Basschat couldn't pin down to any particular maker/distributor, blank trc, nothing on the pickups.  It was fantastic - looked and sounded just like a real one to my ears and eyes.  But heavy!  Too heavy for me to wear comfortably for any length of time.  Broke my heart to move it on but it now resides with @silverfoxnik I believe.

 

 

[silverfoxnik]

4 minutes ago, Paul S said:

I had an MIJ Faker that the massed brains of Basschat couldn't pin down to any particular maker/distributor, blank trc, nothing on the pickups.  It was fantastic - looked and sounded just like a real one to my ears and eyes.  But heavy!  Too heavy for me to wear comfortably for any length of time.  Broke my heart to move it on but it now resides with @silverfoxnik I believe.

 

 

And it still does @Paul S.

 

Though it's got a new bridge now as you can see in these photos... 

 

It really does sound incredible too.. 

[Bassassin]

13 hours ago, WHUFC BASS said:

 

Wow, that's really nice, almost looks like Birdseye Maple from that camera angle. The chequerboard edge binding was what caught my eye when looking at the eBay ad as well as the bolt on neck. I've heard some stories about tuning stability and neck movement on the neck through copies as well as difficulties with setting the basses up but hopefully this one isn't too bad that a shim can't sort out.

A word of warning about the bolt-neck on these. On mine, and on at least one other version (a 'Northern' branded Kasuga for the Canadian market, with maple-leaf inlays!) the neck tenon's glued into the pocket as well as screwed. If necessary it may be possible to remove it but will take a lot of care.

 

This is further complicated by the detail that the Maxon neck pickup is an accurate copy of the toasters used in 60s/70s Ricks, in that it's actually a guitar pickup with 6 poles. In order to mitigate weakening the neck joint, the tenon is drilled for each individual pole, making it potentially fragile if you're attempting to dismantle it.

 

 

This is that Northern Kasuga - look at the little maple leaves!

 

Anyhoo, mine has actually had a repair at the neck joint at some point, either the result of a 'normal' accident or a bodged neck-removal attempt. Fortunately it's rock-solid and the bass is ridiculously playable, action as low as you want without fret buzz.

 

Mine's pretty convincing-sounding - I've never had a 'real' one to compare it to but it's not hard to coax a late '70s Geddy Lee growl out of it. Worth mentioning that the circuitry's accurate to the original 70s basses, and they have the .0047 treble cap fitted. I bypassed mine which gave it a bit more depth & guts.

 

[Paul S]

3 hours ago, silverfoxnik said:

And it still does @Paul S.

 

Though it's got a new bridge now as you can see in these photos... 

 

It really does sound incredible too.. 

 

 

That's nice Nik.  What bridge is it, just out of curiosity?

[prowla]

2 hours ago, Bassassin said:

A word of warning about the bolt-neck on these. On mine, and on at least one other version (a 'Northern' branded Kasuga for the Canadian market, with maple-leaf inlays!) the neck tenon's glued into the pocket as well as screwed. If necessary it may be possible to remove it but will take a lot of care.

 

This is further complicated by the detail that the Maxon neck pickup is an accurate copy of the toasters used in 60s/70s Ricks, in that it's actually a guitar pickup with 6 poles. In order to mitigate weakening the neck joint, the tenon is drilled for each individual pole, making it potentially fragile if you're attempting to dismantle it.

 

 

This is that Northern Kasuga - look at the little maple leaves!

 

Anyhoo, mine has actually had a repair at the neck joint at some point, either the result of a 'normal' accident or a bodged neck-removal attempt. Fortunately it's rock-solid and the bass is ridiculously playable, action as low as you want without fret buzz.

 

Mine's pretty convincing-sounding - I've never had a 'real' one to compare it to but it's not hard to coax a late '70s Geddy Lee growl out of it. Worth mentioning that the circuitry's accurate to the original 70s basses, and they have the .0047 treble cap fitted. I bypassed mine which gave it a bit more depth & guts.

 

 

I've got a few real ones and none of them sound quite the same!

[Skybone]

3 hours ago, Bassassin said:

 

This is that Northern Kasuga - look at the little maple leaves!

 

Definitely the one to go for if you want that Geddy Lee growl.

 

Edited yesterday at 14:31 by Skybone

[silverfoxnik]

4 hours ago, Paul S said:

 

That's nice Nik.  What bridge is it, just out of curiosity?

It's the Hipshot version of a Rickenbacker bridge, Paul... 

[Paul S]

is it good?

[silverfoxnik]

8 minutes ago, Paul S said:

is it good?

Yes, it makes it much easier to intonate the bass than the old bridge... 

[prowla]

I'm not a fan of the Hipshot bridge, but each to their own.