Clones
Moderator: jingle_jangle
Clones
Clones of classic Fender and Marshall amps seem to be a dime a dozen. I've even seen two or three clones of Vox and Gibson amps. However, I've never seen or heard a clone of an Rickenbacker amp. Has RIC protected their amps in the same manner as they have done with their guitars? Has anyone else seen or heard of a amp based upon a Rickenbacker circuit?
'96 1997 LH MG
'98 360 LH MG
'00 360/12 Carl Wilson LH FG
'07 730S Shiloh LH
'98 360 LH MG
'00 360/12 Carl Wilson LH FG
'07 730S Shiloh LH
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BlueAngel
Re: Clones
I would guess it's because they were never very popular - certainly none ever achieved 'classic' status in the same way as a Tweed Deluxe or a JTM45, or even 'alternative classics' like some Ampegs or Oranges for example (clones of which are also very rare or non-existent) - and vintage examples can still be had for less than the price of a new clone amp.... so why bother? As far as I know most of the Rickenbacker amps were not especially unusual circuits either, they were very similar to better-known models from other makers (most of which were not particularly original either - that's not a dig at Rickenbacker).
It seems to me that most of the 'cloners' stick to the simplest circuits from the most well-known companies, which is one reason I've never found them very interesting... does the world really need another 5E3 or 18W Marshall copy?
Just as an aside, I don't know of any TRUE Vox clone either - that sounds amazing, but can you think of any of the AC30-derived amps available today which has all three channels of the classic AC30/6TB replicated correctly? Including the Vib/Trem. (Other than the now-discontinued British-made AC30TBX reissue, which was built quite differently.) Or even any of the smaller amps? Most of the current Vox-inspired amps seem to be a mixture of features of several different models but with the more unusual bits (which were what gave the originals a lot of their character in my opinion) taken out.
It seems to me that most of the 'cloners' stick to the simplest circuits from the most well-known companies, which is one reason I've never found them very interesting... does the world really need another 5E3 or 18W Marshall copy?
Just as an aside, I don't know of any TRUE Vox clone either - that sounds amazing, but can you think of any of the AC30-derived amps available today which has all three channels of the classic AC30/6TB replicated correctly? Including the Vib/Trem. (Other than the now-discontinued British-made AC30TBX reissue, which was built quite differently.) Or even any of the smaller amps? Most of the current Vox-inspired amps seem to be a mixture of features of several different models but with the more unusual bits (which were what gave the originals a lot of their character in my opinion) taken out.