Fake?

[Rapid Fire]

Hey everyone, it's stupid question time. Some 20+ years ago I came into what I assumed was a real Rickenbacker bass. The input plate says QE1907 which would date it to May 1977 - but I know a real input plate could be put on a fake guitar. Over the years, the more I learned about Rickenbacker basses, the more my suspicions grew. One of the biggest flags is that the body is raw - unfinished. Did Rickenbacker ever release any unfinished, natural maple basses? It looks like a Mapleglo, just without the gloss.

[jdogric12]

Hard to tell without a pic. Is it just dulled to a kind of satin feel? Could a previous owner have sanded it down? Can you post pictures? If it's that old, there should be telltale signs if it's a fake that I won't go into here, but others here can spot. btw welcome!

[sloop_john_b]

Did Rickenbacker ever release any unfinished, natural maple basses? It looks like a Mapleglo, just without the gloss.

There have been a few basses over the years that have had matte finishes, but a matte / unfinished Mapleglo bass is not something they offered in 1977.

[Rapid Fire]

I'll post some pics, as soon as I can figure out how to shrink them to meet the upload requirements, and hopefully this'll be enough to tell conclusively whether it's a fake. The bass is in rough shape; but then, that's sort of what's driving this - I was going to look into having some restoration work done on it, but I'm not gonna bother if it's a fake.

Things it has going in its favour:

- Neck thru body
- Dual truss rods
- Body binding stops at the tailpiece
- Stripe doesn't look too wide
- Fretboard doesn't look too dark

Stuff that makes me suspicious:

- Raw finish (feels velvety - could have been sanded, I suppose)
- Volume and tone knobs definitely look wrong (could have been replaced, I suppose)
- Pickguard has an angled edge (about 45 degrees) with a black stripe running through it??
- Two tiny flaws (gaps) on the back between the wings and the body that look like they have some kind of filler in them.
- Most of the screw heads look wrong, but then again, this bass obviously had a lot of work done on it (not all of it professional) prior to me owning it.

I don't know enough about tuners/machine heads to comment on them. They are the elephant-ear style, but don't have a name on them.

Thanks!

[collin]

Just shrink the photos using a Resize app (for mobile) or something as basic as MS Paint (for desktop).

Photo will say 1000 words here, but you generally just identify an instrument based on the wood construction and related specs - not by the parts attached to it (which can only give anecdotal hints).

[Rapid Fire]

Here are some pics (part 1)...thanks again!

[Rapid Fire]

Pics part 2.

[collin]

It's definitely real, Geoff if that was your main concern.

This is very much a player-grade example, but it's certainly a mid-70s 4001 and would be appropriate for a 1977. No reason to believe the jack plate isn't original to the bass.

Is that a screw going through the freboard at the first fret? That would be the biggest concern that I'd have. Possibly correcting a separated fretboard caused by incorrect truss rod adjustment (instead of gluing it back in place like normal).

[Rapid Fire]

Oh, yeah, this bass has been through the wringer! I got it at a pawn shop for $400 CAD (probably about $300 USD) sometime in the mid-'90s. It had clearly suffered a catastophic injury around the first fret and had been repaired by, let's just say NOT a luthier. The damage extends up into the headstock, so I think it was more serious than a separated fretboard. But it played nice, and teenaged me was too excited about finding a Ric to care. And it was my main bass for a long time (until I bought a brand-new Fireglo 4003 in 2004). It was a tank and almost nothing would throw it out of tune. But now it's developed horrendous tail lift, so I was thinking about putting a Rickenbacker v2 bridge on it. That being said, I wanted to make sure it was genuine first!

[collin]

Yep, it's legit.

Even with the repairs, $400 CAD was a great buy. Enjoy!

[Rapid Fire]

Thanks a bunch! Greatly appreciated!

[ram]

I am by no means an expert but it looks legit to me. As for the tail V2 tailpiece - I'd say do it. I just place on on my '74 4001. Piece of cake putting it on. It looks good and intonation is almost too easy to set. If you do end up doing that could you take a picture of the underside of the tailpiece? I forgot to do that and there was some interest about it. Good luck with it. The ax has a lot of MoJo!!

[espidog]

Yes - real. ...and for $400? A bargain, even with the strange repair work. If it were mine, I'd invest in a new "proper" replacement pickguard from Pickguardian and a nice set of RIC control knobs (I like the vintage ones myself ) - and yes, definitely worth fitting the V2 bridge. Give this baby some love!

[Dirk]

I'll chime in, I would have no doubt in saying it's real.
All the older fakes/copies I've seen are really obvious, some are even bolt on necks.
It's only been recent times that the copies/fakes are really trying to 100% capture the look.

And I agree the pickguard and knobs are not correct. You might consider getting the Rick-o-Sound back to functioning.
The truss rods look in great shape and pretty unmolested.

I'd be very happy to pay that little for a classic 70's Rick.
Play the heck out it!
Dirk

[jps]

I have a set of late '60s silver disc topped knobs that would look good & proper on that bass. PM me.