Rickenbacker Copies?

[mikethemod1992]

If this in bad taste please just say so! Ive played my fair share of Rickenbacker guitars and they're very lovely! However, their price is a tad bit outside of my limits.I recently acquired a Bradley Ric 330 copy and it is rather pleasant to play, i had to swap out a pickup for a RIC higain because of feedback issues. Its a little heavier than my telecaster but its very well built. Has anybody here owned or played a RIC copy? What are your opinions on them?

[sloop_john_b]

Love 'em. All mine are actually heavily modded Turser copies. Don't tell anybody.

[deaconblues]

Love 'em. All mine are actually heavily modded Turser copies. Don't tell anybody.

Ahh...shoulda known...

[sloop_john_b]

Ahh...shoulda known...

Explains a lot, huh Dan?

[kiramdear]

I've never even seen a Rick copy in person. They must be scarcer than the real mccoy. The ones I've seen online, all look like they'd need extensive modding before I could live with one, starting with those awful spaghetti tailpieces. Could one really make a silk purse from one of them sow's ears?

[jimk]

...Could one really make a silk purse from one of them sow's ears?

Probably. But then you'd end up with a rebuilt Rickenfaker with RiIC parts, and a total cash outlay that would go a long way to purchasing the genuine article. So why bother?

I could see taking a Warmouth body, your favorite P-90s or humbuckers, bridges, tailpieces, tuners, wiring, etc. etc and borrowing some design ideas from RIC, like both a stereo and a a mono jack for instance.

JimK

[kiramdear]

I dunno, Jim. What do the copies sell for? $500 hardware upgrades to a decent $300 copy would probably get you a nice guitar. If not a lawsuit.

I'm just playing devil's advocate here, because I never really priced one of the copies, can't get past the esthetics. They never look just right in a design sense, the ones I've seen. The design alterations they make always stick in my eye. I've already got an cheap fender copy (that plays sweetly), so I'm saving my dough for something that will really please me on a few levels.

My perspective is only as a player and a consumer. I like a guitar to look and play and sound great. My cheaper copy guitars don't really please me but they were what I could afford when I needed them. Now that I have some really great guitars the less favored ones will eventually be traded or given away.

[bails]

If this in bad taste please just say so

It's better to state it plain and clear than to skirt the issue.

Rickenbacker copies are illegal because they infringe a number of Rickenbacker held trademarks.
Whether they are honestly described as a copies, or whether they are fraudulently passed off as real Rickenbackers, has no bearing on their legality. Their existence alone is evidence of the crime because their design has been stolen from the rightful owner.

Using the abundance of Gibson and Fender copies as a defence does not hold water because Gibson and Fender do not actually have the same rights to their original designs as RIC does to theirs. Many Gibson and Fender designs have passed into the public domain - mostly because they didn't defend them when they should have.

Many people on this forum have justified dealing in illegal copies for various reasons such as Rickenbackers are too expensive, too scarce or for whatever other reason people who break the law always have. Almost no one who joins this forum is aware of the legalities of Rickenbacker copies (mainly due to the mistaken Gibson/Fender defence noted above), and even many veteran members still incorrectly think the issue is related to fraud, which it is not. No one will hold this simple misunderstanding against a member when they first join, because it's happened to the majority of us.
Bails's Prediction of the week: Someone on this very forum will post a response to my above statement justifying why they think it's okay to break the law. They will most likely produce some claim that they not being fraudulent nor ripping anybody off, and therefore they think it's OK. They will probably go further to make the false generalisation that everybody illegally downloads music from the internet, or that my actions are a result of snobbery rather than the common human decency of following the law.

[deaconblues]

There's a spot in the RRF Post Hall of Fame for that one, Mark.

[jimk]

I dunno, Jim. What do the copies sell for? $500 hardware upgrades to a decent $300 copy would probably get you a nice guitar. If not a lawsuit.

I'm just playing devil's advocate here, because I never really priced one of the copies, can't get past the esthetics. They never look just right in a design sense, the ones I've seen. The design alterations they make always stick in my eye. I've already got an cheap fender copy (that plays sweetly), so I'm saving my dough for something that will really please me on a few levels.

My perspective is only as a player and a consumer. I like a guitar to look and play and sound great. My cheaper copy guitars don't really please me but they were what I could afford when I needed them. Now that I have some really great guitars the less favored ones will eventually be traded or given away.

Oh I quite agree with everything you've said; the esthetics of Ricks vs. fakers and all.

I've played a few bargain/student model electrics. The worst of the lot were a decisive turn-off. The rest merely bored me. Whether it's a bargain guitar or a high-end guitar, I want to be inspired, and I want the guitar feel right, look right, and allow me to get it to sound right.

JimK

[kiramdear]

I wouldn't disagree with a thing that Mark has written. And I'll add that I wish RIC all success in protecting their property and the value of their name and products.

But I will act as consumer and musician in the market place. I don't believe it's illegal to buy or own a fake rick; please correct me if I'm wrong, but until they are pulled from the shelves they remain a viable consumer option. I abhor every one I've ever seen, is why I won't buy one. I don't feel obliged to act in RIC's behalf when I make a purchase choice. I need to choose my battles a little closer to home.

That's just me, and I offer no judgements on other consumers faced with the same choices and imperatives. The people producing fake Ricks is another matter. I think they do themselves and RIC a big disrespect.

[winston]

Michael I strongly doubt that you will find anyone here who owns a Rickenbacker copy. Most of us that have tried to play a copy will tell you that they do not compare on any level.

BTW. If this thread starts heading where threads of this subject matter usually go, it will be summarily deleted. I am just serving fair warning..........

[bails]

until they are pulled from the shelves they remain a viable consumer option.

That argument equally applies to hard drugs:

"until all the dealers are pulled from the streets, crack cocaine remains a viable consumer option"

If you buy or sell a Rickenbacker copy,
whether you ever get prosecuted or not,
whether you know it or not,
whether it's labelled a copy or not,
or
whether you justify it to yourself or not,
you are illegally infringing a number of RIC's trademark.

I don't justify stealing because I just don't steal. I do however pay the price for others who steal, because I'm the one who pays RIC's lawyers.

[antipodean]

Hey Bails! You're a snob! Everyone downloads music illegally, why can't we buy "illegal" guitars!!!!!!! Property is theft man!!!!! Intellectual property is intellectual theft!!!!











Just kidding! Nice to know I can still read fine print!

[bails]

I get it...

"Hay Bales"