Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi! I need to buy a black pickguard and a black nameplate for a Rickenbacker 480 (which I am hopefully buying soon). Where could I get both of these easily? Pickguardian does both? Oh, and I cannot make them myself...

Pickguardian does not make TRCs, that would be a trademark violation and Tony is an up and up kind of guy! He can make you a pickguard however.

Why is is that a pickguard can be copied and not infringe upon a trademark?

You can trademark lots of things, but the first question that is asked by the examiners involved originality. Trademarking a pickguard is not possible, however. A pickguard is eligible for a design patent, but these are notoriously difficult to protect.

The TRC has Rick's logo, and that's protected. It's part of Rick's "trade dress", or its unique corporate image, which extends to the unique shapes and appearance of its products, too.

I'm not a lawyer, so this is from personal experience.

Is my only possibility really to order them from separate places? I see Ricsrus offers nameplates trading for $45 (but they do not make pickguards). Namplate from there and pickguard from Pickguardian?

Mikko,

Nameplates are available either a) used (e.g. on eBay), or b) directly from RIC with the exchange of another original nameplate. It used to be $45 to do this; I suspect that is the process that Ricsrus is using. You might want to contact RIC directly to get the particulars of their exchange policy (like if you can exchange a white one for a black one, etc.).

If you are going to have pickguards made, be sure that the person making it will take care to position the mounting holes so that they align with the holes in the body. The generic templates are fine for shaping the guard, but the mounting holes have moved through the years, and those on the templates don't align with any pickguard I've ever made. A generic replacement guard may well require that you drill new mounting holes in your guitar.

Hi all! This is just to clarify my previous mail, which wasn't written as well as I should have. I was asked by Ricsrus to change my mail, so here goes. Ricsrus don't have any nameplate spares (due to legal reasons). They simply work with a legalized UK distributor to arrange swopping of old nameplates to replacements. So there you have it, sorry for any confusions.

Yes, I was wondering about this and reaching for the phone to call our trademark counsel in London.

By the way, there would be no problem at all for us to trademark most of our pickguard shapes under current law. However, given the variety and the fact that we don't offer such a wide replacement service (yet), it really wouldn't be cost effective. But now that you mention it, perhaps we should go ahead and do the bass and 300 series, since those are the most universal.

Hi. I mailed RIC about the possibility of exchanging my old nameplate for a new black one. Here's their answer:

"Sorry to inform you that we haven't made the 480 I a long time so any nameplate we have here might not line up with the existing holes, might
not retrofit. RIC also discontinued the black trim option awhile ago."

This is getting too difficult...is Ebay really my only choice of getting a black nameplate?

Well, no - there's always Rustoleum.

Rustoleum. Good for lawn furniture, barbecues and NOTHING else.

Mikko, is your guitar also lawn furniture? Or a barbecue, perhaps?