"chickenbackers " any good?? +++and---- please

mark123

as title thinking of taking a punt £230 on a ricky 360 expecting to replace pick ups tuners and put a bone nut on anybody had one ?any sellers reccomended ?

Funkfingers

In before the nuke! 

If you have ever played a genuine RIC, the budget wannabe is likely to disappoint.

mark123

cheers mate
 sorry mods if this is not allowed please delete if so

dogload

There was a thread on the Offset Guitars forum following someone's Chickenbacker 360F order.

Not a very encouraging tale.

mark123

I think its just pot luck ,one good one 5 bad uns etc

ICBM

Funkfingers said:

If you have ever played a genuine RIC, the budget wannabe is likely to disappoint.

It's far harder to make a worthwhile Rickenbacker copy than a Fender or Gibson, or even Gretsch.

That said I had a mid-70s Shaftesbury 4001 bass before I got my real one that was quite nice.

Kittyfrisk

Genuine question.
What is the FB position on posting photo's in this discussion of examples of copy guitars such as Rickenbacker?

There would be no attempt to sell, pass off, transact, promote or advertise them, just illustrating guitars that are a copy/homage (fake is as good a term as any).

I understand that a certain Mr. Hall takes a rather dim view of such items even existing, so I have no wish to attract any grief to the forum.

Edit: Flagged to Mods. for clarification.

Funkfingers

ICBM said:

mid-70s Shaftesbury 4001 bass ... was quite nice.

Damned by faint praise.

Kittyfrisk said:

I understand that a certain Mr. Hall takes a rather dim view of such items even existing, so I have no wish to attract any grief to the forum.

I suspect that the thing to which Mr. Hall objects is anything that loses money for his firm. 

The lawyers for the estate of James Brown do not litigate against everyone who samples his music without asking permission. They sue the people whose use of uncleared samples earn loadsamoney. 

Kittyfrisk

@Funkfingers , thanks for that, I think.
You didn't use to be Master Po in 'Kung Fu' by any chance ? 

sweepy

Funkfingers said:

In before the nuke! 

If you have ever played a genuine RIC, the budget wannabe is likely to be better 

FTFY

digitalscream

Kittyfrisk said:

Genuine question.
What is the FB position on posting photo's in this discussion of examples of copy guitars such as Rickenbacker?

There would be no attempt to sell, pass off, transact, promote or advertise them, just illustrating guitars that are a copy/homage (fake is as good a term as any).

I understand that a certain Mr. Hall takes a rather dim view of such items even existing, so I have no wish to attract any grief to the forum.

Edit: Flagged to Mods. for clarification.

I think that last time this came up, we decided that it was fine to discuss them, we'd rather there weren't photos (because that turns it into a semi-promotional exercise), and the official - and strict - position on this is that they're flat-out wrong.

Also, regarding the OP, here's a massive minus - you can't legally sell them on in the UK (or anywhere with functioning copyright laws).

Kittyfrisk

@digitalscream ;;; thanks for the clarification, always best to ask about these things.
I have a Tanglewood TW61 that has been retro fitted with genuine original Hi-Gain pickups, tuners & bridge & Allparts tailpiece.
Got it a few years back from a tribute band player, just to see what it sounded like. 
It sounds like you might expect, in a good way.
  
 I also have a hand made 360 copy in natural maple. Really very nice looking & good construction, right down to the 5 piece maple headstock, stereo jacks, full width triangle fret inlays, 5th knob & correct 'back to front' body carve. Toasters of unknown origin, but are fine.

Both guitars jangle like good un's through a compressor with a touch of reverb 

I have tried a few genuine Ric's and while the quality of manufacture was seriously better than the Tanglewood (not so much the maple one) the neck feel/nut width wasn't really to my liking, nor was the pricing.

Conclusion, although I can afford the 'real thing', I'm happy enough with what I have.

This does not in any way refer to the MIC copies that the OP referenced, as I have no experience with them.

Edit:  just realised I started a sentence with 'So',  now gone 

prowla

Harley Benton do a Ric-esque guitar in 6 and 12-string versions; probably a better punt than a Chickenbacker.

The Chickenbacker basses are not great and are actually copies of Rockinbetters, not Rics.

Some of the vintage Japanese Ric copies are quite nice; I've got/had a few.

I'm not sure about buying a cheap faker with the intention of chucking money at it.

There's a Rickenfakers group on FB (Facebook, not Fretboard!).

I've just got the middle three of these at the moment (the outer two are Hondos, one of which I used for mocking-up a real Ric project).

prowla

As far as the law goes, it is perfectly legal to own one.

It's when you sell that the issue arises, either infringing trademark law or counterfeiting.

(The vintage Japanese ones, provided they don't have the R-brand's logo, pre-date the trademark registration and so don't infringe it.)

dogload

prowla said:

As far as the law goes, it is perfectly legal to own one.

It's when you sell that the issue arises, either infringing trademark law or counterfeiting.

(The vintage Japanese ones, provided they don't have the R-brand's logo, pre-date the trademark registration and so don't infringe it.)

Surely it's perfectly legal to buy and sell them too, as long as they aren't being peddled as the genuine article? It's not like they're made out of ivory after all.

Most of the bad juju about fake Rics comes from the enthusiastic pursuit of sellers by John Hall of Rickenbacker in recent years

ICBM

dogload said:

prowla said:

As far as the law goes, it is perfectly legal to own one.

It's when you sell that the issue arises, either infringing trademark law or counterfeiting.

(The vintage Japanese ones, provided they don't have the R-brand's logo, pre-date the trademark registration and so don't infringe it.)

Surely it's perfectly legal to buy and sell them too, as long as they aren't being peddled as the genuine article? It's not like they're made out of ivory after all.

Most of the bad juju about fake Rics comes from the enthusiastic pursuit of sellers by John Hall of Rickenbacker in recent years

No, simply selling something that incorporates a registered trademark but is not a product of the trademark holder is illegal, no matter whether it’s disclosed or not.

I’m not even sure ones that were made before the trademark was registered are excluded either.

Deadman

As above, I had a Tanglewood TW and (to me) it felt not a lot different to my Rick 330. Yes of course the Rick was very well made but I wouldn't buy another Rickenbacker, I just didn't get it!

MattBanshee

I've always been tempted to look at getting a bass made by Tokai that I'm sure will have me Rockin' Better.

Funkfingers

Deadman said:

I wouldn't buy another Rickenbacker, I just didn't get it!

The string spacing is very "Marmite". It makes possible some moves that would be impossible on the majority of guitar neck shapes and makes some normal moves unnecessarily difficult. This is why the Tom Petty signature 660/12 had a slightly wider fingerboard and nut spacing.

prowla

MattBanshee said:

I've always been tempted to look at getting a bass made by Tokai that I'm sure will have me Rockin' Better.

The Rockinbetters were not made by Tokai. 

The brand was imported to the UK by a distributor called Tokai UK. 

Many were MIC and they are the template for the Chickenbackers. 

prowla

ICBM said:

dogload said:

prowla said:

As far as the law goes, it is perfectly legal to own one.

It's when you sell that the issue arises, either infringing trademark law or counterfeiting.

(The vintage Japanese ones, provided they don't have the R-brand's logo, pre-date the trademark registration and so don't infringe it.)

Surely it's perfectly legal to buy and sell them too, as long as they aren't being peddled as the genuine article? It's not like they're made out of ivory after all.

Most of the bad juju about fake Rics comes from the enthusiastic pursuit of sellers by John Hall of Rickenbacker in recent years

No, simply selling something that incorporates a registered trademark but is not a product of the trademark holder is illegal, no matter whether it’s disclosed or not.

I’m not even sure ones that were made before the trademark was registered are excluded either.

Yep - “this is a genuine fake” doesn’t get around the law.