Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

The triangle inlays of this one don't look legit to me. The tailpiece is an Allparts one, and identical to the Japanese fakers. I personally believe this is a faker. However the dual truss rods are quite rare on a faker if this is one. What do you guys think?

http://cgi.ebay.com/1979-Rickenbacker-4 ... 1e5c02b4f3

It looks OK to me, but I'm not a super expert. The few dual truss rod ones fakes I've seen pictures of had a completely different sort of nuts on the truss rods. Without better pictures though, it's hard to tell a lot about other things. It does look like the binding stops at the heel where the neck comes through, which is correct...

Inlays look funny. Could be the photos.

The upper strap button is in the wrong location. There is no finish on the fingerboard, which may be why the inlays look too white/clear.

I agree with Kenny and Jeffrey. Those aren't good photos. Might be a real one that's been modded and had not much TLC.

Very dark fingerboard - perhaps due to removal of the finish, and then soaking up sweat for years....

Hardware looks legit...though I'd like a look at the tuners...

It looks good to me. One thing about the position markers on the fakers; they seem centered top to bottom between the frets. On real Ricks, the markers are slightly below center. I don't see anything about this one that looks fake. The bridge looks right. It could be an Allparts tailpiece, but I think the bridge is RIC. Allparts bridges have plated saddles.

Where's the binding on the fingerboard? Also looks like the binding goes all the away around the bottom of the body. Again, poor pics don't show enough. Truss rods look like the real deal.

byu wrote:Where's the binding on the fingerboard

The seller says the binding is missing.

How can you tell that's an Allparts bridge? I sure can't.

The 4 holes of an Allparts tailpiece are a bit wider and much rounder than those of a genuine RIC tailpiece. The 2 mute pad thumb screws are slightly smaller than those of the genuine one.

Genuine:
Allparts:
I cropped and enlarged the body pic of the aforementioned eBay 4001. Look at the 4 holes.

byu wrote:Where's the binding on the fingerboard? Also looks like the binding goes all the away around the bottom of the body. Again, poor pics don't show enough. Truss rods look like the real deal.

The binding is missing from one side (G string) of the fingerboard, it's there on the other side. And the binding does not go all the way around the bottom of the body. It's a bit hard to tell since it looks almost the same color as the body paint:

Binding doesnt usually continue across the through neck section at the bottom strap button.
Looks real to me.

My $.02:

It's real. It was AZ before and has been refinished. That explains the dark fretboard and other differences. The truss thrust block and rods look Rick as does the rest of the hardware except for the bottom strap button.

I'm no expert at all but the fretboard to me is too dark even after all the consideration made above ... the fretboard color reminds me of i****z copies ...