Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

It isn't too often you see someone performing with a fake Ric, it's a Tom Petty tribute band called the Wildflowers. I would think a tribute to an icon like Tom Petty who is synonymous with Rickenbacker guitars would at least get a real Ric. Just thought I'd share.

Some people just can't afford 'em. It's easy in our little world here to forget that.

jdogric12 wrote:Some people just can't afford 'em. It's easy in our little world here to forget that.

I can completely understand that, I really can. I almost put that in my post, but I decided not to. I didn't mean to sound like I was taking a shot at him, it's just been a while since I've seen a fake Ric on a stage and thought I'd share it. They don't sound bad, his voice is a little higher but definitely in the style of Petty.

If I were in a Beatles tribute band I would not spend two to three thousand dollars on a Gibson J160. I'd use the Epiphone 160. That guitar has the look and really can get the Gibson sound.

I agree about the Epiphone J-160.
Only thing I ran into is that I had to get the pole pieces on that P-100 up to monolithic heights to get any useable signal, personally. (Could just be my own specimen, I dunno.)
(Sorry for the drift.)

Tubwompus wrote:I agree about the Epiphone J-160.
Only thing I ran into is that I had to get the pole pieces on that P-100 up to monolithic heights to get any useable signal, personally. (Could just be my own specimen, I dunno.)

That isn't just your specimen those raised pole pieces happened to. The first Epi 160 I got had the same problem. Was in a music store, received a brand new Epi 160 that I ordered and and went to play it....no electric sound. We raised the pole pieces to Twin Towers height in order to get sound. Needless to say I did not accept that guitar. The one I have now is fine.

And to stay on the topic, yes, I have seen Beatle tribute bands use the Epi 160, so "Tom Petty" using a fake Ric isn't really a big deal. Remember, IT ISN'T REALLY TOM PETTY! I guess some people forget that.

There is a local Rush tribute that uses one of those recent Chinese awful 4080 copies. But with originals being $10K-20K that's a little more forgiveable!

I don't mean to be a cork sniffer here or anything but the way I see it, using a budget model is one thing, using a knockoff is another...

I can even understand and appreciate luthier made tributes, but Chinese knockoffs really make me frown. Even if I hadn't the means to purchase a Rick or an American strat I wouldn't buy a fake. I'd stick to Squiers, Epiphones and alike...

Yea I usually really try not to judge, but I can't stand the Chinese knock-offs either. I can understand to a point a kid loving the design and not being able to afford it, and getting one until they can afford a real one. I can understand a struggling musician and a parent with kids, they're not cheap but they are worth the money where the MIC one probably isn't. The funny thing is I was looking for images of a custom colored pickguard on a 620 (the image results for "rickenbacker 620 custom gives me half Chinese copies) and stumbled on this.

To each their own. I don’t think it’s any different than 60’s musicians using Teiscos or the like, 70’s using lawsuit instruments. To those saying buy a budget model, you simply can’t with a Ric (which I really respect that they’ve never gone that route). Fender has Squier, Gibson has Epiphone, Gretsch Has Electromatic and so on. All of those have models ranging from $100-<. The cheapest Ric new comes in well over $1k. I personally wouldn’t play a knock off, but if he can make it sound good to each their own.

Tommy wrote:If I were in a Beatles tribute band I would not spend two to three thousand dollars on a Gibson J160. I'd use the Epiphone 160. That guitar has the look and really can get the Gibson sound.

Off topic....I noticed that this guitar is no longer produced

rickinroma wrote:

Tommy wrote:

Off topic....I noticed that this guitar is no longer produced

Yeah, and that's a shame, really. It was a very affordable rendition of the Gibson model. It supplied both the look and the sound of the Gibson and its price gave everybody an opportunity to strum the chords to "I Should Have Known Better" with a smile on their face. The darn $600 guitar really did sound like the records.

I swapped out the knobs on mine and monkeyed around with various string sets until I got that Beatley sound (complete with a pinging G string.)

RicUpNorth wrote:To each their own. I don’t think it’s any different than 60’s musicians using Teiscos or the like, 70’s using lawsuit instruments. To those saying buy a budget model, you simply can’t with a Ric

One of the world's top band's, Joy Division, was known for many things --- one in particular was their bass player and his sound. Well, the bassist Peter Hook used a Ric copy - a Hondo II - to create one of rock's best and most recognizable bass tones.

Knockoffs or budget models really can be fantastic substitutes for the real thing.

Yeah, you know... or... THE PLAYER.

Tommy wrote:

RicUpNorth wrote:To each their own. I don’t think it’s any different than 60’s musicians using Teiscos or the like, 70’s using lawsuit instruments. To those saying buy a budget model, you simply can’t with a Ric

One of the world's top band's, Joy Division, was known for many things --- one in particular was their bass player and his sound. Well, the bassist Peter Hook used a Ric copy - a Hondo II - to create one of rock's best and most recognizable bass tones.

Knockoffs or budget models really can be fantastic substitutes for the real thing.

That's the slight difference: a Rick-like model by a legit company isn't the same as a knock off, a fake guitar. There's the principle of the thing, the way I see it.