Help needed! Rickenbacker 4003 Bass .. COPY ?

mojojojo · Newbie Alert Joined: 01 Sep 2003 Posts: 3

Please can someone help Rolling Eyes

! I have a bass which looks like a 4003, with a straight thru neck, but no Rickenbacker badge and no other distinctive names or markings Shocked

I've searched extensively but cannot see any manufacturer of 4003 copies. Can anyone help / suggest who might have manufactured such an item, as I would like to know more about my purchase. Thanks very very much in advance Very Happy

BassMan02 · Tiger Joined: 15 May 2003 Posts: 848

You know...I think I saw a Rickenbacker copy recently...It didn't have the Ric name on it but it looked almost identical to a Rickenbacker. I don't know who puts them out. I remember hearing Rickenbacker sueing some manufacturers over plagerism of their design.
_________________
Sometimes we ride on your horses
Sometimes we walk alone
Sometimes the songs that we hear
are just songs of our own

-"Eyes of the World" Grateful Dead

estim8or · Newbie Alert Joined: 11 Sep 2003 Posts: 1

Ibanez used to make a Rickenbacker copy back about 20 years ago, don't know of anyone now though.

BassMan02 · Tiger Joined: 15 May 2003 Posts: 848

I have heard the brand name Kay use to make them. I am not sure if the company excists anymore but the Ric-offs are still out there you just have to look.
_________________
Sometimes we ride on your horses
Sometimes we walk alone
Sometimes the songs that we hear
are just songs of our own

-"Eyes of the World" Grateful Dead

bobyoung · Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2003 12:14 pm Post subject:

Does it have the dual truss rod system? most copies don't, and yes Ibinez got sued over their copies, you see a few here and their on Ebay. Just compare it to a Ric in the store, I don't think anyone is currently making copies, but they are out there. I would be suspicious if the truss rod cover is not there. There are usually many subtle and some not so subtle differences betweena real one and a fake, check out the Rickenbacker Forum if you are interested in Ric basses, moderated by Peter McCormick.

scorpionldr · Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2003 3:14 pm Post subject:

check for two outputs and a mic output too, the 4003s have those

bobyoung · Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2003 11:38 am Post subject:

Not all Ric basses had two outputs only the 4003's and 4001's had them, the 4003S's and 4001S's only had one mono output. the S models also had no trim and dot markers on the neck instead of triangular inlays. Think Chris Squire and McCartney.
The 4002 was the only Ric bass to have a so called mic output, and they are very rare and worth some bucks. The mic output was actually a low impedance output which bypassed the vol. and tone controls, it was for the board either live or in a studio.
It is actually very hard to tell a good fake from a real one by a desription, if you really want to know go to the Ric forum as I mentioned above and post a picture of it, or try to describe it to a T here.
If you can post some close up photos here it would be even better.

FlatRacer · Not So Newbie Joined: 23 Feb 2004 Posts: 5

If I remember correctly, the Ibanez "Ric" was called the "Newport Bass" or "Newporter" or something like that, and it had a bolt on neck.

The good copy was sold by Univox, and it had the neck-thru design. Exactly which Japanese factory produced it, I don't know.
Go to the Univox site, click on guitars then click on "Stereo Bass":

http://www.univox.org/

A friend of mine had one of these in high school, but I haven't seen it in years, so I couldn't give an A/B comparison or an expert opinion as to its quality, but as I recall, it had the stuff!

FR

le_bassiste · Newbie Alert Joined: 15 Sep 2004 Posts: 4

well, i'm french, and i speak a really bad english... (i ask u to excuse me...)

i got a Rickenbacker Bass Copy... paid 300 euros, 3-4 month ago...
i looking for the builder like mojojojo...
she looks like an 4001s or a 4003...
some said to me that (could make it) Jim Harley, Eagle, Morisson, or Ibanez...
and my web search done me Hondo (the peter hook of JoyDivision/New Order) seems to play with a Rickenbacker copy made by Hondo, has said a website : http://members.aol.com/lwtua/eqpt.htm
Joy Division Basses.
1. Gibson EBO copy (Hook's first bass, bought at Mazel's Music Shop in Manchester in 1976).
2. Hondo 4-string bass (Rickenbacker copy) - possibly damaged during a gig at The Factory

or like have said Flatracer it could an Univox...
i have check the picture of univox ricky copy and they looks really like the one i have...
the wood facture seems to be this one... the neck trough the body, etc etc...

sure if it was an Ibanez my ricky copy could be more expensive.. :p

u can see my ricky copy here :
http://supastore2000.free.fr/rickenbackerbasscopy.jpg

i try to put the pict in the thread...

le_bassiste · Newbie Alert Joined: 15 Sep 2004 Posts: 4

i have seen that ...

Univox, Hondo, Ibanez, Greco, Electra and who knows who else all imported Rickenbacker copies like this, but it looks like the one on the Electra website so I'll put it here. I'll also give a 4 for features when I found it and a 9 after i fixed it up.

(here: http://www.harmony-central.com/Bass/Data4/Electra/Rickenbacker-Bass-Copy-01.html )

it's sure that ibanez Ricky copy exists : http://fr.audiofanzine.com/services/petites_annonces/index,idproduit,33661.html

newporter seems to be a acoustic Fender guitar... ?

i should check more on Gbase or ebay...
well I NEED HELP
and a topic who can help us to found or identify ricky copy, could be interesting ... no ?

le_bassiste · Newbie Alert Joined: 15 Sep 2004 Posts: 4

erf sorry (we cannot edit our post...)
there's no serial number on my ricky copy...

and last thing, there's not triangles on touch like the univox 75 or 76...
mine seems to be the 77 series (no pict on univox website, it left me in mystery lol) but there's only dots on my touch...

well this bass is really good i think... i love to play with it
i've got a Guild B 301 too... and i prefer play on a ricky ( copy Sad

)

somebody can help me to really understand the rickenbacker sound ?
cause i know the undertones, and motorhead... and that not really the pure sound of ricken...

P.S : i love motorhead...

R.I.P.C.L.B. · Sea Monkey Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 11

I have a Ric copy. But its not a stereo bass. It either has a Ric neck put onto a copy body or someone got a neck plate somehow and put it on. The neck is bolt on and the plate on the neck says that Made in Japan. It sounds just like a real Ric. The trouble is I don't know who made this copy. My guess is it could be Ibanez but I am not sure.
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Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.

Rickenbrother · Not So Newbie Joined: 11 Jun 2006 Posts: 6 Location: USA

I doubt very much that your Rick copy bass has a real Rick neck on it. The only bolt on bass neck that Rick made with the 4000 series shaped headstock was on the double neck models. The other Rick bolt on neck basses where the 2000 and 3000 series which have the Gumby head shaped headstock. Check the truss rods, if there is only one, it's not a Rick.
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Throw that piece of firewood where it belongs and get yourself a Rickenbacker!