Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hey,

Not really as up on the Rickenbacker bass models, as I am with the guitars, but I just came across this ad, and was wondering if it is a legit bass, or a fake?

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-guitar/ottawa/r ... nFlag=true

Looks real

Looks like the real deal to me.

cheyenne wrote:Looks like the real deal to me.

Most definitely, I concur. Nice looking Fireglo!

Real

The way the headstock is in perfect even 3 pieces points to real. Fakes are usually solid color to hide the no 3 peice headstock or bad uneven 3 joints. I've seen some companies who use thier own name on a copy use transparent finishes but I suspect it's because they aren't trying to pass off as the real thing..

My vote is Real...

That's real. I havent seen a faked one of those (yet), and they always screw up a proportion or detail someplace.

That's a real 4004Cii "Cheyenne II". Don't think there are any fakes of this model, although I have seen a few fakes of the 4004LK Lemmy model.

Webpirate wrote:The way the headstock is in perfect even 3 pieces points to real. Fakes are usually solid color to hide the no 3 peice headstock or bad uneven 3 joints.

These headstocks aren't 3 pieces of wood, and they are painted. Hmm?
The price on that Cii in Canada is way over the top, isn't it, even for Canadian $$$?

To be clear, nearly all Rick headstocks are three-piece. Exceptions would be 4000, 4001, 4002, and 4005 from early 1972 to the early '80s which were five piece (two wings, center shadua strip and both sides of the neck around the shedua strip. Also the early 4005 with a wider walnut?/shedua? strip.

Then, there are the two-piece necks (not including the headstock wings, of course). Weren't early '80s 4003 basses made with two piece necks? And of course, all modern/current 4003 and 4004 variants have a two piece neck.

IDR, when did RIC start using the two-piece necks in recent times?

Edit: typo

Yes. I err in thinking that the current neck-through construction is one piece, but it is (and has been more often than not, probably) a two-piece construction to which the "head wings" are attached.

I didn't mean to insinuate that ALL solid color painted headstocks mean it's a fake. I'm saying that the attention to detail in the even cuts in the wings point to real.
Most fakes wouldn't be matched that nicely and thats why most fakes wouldn't even attempted to put a transparent coating to expose the flaw..

Similarly, what fake would bother with a maple/walnut/maple sandwich body?

Webpirate wrote:I didn't mean to insinuate that ALL solid color painted headstocks mean it's a fake...

Just messin' with 'ya!