Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

brian_l wrote:I would like to play one sometime just to see if it lives up to everything he says about it.

Generally speaking the more people make boldfaced claims of awesomeness about themselves and their work the less awesome they are--in my experience.

Isn't that the truth? Well said Joshua.

I have actually communicated a little bit with Alex Csiky (owner/creator of Zachary Guitars and he is actually a decent guy. He is definitely opinionated, but then we wouldn't be talking about him if he weren't.

There are definitely some changes I would like to see made to Rickenbacker guitars, and I even thought about having my 360 extensively modified to reflect those changes. I decided not to go through with it. Why? Because if I made all of those changes, it really wouldn't be a Rickenbacker anymore.

i would still like to try a Zachary Guitar, but you can't just order one. You have to send him a video of yourself playing guitar. Then, if he deems you worthy, he will sell you a guitar. I don't feel I should have to "audition" for the right to purchase an instrument. Alex claims he does this so his guitars will wind up with people who will truly appreciate them (understandable, since he makes all of his guitars by hand). To me, making the bold claims that he does and then refusing to sell you a guitar until you "audition" for one is akin to challenging someone to a fistfight, then when they're ready to throw down, you tell them to send you a tape of them fighting so you can see if they're even worth wasting your time to fight them.

brian_l wrote: i would still like to try a Zachary Guitar, but you can't just order one. You have to send him a video of yourself playing guitar. Then, if he deems you worthy, he will sell you a guitar. I don't feel I should have to "audition" for the right to purchase an instrument. Alex claims he does this so his guitars will wind up with people who will truly appreciate them (understandable, since he makes all of his guitars by hand). To me, making the bold claims that he does and then refusing to sell you a guitar until you "audition" for one is akin to challenging someone to a fistfight, then when they're ready to throw down, you tell them to send you a tape of them fighting so you can see if they're even worth wasting your time to fight them.

Nah, I just couldn't lower myself to ... there's no shortage of great guitars in the world, nor apparently of prima donna builders either. BTW the 480 one is his best design. It may not be a copy but it's a rip nonetheless IMHO.

brian_l wrote: i would still like to try a Zachary Guitar, but you can't just order one. You have to send him a video of yourself playing guitar. Then, if he deems you worthy, he will sell you a guitar. I don't feel I should have to "audition" for the right to purchase an instrument. Alex claims he does this so his guitars will wind up with people who will truly appreciate them (understandable, since he makes all of his guitars by hand). To me, making the bold claims that he does and then refusing to sell you a guitar until you "audition" for one is akin to challenging someone to a fistfight, then when they're ready to throw down, you tell them to send you a tape of them fighting so you can see if they're even worth wasting your time to fight them.

C'mon. The guy's a

Understandable, because he makes them by hand? Why does this make him judge and jury over your musical prowess? Sorry, Brian. I don't understand your excusing of this, unless it's Stockholm Syndrome, somehow transmitted through phone lines.

I am not excusing anything. Allow me to clarify. I said that I don't blame the guy for wanting his instruments to find a good home, but I don't agree with his method of doing it. As I said in my post, I don't feel I should have to "audition" for the right to purchase an instrument. So no "Stockholm Syndrome" here. And for what it's worth, I won't be sending him any tapes of my playing EVER. There are plenty of builders who would me more than happy to sell me an instrument without being a "judge and jury" of my playing.

Absolutely, Brian. Sorry I let my blind rage overcome my reading abilities!

No worries, Paul. I can understand your rage and I agree with you. Being a luthier yourself, this kind of bold arrogance on the part of another luthier has to get under your skin more than most.

Besides, musical prowess is entirely subjective. There are people who think that Steve Vai is the greatest and Johnny Ramone is a no-talent hack, or vice-versa. To me, this kind of thinking on the part of a luthier is a total cop-out. Just make some incredible claims, sell your guitars to a few minions who think everything you do is great, then when challenged to back up said claims by anyone else, you make a player "audition" for the right to purchase a guitar. Most players wouldn't lower themselves to being treated this way, so the claims never really get disproved, and the arrogance continues. Kind of like the fistfight analogy that I posted earlier, it's easy to claim to be the baddest cat on the block when you never accept a challenge that could prove otherwise.

I think the Zachary version of the 480 looks very good, but man oh man what imbecilic attitude about Rickenbacker on his page.

So at the time he was a trumpet player and owned a cheap acoustic, never had an electric guitar, and he buys the Rickenbacker, and suddenly he's an expert on guitars? He dings the Rick because of the fretboard varnish and the "plastic-like" body finish, which are matter of personal preferences, not an indication of poor quality. Same with the neck width - personal preference. So the guitar didn't suit him. No reason to say Rickenbackers are poorly-built (the neck movement is the only quality issue he mentions). Pickups weak? Plenty of guitarists made fantastic music with low-output pickups before high-output overdrive became the norm in some musical niches.

I just have to shake my head at a guy who buys his first electric and then claims it's unplayable trash - because HE CAN"T PLAY IT.

The remark about Lennon made me wonder if this all was just a troll or parody. Seriously, I believe the world appreciated "Love Me Do" much more than they would have some aimless shredding.

In summary, the only question is: Alex - knob, or tool?

if you think what he says about Rickenbacker is bad, just browse his site a little bit and read what he has to say about PRS, Anderson and Taylor.

As I said before, it appears that he builds some pretty nice guitars, and from the e-mails I received from him when I inquired about a Zachary guitar that I found used on Craiglist (I wanted him to verify if the seller/guitar were legit; it turns out they were, but the seller sold the guitar on E-Bay before I could even inquire about it), he actually seemed like a pretty decent guy, but I can't say I agree with his outright bashing of other brands just because they don't build guitars "his" way. I do agree with his views on some of their business practices (NOT Rickenbacker, the other brands he talks about) but that is another thread entirely.

That page screams that somebody didn't get enough hugs. And FWIW, IMO the headstock on that Z-480 is hideous.

On the guitar in the OP, it struck me as more Mossrite-ish than Ric-ish. Artistically, I guess there's only so many ways to style a double cutaway guitar...so it's pretty understandable for some designs to remind you of others.

Bill

As I wrote Brian in a PM, it's not really rage; I save my rage for really important stuff. But the guy does get under my skin.

Brian shared with me a note that Zach sends to anyone with enough temerity to actually ask him for building tips. It shows an awful lot of denial...seems like Zach's whole life is one big defense mechanism. His philosophy (a mix of weird, soppy Christianity, sophomoric cynicism, and self-aggrandizement) is stamped on every random, cluttered page. I'm reminded of Ed Roma on steroids (or too much Valium...).

The website is loaded with more of the same ****. All this from a typically self-taught, arrogantly ignorant, close-minded worker bee with very little originality, aesthetically speaking. Besides ripping off the lovely Rick 4000 body style for his 480 knockoff, he's also done Supro/Dano with this one, managing to make is so clumsy-looking and ill-proportioned that I just shook my head:



Speaking of heads, that headstock "design" has got to be one of the worst I've seen. Even old Neds are better, and they didn't have any at all!

You hit the nail on the head, Paul! Very well said.

If I could find it, I would be tempted to post one of his e-mail replies to me, as well as what I wrote him. I started out by filling him in on a little bit of Rickenbacker history, telling him that Roger Rossmeisl designed the 4000 series basses that the 480 is based on, etc. I also said a few things to him that I knew would "trip his trigger" and as predicted, he did not disappoint. His full-blown rant about Rickenbacker and the people who play them was ludicrous, ill-imformed and just plain offensive. Trust me, his comments about Rickenbacker on his R480 page pale in comparison to what he wrote to me. He told me he would post his "findings" about the "typical RIck player" on his webpage. If that should happen, I will try harder to find my e-mail communications with him and I will post them here. You almost have to wonder if the guy truly feels this way, or if he just posts these these things on his site to get a rise out of people.

By the way, my apologies to everyone for causing this thread to go off on a tangent. First it was Donnie Vie from Enuff Z' Nuff, now it's Zachary Guitars.

This is one of the things I have always loved about this forum: you just never know where a thread will end up!

Vive la drift!