Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I see now that R tailpieces are no longer available as a spare. You have to now exchange old for new. I've got a few Ricks and sometimes think - that would look great with a vibrato on it or an R tailpiece. It would be nice to be able to order spares as you would for any other manufacturer. Likewise, I've got 3 old Ricks missing the vibrato arm. I can by a new unit just for the arm, which is just daft? I don't want to forge guitars - I just want my spares. I'm sure that there's a shrewd company in the far east that will start making 'Rickenbacker style' spares if Rickenbacker won't supply them. I suppose the logical conclusion will be that Rickenbacker will stop supplying all parts eventually. What then? Stop supplying guitars??? Does anybody really confuse a bastardised Tokai copy for the real thing? Come on guys - sort it out.

I believe you can still get the trapeize tailpiece without an exchange.

I don't like the exchange thing anyway. in my opinion, most people who buy a rickenbacker, if they're spending that much on a guitar, will be able to tell a real one from a copy. R tailpiece or not.

the policy on tailpieces won't really stop tokai or any other manufacturers from trying to copy the guitar... if you see a tokai with an "R" tailpiece, chances are you can still tell its not a rickenbacker.

My point exactly Andrew. Starving the market of genuine spares only promotes copies and reproductions to fulfill demand. Surely the exact opposite of what Rickenbacker would want????

I say, if they want to irradicate copies all together, they need to be insanely tough on suing them out of business. and, rickenbacker should try to get its name into more guitar shops via economy models... like how Fender has Squire, and Gibson has Epiphone. look at Ford - they even have Mercury.

stopping them from buying R-tailpieces to shove on thier ****** copies won't stop them from selling the guitars with "twisted scissors" tailpieces.

I have to admit, I own a copy, only because I'm a student and I honestly cannot afford a real ric. I've rebuilt most of the guitar, so the sound is thanks to my work. I'd never just go buy a copy and play it though... I would've much rather spent say $500 on an "economy rickenbacker" than $500 on a copy ($100 guitar + $400 worth of work/parts).

Its kinda my feeling that RIC doesnt want it's name associated with cheap guitars and they seem to be doing pretty good as a niche product.

To me, putting 400 into a 100 guitar is more expensive then saving for a nice used RIC for 1000 dollars.

as to the parts: if it helps reduce copies, great. what do you do with a spare R anyway? If not, Im sure the parts will be available in the future.

JP

Forget an "economy Rickenbacker". It's not gonna happen, period.

The design of the R tailpiece is trademarked. RIC has every right to take whatever action necessary to prevent it from being put on anything other than a Rickenbacker. It's sad that it's necessary to have an exchange program to protect it, but if they feel it's necessary, I support them. The world is full of intellectual property thieves.

I agree Dave. Perhaps because a number of mayor manufacturers have not protected their trademarks over the years, the guitar buying community sees little harm in passing off imitations as the real thing. It is easy to fool first time buyers. I give RIC full marks for holding the line.

I do respect their decision to do what they're doing with the R tailpiece - I don't want to see copies either, but I don't think it'll really stop anyone... I've seen people sell them on eBay or take them off of real Ric's still, you know? plus who's to stop the copy makers from making fake R tailpieces...? hopefully if they start doing that they get shut down fast.

You have to admire Rickenbacker for remaining a small indepedant manufacturer. I'm sure they have been offered vast sums to sell out in the past. And I suppose you have to love what you do, not to be tempted to take the money and run. And I think that shows in the final product. It's sad that they have to take drastic measures to protect their brand - but that's the way of the world these days. I've been playing Rickenbackers for over 25 years and things have always been the same. They've always been hard to get hold of, so I shouldn't get so depressed when I can't order what I want. I'd love to order a 1993, a 360F, a 4005 but it's never going to happen. In the early 80's there was a mapleglo 360/12 in Chappels of Bond Street - and that was it for the UK! So I'm used to having to wait 9 months or a year for a guitar. Searching for months/ years for a particular model and I guess that's part of the fun in a way? Who's to say, if you could go down to your local store and pick up a 4005 or a 360F some of the excitement wouldn't be there. I'm sure one day you'll be able to order parts you want without a problem, in the meantime I just want a few accent vibrato arms and an R tailpiece to restore my babys back to their former glory. I'll keep trying.......

Personally, I admire Rickenbacker for sticking to its principles as far as manufacturing methods and designs go. I don't think producing a cheapo low-end Ric for the masses is the answer to anything. Obviously the company's current methods have a lot to do with it reputation for quality.

That said, I wish Ric did more to get their guitars in more stores. I first fell in love with the look and sound of a Ric 40 years ago ... but only ordered my first one a week ago. In all these years I have never seen a Ric (new or used) in any of the music stores in my city.
What happens is that, you go to your local store with the idea of buying a guitar and even thinking, gee, maybe if they've got a Ric ....
As usual, no such animal in the store -- just walls full of Fenders and Gibsons and all the others. So, the guy who might have bought a Ric had it been available in the store, grabs what's available instead. If I hadn't gone the mail-order route (at the age of 55), I'd probably go to my grave never having owned one of these great guitars.
I guess it's a two-edged sword, though. To meet that kind of distribution demand, the Ric folks in California would have to move toward more automation (as in mass-production) and the thing that makes a Ric so special -- the hands-on part of the current way of producing these guitars -- would end.
So, part of me realizes that for Ric to continue as it has, mass-production a-la Gibson and Fender, will never be part of the picture. Yet, more people would probably move up to a Ric if they had them avaialble to try locally.
I guess there's no easy way around this one.

You have to admit, it's a Catch-22. If they make more, there will be more supply and the stores will have them in stock, and prices would "probably" go down.
Then the human element would be lost (or at least downgraded) and we would complain about how it used to be in the "good Ol' days" when they made them all by hand. So...let's just enjoy what we can get!

We all amaze at the prices that Rics fetch on the bay sometimes, but I suppose that the 2nd hand market is always going to be lively when you're chasing some thing that is not commonly available. There are millions of people who have never even seen a Ric in the flesh & few stores carry them in the UK & I am sure that there are large parts of the US that are the same.
The up side is that my Rics certainly get me noticed when I gig....the number of times I have been asked..'Is that a real Rickenbacker?'

Amen!