Warmoth Richenbacker Offerings ?

[kreig]

there are plenty of solid body rick models out there . has this been brought up before? just wondering !

                                                http://www.rickenbacker.com/model.asp?model=620
                                                http://www.rickenbacker.com/model.asp?model=660
                                                http://www.rickenbacker.com/model.asp?model=4004Cii
                                                http://www.rickenbacker.com/model.asp?model=380L hollow

Kreig

                                                   

 

[line6man]

the thought of a warmoth rick 4001 bass has me creaming my pants.

how big of an impact does the wood combo on a 4001 have on its tone?
it would be really awesome IMO to do an all exotic wood 4001, maybe a fretless?

is there any kind of trademark on ricks?

 

[RLW]

Take this with a huge grain of salt, but I have read that the owner is extremely protective of their designs.

 

[Kostas]

Take this with a huge grain of salt, but I have read that the owner is extremely protective of their designs.

Exactly. Even foreign companies do not think of copying Rickenbacker designs.... :toothy11:

 

[willyk]

There are a few japanese copies of Rickys out there.. Ibanez and Greco come to mind from the "lawsuit era" The 4001/3s have a neck through construction that would preclude any direct tonal comparison with any Warmoth offering. :icon_scratch:

 

[ironfist]

Rickenbacker is one of the most uptight companies when it comes to protecting their copyrights.  Due to many of their practices, I don't have much respect for them as a company, even though I love the classic 4001 (and later 4003) basses.  They will go after anyone and everyone who even thinks about copying any part of their designs.  Heck, they even sued Godin because the pickups in Godin's Radiator guitar looked too similar to some pickups that Rickenbacker used to make.  You can't sell one of the old lawsuit copies on eBay, because 90% of the time it will get reported and the auction will be taken down.  I visit Harmony Central's forums frequently, and recall one case where I guy was in a discussion on the classifieds forum to buy a 70's lawsuit Ric copy.  John Hall, the Rickenbacker CEO, sent him emails admonishing him for considering the purchase and telling him how he'd be breaking the law.  The guy copied the emails and pasted them in another discussion thread.  Classified ads for Rickenfakers are often pulled because Ric fanbois scour free classifieds (Harmony Central, bassgear, craigslist, etc) looking for stuff to report. 

 

[Vol. Knob]

I recall seeing Rick styled bodies on the Warmoth site back in the early '90s, they werent there long.

 

[OzziePete]

I remember playing an Ibanez lawsuit Ricky 620 style back in the day before they became known as 'law suit' models!

Quality was equal to what Rickenbacker was doing, same applies for the Gibson LP copies from the same era of guitars from Ibanez (in fact some suggested that the Ibanez LP copies were better than what Gibson were churning out in those days).

I doubt, from what I have read here and in other forums, that Warmoth would bother setting up for anything similar to a Ricky styled body. Imagine the cost to set it up, then only to sell 5 bodies and have Rickenbacker's lawyers come marching in and stopping it all.

Money is tight everywhere at the moment, Warmoth could spend their money more wiser than to waste it on a body project they couldn't sell.

 

[Telenator]

I whipped up these little beauties much to the dismay of the Rickenbacker faithful and yes, I got an e-mail from John Hall. Not a bad sort. Just protecting his trademark. I built them. I own them. And they're not for sale although I was offered $5000 for the black walnut one.

I am thoroughly convinced however that the vast majority of Rickenbacker players are posers who collect guitars and don't actually play them. They might take their 360 out of the case every so often but they make sure to wear their silk pajamas and look suspiciously around the room before opening the case for the cork sniffing ritual.

Yes, some do play their Rics. A few. But to the majority of players these guitars are ergonomic nightmares that suffer from an archaic design and approach to the making of a modern instrument. They are finely crafted guitars that appeal to those too old to collect Barbie and G.I. Joe.

So why would I make these guitars? Because the shape is really cool. But that's where the similarity ends. These guitars easily rival the guitars they're modeled after and any Ric player who has played them will tell you that.

So, why won't Rickenbacker listen to the players over the collectors? The demographics are simple. There are more people (collectors) who don't really play that can afford a Ric than there are players who have the money. And when you don't actually play your guitar you have the time to scan the internet snitching on anyone who dares to infringe on the trademark. The Rickenbacker Police. A major windfall for Rickenbacker but a strange lot indeed.

Anyway, after I bought a new 360 and found it basically unplayable in the real world, I made my own with several improvements that respectfuly retain the style of the original, yet open up the possibilities to the player. Every time these photos appear on the net, I know the alarm sounds over at the Ric Police Headquarters and honestly, I get a little kick out of that.

This one features a set neck and a Warmoth birdseye maple fretboard that I inlayed with black walnut.

This one features a Warmoth paddle head neck that I modified to look similar to a Ric 360.

 

[hannaugh]

The Rickenbacker factory is down the street from where I work.  I should check it out one of these days, but somehow I doubt they have a factory tour. 

 

[Nando Vallart]

The Rickenbacker factory is down the street from where I work.  I should check it out one of these days, but somehow I doubt they have a factory tour. 

They don't Mr Jim Hall told it in their forum, something alike: "we put some pics of the factory on the website because we're not letting costumer do a tour there"...

 

[bwbass]

Warmoth did at one time make Ricky-styled bodies, but dropped them a long time ago due to legal concerns.

 

[mayfly]

Yea, I remember seeing the ricky warmoth add in Guitar Player and immediately phoning in my order.  The warmoth person on the other end was apologetic almost to be point of being sad - but there was no way for me to get one of those bodies.

Too bad - I was a Rick faithful for about 20 years.  But now I'm into Teles, so life moves on.

 

[OzziePete]

Re: Telenator's comments above.

I did own a Rickenbacker 1997 some time ago.

I have always owned a number of guitars, cannot settle for that ONE guitar to do all, and instead, work on getting certain sounds from certain guitars. I owned the Ricky for about 8 years, used it for jangly sounds and the mod British sound, and the odd raw rough P90-ish sound. But it was limited in it's applications, and the sound was always, well, Rickenbacker- like. It was hard to sit it back in the mix TBH.

Yes, I am sure that players only dust off their 360 every now and then. But they are hard to use for the average gigging muso unless they are concentrating on THAT sound. It's jangly - and lighter and darker shades of jangly.

So for many Ricky owners, I would suggest the lack of use is more the fact the guitar has one very familiar sound to it, and only shades of variation from that. That would make it hard to take out for use in covers band work, or even if you range your sound from hard rock to country. The darned things just, eer, jangle!

Obviously, that's a luxury that some players like to have.

Also, Rickenbackers are not the most robust guitars built, and can break easily if you misuse them or knock them one too many time. For the amount you pay for them, keeping them at home might be a good option.

I do like the look of the Rickenbackers, it has been something I have liked since the first day I started playing guitars. If I ever have the $$ available to splurge out on a guitar of my dreams, I'd buy a new Ricky 381 pretty quickly. But the real world dictates that my money is spent more wisely as there's less $$ available than my dreams would allow.

BTW, that Ricky 1997 was sold to a very nice professional muso here in Australia, who needed it to supplement his Ricky 12. Up til then he had resorted to yanking the 6 octave strings off his Ricky 12 whenever he had to record a Ricky 6 string sound.

 

[Elfunkenstein]

I have to say that the Richenbacker bass is probably the coolest bass ever.

 

[neuftone]

I am thoroughly convinced however that the vast majority of Rickenbacker players are posers who collect guitars and don't actually play them ..... But to the majority of players these guitars are ergonomic nightmares that suffer from an archaic design and approach to the making of a modern instrument. They are finely crafted guitars that appeal to those too old to collect Barbie and G.I. Joe.

I think the above applies more to the guitars than to the basses.  The 4001 and 4003 basses, while the former are becoming collectible, are definitely "player's instruments", not simply eye candy or collectible bits of history, like the Lennon 325 and others.  While they usually get lumped into the prog-rock sphere, which I admit was my introduction to it, they are surprisingly versatile.  Definitely my desert island bass, if the desert island also had a nice amplifier and source of electricity, and perhaps a band of musically talented fellow castaways.