Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

OOps!
Better pic:

"If you had a faker guitar you could bandsaw the two & make your own version of the Mike Rutherford doubleneck!"


Dale is your band saw sharpened yet???

I did say "fakers", Dave!
You're gonna give someone a heart failure with suggestive pics like that!

Band saw and duct tape should do the trick, right? (Yes, I have read through that amazing thread.)

But why stop at two necks -- why not three on one body? For spacing purposes, you could even make the middle one left-handed.

Hey. A '77 MIJ Ibanez bass, whatever else it might look like (and however horrible, improper, illegal -- though I feel the need to remind everyone that the Ibanez in particular was not "illegal" until it crossed the Pacific -- or "etcetera" that may be) is probably a darn good INSTRUMENT. Keep that it mind.

MIJ 70s Ibanez "Faker" basses have sold on Ebay recently (when set up for Buy-It-Now and when selling before the "long arm" appears to strike the auctions down) for as much as $700. I'm certainly not condoning taking it (faking it) to Ebay. I'm sharing the info so you'll have some sense of the relative value of what you've got.

Why stop at three?

That's not strictly true as many of our products have enjoyed trademark protection even in Japan since some point in the 1970's. The difference is that the Japanese government in that era did nothing to assist those dealing with infringers and, in my opinion, encouraged an "export at any price" policy.

In the case of our products, those few eBay sales of "fakers" that make it through to completion are often later rescinded as we file even against completed auctions whenever they are discovered. If nothing else, the seller's account is flagged by eBay.

I say keep the bass. You never know when you might need a beater. Plus, it's your first bass. I regret selling my first bass, even though there wasn't anything special about it whatsoever. It was just a Washburn XB-100, from back when they used to make 'em in Korea.
I say keep it.

The legal/ethical situation is part of the reason I asked for feedback. I don't want to open a can of worms, but while I know it's not OK to sell a faker, I was curious what is OK to do with it. If everyone thought the right thing to do would be to turn it in, I'd probably do that.

That's not a bad idea at all, really. That way it would be off the street so to speak. That would be the most altruistic thing to do, at least the way I see it.

Hang onto it. Your kid will probably catch the music bug, like mine did. Here's my kid at about 3 years old with me 1979 4001...

"Here's my kid at about 3 years old with me 1979 4001... "

Takes a licken, and keeps on ticken.. Seriously though, I say keep it. I recently found and referbed a faker, its up in our studio for my guitar player to do scratch tracks/ideas on. He likes it. Sounds pretty good with Pyrmids on it. LOL strings are worth more than the bass IMO, but its not getting the Townsend/Hendrix treatment any time soon, nor is it getting a RIC trc, or going up for sale anywhere...ever. Funny though, I still feel a little dirty just playing it.
Keep it.

Jake, there are certain sacrifices you HAVE to bring in order to get a membership in this forum.
One of them, Steve Cooper just mentioned earlier.

I'd say keep it or give it to a kid. Breaking an instrument (especially a fine quality instrument) just for the fact it's a faker is not a very good thing, imo (especially given it was your first instrument & perhaps holds some special memories). Um, but what do i know?..

Keep it you never know if your Ric ever needs a re fret you will have something to play on while you wait.Put it in your wardrobe and forget about it.