Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Wow, that's a lot of money for that guitar. Love it, hate it, sue it, whatever floats your boat. It's really about what inspires you to play innit?

donnellbw wrote:
It seems that there is a certain intolerant prejudice (the Copyright issue aside) among the RIC purists that borders on arrogance. Are people really defining part of their lives by a
certain blend of wood and metal parts that come from Santa Ana only? I think that this snobby negative derision of "lessor" brands reveals an insecurity in some players that bears
some introspection.

I couldn't agree with you more. All we're talking about is wood and metal. Yes, Rickenbackers look and sound good, but if you ever look at those pictures from any of the Rick confluences you'll mostly just see middle age white guys who still have a "Beatle fantasy". And there's nothing wrong with that. Hell, I've got seven Ricks myself, but I have other guitars that sound just as good and cost a lot less and have no connection with those four mop tops. There are way too many Rick snobs.

epitreture wrote:

donnellbw wrote:
It seems that there is a certain intolerant prejudice (the Copyright issue aside) among the RIC purists that borders on arrogance. Are people really defining part of their lives by a
certain blend of wood and metal parts that come from Santa Ana only? I think that this snobby negative derision of "lessor" brands reveals an insecurity in some players that bears
some introspection.

I couldn't agree with you more. All we're talking about is wood and metal. Yes, Rickenbackers look and sound good, but if you ever look at those pictures from any of the Rick confluences you'll mostly just see middle age white guys who still have a "Beatle fantasy". And there's nothing wrong with that. Hell, I've got seven Ricks myself, but I have other guitars that sound just as good and cost a lot less and have no connection with those four mop tops. There are way too many Rick snobs.

I suppose we could all have a little snoberry in ourselves, for one thing or another. Just like some people have a tendency to classify others without even knowing who they are or what they're about.

epitreture wrote:

donnellbw wrote: but if you ever look at those pictures from any of the Rick confluences you'll mostly just see middle age white guys who still have a "Beatle fantasy".

Hell, I've got seven Ricks myself, but I have other guitars that sound just as good and cost a lot less and have no connection with those four mop tops. There are way too many Rick snobs.

Amen.

lovecity wrote:

epitreture wrote:

donnellbw wrote: but if you ever look at those pictures from any of the Rick confluences you'll mostly just see middle age white guys who still have a "Beatle fantasy".

Hell, I've got seven Ricks myself, but I have other guitars that sound just as good and cost a lot less and have no connection with those four mop tops. There are way too many Rick snobs.

Amen.

Oh please sir! Can I have one to surgery, sir?

JimK

donnellbw wrote:It seems that there is a certain intolerant prejudice (the Copyright issue aside) among the RIC purists that borders on arrogance.

I can't speak for others, but for me the issue is the trademark / trade dress (not copyright) issue - period. It never ceases to amaze me how so many people think it's OK to just copy the designs owned by someone else. And not only that, but many of them feel it's their right to do so. Just stop and think it over - If you owned a unique design (for anything), and were marketing it. Then someone came along, copied your design and started selling it. How would you feel? It's just plain wrong - It's theft.

donnellbw wrote:I think that this snobby negative derision of "lessor" brands reveals an insecurity in some players that bears
some introspection.

I feel that the snobby "What does it hurt to make copies?" attitude of some players should bear even closer introspection. I wouldn't own a Rick copy, and I don't like seeing them. But then, I've never liked the Gibson or Fender copies, and wouldn't own one of them either.

donnellbw wrote:I remember reading a post way back where someone had seen McGuinn live at a club. He said that Roger played nice crackly, sparkly electric 12 and enthralled the room. Come to find out Roger was playing a Guild 12 - but nobody threw him out because it wasn't a RIC!

I doubt that the Guild was masquerading as a Rickenbacker.

I dont normally comment on fake rics but this looked so bad I couldnt help myself. If it sounds great Maybe it could be played in a big brown paper bag?

J

Kris covers this pretty well, here.

There's some confusion about "snobbery" in this context. At its simplest, this is an issue of trademark infringement and intellectual property theft.

This has been approached dozens of times and in hundreds of posts. Anyone thinking that this is "snobbery" would do well to use the SEARCH feature and do some reading up on this topic before making accusations of fellow Forumites.

In any event, this thing is butt-ugly. These 360 copies always are. I've got a file folder filled with them; not one nice one in the bunch.

Is anyone discussing the arrogance it takes to do a bad (illegal) copy of a legendary (protected) design, or to offer one for sale with claims that the counterfeit looks/plays/sounds better than the original? This is theft, plain and simple, coupled with aesthetic confusion.

epitreture wrote:

donnellbw wrote:
It seems that there is a certain intolerant prejudice (the Copyright issue aside) among the RIC purists that borders on arrogance. Are people really defining part of their lives by a
certain blend of wood and metal parts that come from Santa Ana only? I think that this snobby negative derision of "lessor" brands reveals an insecurity in some players that bears
some introspection.

I couldn't agree with you more. All we're talking about is wood and metal. Yes, Rickenbackers look and sound good, but if you ever look at those pictures from any of the Rick confluences you'll mostly just see middle age white guys who still have a "Beatle fantasy". And there's nothing wrong with that. Hell, I've got seven Ricks myself, but I have other guitars that sound just as good and cost a lot less and have no connection with those four mop tops. There are way too many Rick snobs.

Well then, don't look at the pictures! And i hope you win the auction! It's all yours!
This guitar doesn't even fit under the title "lessor" brands.
Come down to Oz and have a beer with us snobs!

Ive got chinese strat copy called Manito and it plays real well and apart from the name on the headstock you would think it is a fender. Good looks and great sound.

The fake ric fails at the first fence .It looks like someone tried to make it from memory.

You know, it's funny, I was reading this thread while I was strumming my '69 Gibson SG Special, watching the thread follow the typical "Rickenfaker" course.

Some one usually steps in and suggests how the faker ought to be burned / smashed / stuck in a blender / jettisoned into outer space.

Next come the "hey, it's not so bad / why all the fuss / who's it going to hurt / it probably sounds okay" comments by others.

At this point other Forum members attempt to explain (again) why the Rickenbacker trademark infringement issue is important and why RIC goes to great lengths to enforce it's rights in protecting the trademarks it owns. It really has nothing to do with snobbery or arrogance at all. If you spend the time to understand this topic, and to really appreciate just how hard and how resolute RIC pursues those who create Rickenfakers, you'd understand why many of us would like to see Rickenfakers banished.

Having attended a number of confluences on both sides of the US and facilitated a few held here in Australia, my observations about the attendees are:-

1. They have a shared passion for Rickenbacker guitars and the Rickenbacker brand.
2. Most play and continue to own other brands of guitars. I have a number of Fenders and Gibsons in my collection.
3. Most share a love of Beatles music, just like 80% of the western population.
4. Melissa, Kira, Alisha, Diane, Tammy, Robyn, Sarah, Alison (all Forum members) and the partners of other male Forum members, who join in the fun at Rickenbacker confluences, would probably disagree with the "middle aged white guy Beatle fantasy" description.
5. For most attendees, the friendships and relationships which are fostered at confluences become just as important, if not more important, as the passion for Rickenbacker guitars.

I would encourage anyone who has not yet been to a confluence to make the effort to attend one if at all possible, and you'll see what I mean. They're not exclusive events....just the opposite...they are very inclusive and it really doesn't matter whether you own one, or two , or twenty or fifty or zero Rickenbackers, you'll still be welcome.

Great post, Trotty!

I AM NOT middle aged ...yet ! AND i have absolutely no beatles fantasy going! as a matter of fact i am not much fan of beatles music - there i said it.

Did I miss the part where someone came out in this discussion and said fakes were OK? I don't think that's been the case.

Maybe once Jim's Rick gets here, we can have a 2 man Kansas City confluence.

Yeah! Let's have a K.C. area confluence. And I'm middle aged, and don't have a Beatles fantasy thang goin' either. (Do love their music, though) I just wanna plug in for a change and have [some more] fun.

JimK