RIC-Made Treble PUP Bezels Available!

[RIC_FACTORY]

Reversible thumb rest... http://boutique.rickenbacker.com/BASS-P ... m1zCvn-zoc

[cassius987]

Nice!

[jps]

Good, give the competition some competition!

Yours looks better, too, Ben. Now, I just have to figure out how to use one on a 4004.

[ilan]

Other than the reversible thumb rests, how is it different from the original Tubeampology Treble Bezel?

[doctorwho]

Good, give the competition some competition!

Yours looks better, too, Ben. Now, I just have to figure out how to use one on a 4004.

+1

[aceonbass]

Other than the reversible thumb rests, how is it different from the original Tubeampology Treble Bezel?

It's less than half the price....

[ilan]

Other than the reversible thumb rests, how is it different from the original Tubeampology Treble Bezel?

It's less than half the price....

Okay but other than that? It looks almost identical, both thumb rests on the Ric product are Tubeampology's design (he offers them as two options), even the name remains - Treble Bezel. I'm sure they signed an agreement with the guy, it was his idea.

[sunsetjunk]

@Ilan
No, I wasn't contacted by Rickenbacker regarding the use of my "Treble Bezel" name or my designs. This is more a moral than legal issue in this situation.

I have been making the original Treble Bezel since 2010.
First 2 years were CNC machined and Soft touch top coated until I could save up enough money to invest in injection mold tooling.
From 2012 to present they have been injection molded.
My bezels are more expensive, but they are of extremly high quality,the price includes S&H and a life time no questions asked warranty. Any bezel can be returned or exchanged upon request, customer covers return shipping costs, a new/different version ships out quickly after I receive the returned version. No receipt necessary, just the bezel.
Each bezel is inspected, numbered and dated by me.

The black versions are molded out of a 20% Glass Filled Nylon for stiffness and durability.
The chrome plated versions are molded out of ABS and then sent off to be chrome plated, with real metal, NOT vacuum metalized, this creates a brilliant and durable metallic exoskeleton, with some shielding properties.

So basically the Original Treble Bezel offering from TubeAmpology comes is 7 unique versions to give you the cleanest and most unobtrusive asthetic for your desired application.

Chrome Plated in, Standard, Cove or Deluxe.
Black texture in, Standard, Cove or Deluxe.
4001V63/C64 in Standard only, This version comes as a kit, with spacers,and fits the Horseshoe pickups with the cover removed.

There are pictures posted in my store that can be zoomed in on to see the quality of the finish.

http://tubeampology.com/store1/4003-treble-bezels/


Quite frankly, I never thought Rickenbacker would stoop down to Chinese business ethics by copying a product design AND name. As I stated earlier, this is more a moral than legal issue.
I’ve always respected Rickenbacker’s Made in America ethos and Jim Halls efforts to curb fakes/copies. And I have always been proud to support their company by buying and playing their basses, as well as being proud to be able to design and produce a product that I believed would make their basses better for some players. All this while making sure I didn’t copy or infringe on any of rickenbackers designs when designing the Treble Bezel.
And now seeing this offering from them, using the Treble Bezel name and even some of my wording from my website describing it is very disheartening.

[ilan]

very disheartening.

Indeed.

[gregson62]

Is there a backstory to this that we are not aware of? I've been a customer of both companies and I find this generally troubling.

[bottom4]

Hmmmm. Interesting and appears very unfortunate

[daveman]

I agree with those who are disturbed by this. Not cool.

[turlu]

Same name, same design, half the price, not respectful at all for the small company that introduced it in the market. Shame, shame.

[virginplayer]

RIC copying someone else's product? Lawsuit to follow?

Oh, the irony!

[cassius987]

Frank makes very high quality bezels. The chrome versions are amazingly well made and look stunning; I am sure they will continue to sell. It would be cool if RIC could work with him on this somehow.

I was (and still am) glad to see that RIC is giving a nod to players who don't love the pickup cover, like me. Frank's bezels got us this far for some years now, and I'll keep rocking mine. I hope an amicable solution can happen.