light_my_lucky wrote:With all due respect Paul. Just because I do not post frequently does not mean I do not read the forum regularly. If my post seemed venomous, it certainly is not directed towards you, or anyone else in general. I do take umberage with the fact that many feel they have to tear something down to build something else up. I also take issue with the fact that if a person was raised on a band such as Kiss and opposed to The Beatles (a victim of the time I was raised) then one must not posess an evolved sensibility. Alot of you met me at MARF III and know that I am not one to go off on a tiraide. I have an enormous amount of respect for the people on this board. When we "dogpile on the rabbit" and ridicule something that while overpriced, takes a craftsman many hours to create, simply because we don't care for the artist or that the instrument is not a Rickenbacker it makes us look petty. I feel the same when I visit other boards and people dimiss Rics as old school or a one trick pony. Artistry should be given a wide berth and not only be viewed with a narrow mind. Paul I have viewed your work up close and you are a true artist. You also carry the torch for brands other than Rickenbacker. For that I salute you and would never mean to wish you offense. I felt that your post was to point out the absurd price for new yet hevily abused guitar, quite the antithesis of the service you provide.
That being said FAKE RICKENBACKERS DO SUCK!
Have a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!
jingle_jangle wrote:light_my_lucky wrote:Do we feel better about ourselves for picking on anything Non Rickenbacker. I happen to think it is a unique item in tribute to a musician that was and still is very influential. It is severly overpriced as is any tribute model If Ric offered a reliced model that the Fab Four used, I'm sure several fourm members might jump at the chance to purchase one.
And no I don't still live home with my mother.
Darryl, you apparently haven't read enough of my posts here to comment from an informed position. You should probably dig a bit deeper.
I did not feel the post was directed to me personally, Darryl, but rather that it was a scattershot, "shotgun" generalized post that missed its mark, as it was directed at a point nobody occupied at the time. (The idea that we were elevating one brand over another.)
Not true. It's possible to believe that Rickenbacker makes the best-crafted production guitars on the planet, without taking it into one's head that all other (or, for that matter,
any other) brand is junk. One conclusion does not imply its opposite.
On a personal note, I've said many times that I love Fenders. I'm enthralled by the tradition, fascinated by Leo Fender, his personality, and the personalities of those with whom he surrounded himself. I own a nice selection of Fenders and love their playability and sound; each has a personality and the effect that Fenders have had on the musical landscape is, in a word, sweeping.
My issue, (and I know I'm not alone on this) is the cynicism of Fender's marketing folks (and I know marketing departments--I worked in the toy and promotional fields for decades) and their P. T. Barnum regard for their customers. I've said this many times, and gone into much greater detail on a number of occasions.
This guitar, and the rest of Fender's heavily-relicked celebrity replicas, are, in fact, anti-craft. There are tricks, and probably some skills, involved in beating the royal doo-doo out of a new guitar, but, in fact it's a convenient way not to have to keep high standards and still make high profits.
If you saw a new Strat sitting in a goodwill shop with all the scars that this, the Jeff Beck, SRV, and other celebrity relics show, and had no knowledge of the celebrity connection, you would probably give $300.00 for that instrument, and would probably think something like, "What a shame--can't people take better care of their stuff?" and buy it for parts.
It takes years, literally, of hard work and devotion to learn how to build and/or finish a guitar to a high standard. Moreover, about 80% of the work is spent getting 10% of the perceived value, fine-tuning the things that separate the merely competent from the jaw-droppingly gorgeous that gives a customer excellent value for his/her hard-earned dollars.
To equate the "tricks" used in turning a nice guitar (do relics start out as rejects? is a question I've contemplated but never asked anyone but myself, incidentally) into a beater, with the craft and dedication it takes to produce a thing of beauty that is a replica of nothing, but an original, is doing any real craftsman a disservice. Not to put too fine a point on it, relicking might be "craft", but it's "craft" on the order of decoupage or macramé, and will not ever cross the border into "high craft", and never approach "art".
To turn around and put a famous name on it, issue it in a limited number, and set ridiculous prices for a star-struck and gullible public to throw money away, is cynicism and manipulation of the highest (lowest) order. I was in the collector's plate business back in the '70s as an art director, and I know the subtext well; this type of marketing is, simply, flim-flam hucksterism.
All this is in exclusion of the "artist" or his own history, because to Fender's marketing, the artist is a tool whose name is used to sell overpriced trash. Whether I admire Yngwie (and I hold his speed and imagination in awe, believe me) or SRV (again, awe and admiration: could anybody else render "Little Wing" with such white soul?) or Jeff Beck, Clapton, or any of the artists who've rented their names to Fender for exploitation, doesn't figure in the equation. In my eyes, they are greats who have chosen to cheapen themselves in order to fatten their wallets, but they still get my respect because nobody's perfect.
We're not running Fenders down. But this is rotten goat masquerading as fresh lamb.
Now I feel I've given this its due, once again. It has the feel of preaching the gospel to a mix of believers and those who will never "get" it, but I have been clear, and that's all I can hope for.
