Please help me identify

brianeharmonjr · Post by **brianeharmonjr** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:20 pm

Hello everybody. I am new to the forum, but a longtime rickenbacker lover. I have owned a rickenbacker 360/12 for a couple years now, but have just snatched this bass pictured below from ebay. I need some help with this one though. As you can certainly tell from the pictures, there is nothing but the body/neck. First of all, can anyone tell from the pictures if this is an actual rick or a "rickenfaker"? Second, the crack where the neck meets the body. Is that easily repairable? If so, how should I go about it? Is it something I won't need to worry about? Also, is ebay the only way to acquire a truss rod cover or jack plate? If anyone can help me out it would absolutely fabulous. Thanks!
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i17/brianeharmonjr/rick1.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i17/brianeharmonjr/rick2.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i17/brianeharmonjr/rick3.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i17/brianeharmonjr/rick4.jpg

bassduke49 · Post by **bassduke49** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:35 pm

Looks like a faker, I'm afraid. The dark fretboard is the tipoff, the sharp angular cutouts for the wiring and pickups is another clue, the odd ends to the truss rods, etc. Putting a real RIC truss-rod cover on a faker is frowned on around here.

xsubs · Post by **xsubs** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:42 pm

I'm with Paul on this... FAKE.

brianeharmonjr · Post by **brianeharmonjr** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:48 pm

Well, I may have to resell it on ebay and keep looking for a good deal on the real thing. I definitely don't want to put together a fake. If anybody is interested, let me know. If I can save myself the hassle of ebay, I will if I get a good offer. Well, if anyone else has any information about it, it would be great. Is it an Ibanez, Electro?

elysrand · Post by **elysrand** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:48 pm

Hi Brian, and welcome to the Forum! We kinda consider it our duty to tell people the (sometimes harsh) truth about basses (in this case Rick look-alikes), and I believe that Paul is correct. This is not a Rickenbacker body. It is instead a stripped imitation Rick, most likely a Ibanez/Greco, built by Fuji Gen Gakki of Japan.

It truly has little or no value in its current state, and it is actually illegal in the United States to buy and sell these "fakers" due to the fact that they violate some pretty strict trademark and copyright laws in US Federal Code the instant they change hands in a commercial transaction.

Now, buy a real Rickenbacker and you will get some incredible help and support from the members of this Forum, and learn more than you probably ever imagined you could know about your Rickenbacker specifically, and about the marque in general.

But we really can't help with an illegal purchase that you may have been conned into making on eBay by a con artist or even a seller who may not have known they were operating outside the law in selling this imitation body to you.

Try to get your money back from the seller, but you are stuck with this thing now. You cannot legally sell it on eBay, and eBay will pull your auction if you try. How the previous seller was able to not get the auction pulled was unusual, it should never have lasted long enough for the deal to close. Write eBay's Safe Harbor to inquire about this. If it was paid for through PayPal, then PayPal should cancel the sale, snatch the money back, and make it good.

Sorry, but that's what you have there, I believe, a fake Rick body

brianeharmonjr · Post by **brianeharmonjr** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 6:20 pm

Thanks guys. I have reported it to ebay. Hopefully I can get my money back quickly and put it into my real rickenbacker fund. Thanks!

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 6:39 pm

Tough news, Brian, and good luck (I really mean that) with eBay. I hope you can get your money back to put towards a real Rick as you want to do. Watch the For Sale forum (you have to be logged in to find it) and you will see basses come up for sale a lot.

And welcome aboard!

dale_fortune · Post by **dale_fortune** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 6:51 pm

Sorry to say that is not a USA made Rickenbacker. As everyone else here has said, I will also confirm that it is not what you were hoping for. Getting your money back may be a tough thing to do, but I wish you the best.

sowhat · Post by **sowhat** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:25 pm

I'm pleasantly surprised nobody said: "Burn it".

Welcome, Brian, and good luck with your search!

jps · Post by **jps** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 2:48 am

Welcome Brian!

Just what we need, another BRIAN! How many do we have now?

It might make a nice wall clock or end table; good luck in your search for the real thing, you will find one and be much happier!!!

Sheena, Brian could hang it till it's dead, I suppose.

elysrand · Post by **elysrand** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 3:03 am

Now there's a man in the midst of his morning sugar rush

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain, Brian!

Good morning Jeffrey, happy caffeine to you (as I happily slurp my second cup)!!

beatlefreak · Post by **beatlefreak** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 3:11 am

It's a shame that this auction got through. Possibly the seller was savvy enough to list it while RIC was on vacation, and not watching as closely?

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 9:55 am

I'd thought that too, Kris. Always someone "pushing the envelope".

Brian, let up know how your efforts for a refund go.