Exactly my thought. I agree that a $300 Chickenbacker is not preventing the sale of a $3,000 Ric. Chickenbackers are just for people who won't or can't buy a real Ric. Chickenbacker isn't cutting into Ric's bottom line.
I have a Chickenbacker 381 and the fretboard is glossed. I raised the second pickguard with some spacers from Home Depot. Looks so real now. I was going to sell it because it is disappointing it is not hollow on the side the controls are. But after looking at it again and playing it I now want to keep it.
I owned/played a 1996 325V63 for ten years before letting it go at the Arlington Guitar Show to some guys from the UK with stacks of $100 bills. I made enough on it to walk over to Fullers Guitars (Houston) at the same show and walk out with a brand new Mapleglo 360/12. Now that guitar was a monster. Those Hi-Gain pickups replicated the McGuinn tones beautifully without using a Janglebox. The 325 I used for rhythm with Ernie Ball 10’s on it. As such, they were so floppy at pitch (super short scale) that 9’s wouldn’t have worked. Stock strings as delivered were a .012-.056 set, I believe. Best thing I ever did was getting rid of the A’ccent Vibrato and installing a old Rick trapeze tailpiece. Ahh, tuning stability finally! Very difficult guitar to dial in but the neck pickup sound is worth the troubles.
What you're showing as "orange peel" on the headstock looks to me more like wood pores/grain *underneath* the finish, whereas orange peel is typically a part of the finish surface. In this case, the wood, likely some kind of asian mahogany (e.g., "luan" or one of the multitude of descriptors) didn't have its pores sealed, likely because it adds to the material/labor costs to do so. Typically, orange peel is due not to wood prep but due to the nature of spraying. Buffing (sometimes in conjunction with color sanding) will usually remove orange peel, given there's enough mils (thickness) of material to work with to avoid burn-through.
Turned my squier bullet strat into a custom fender spec had Kurt cobain Seymour Duncans put in her and changed the neck to a 79 fender and upgraded the bridge and nut to 70 strats and changed the tuners to grovers best 6 in a row tuners and had her repainted a matte black with a shiny black pick guard with a white outline to the edge of the pickguard
Rickenbacker guitars are made in California, for 4,000.00 dollars US. Nearest delivery time is next year. I am sure that John did not pay that high of a price for his guitar. The Beatles once they became famous started playing Fender, Gibson, Epiphones etc...It is called price gouging , when Rickenbeckers are so expensive.
I'm sure there's a premium price that's partly due to legacy and reputation but I gotta tell you real Rickenbackers are incredibly high quality guitars. The ones I have sound instantly like a record when plugged in, hold tuning, and are easy to play. Absolutely pro level instruments, and those cost no matter where you get them from.
A chickenbacker with upgrades to get buy is still gonna cheaper than a rick Most of these are for beatles wannabes that know they will never have the money for a real rick, but are willing to spend the money on parts and the lot so its at least passable. I have heard lots of people say that they only get these for the wood and replace the rest.
Great video. I own a 1989 Rick 330/12 and my friend owns a '67 360. He's a lefty and he couldn't afford to order official Rick brand. So he ordered directly through some Chinese vendor site and bought a 330/12 copy and a 325 copy in left-handed form. We compared them with our two real ones. You can easily see differences in the plastics, bad flameglo finish and the pickup sound. Which was not exactly the rickenbacker sound. And like you said, the playability suffered without any good setup.
Thanks for the perspective. Hopefully he was able to get the playability sorted out. This 325 did end up playing really well after all was said and done.
I did read that Gibson make a lot of money out of counterfeits as people replace the parts for real ones purchased from Gibson. Not sure how true that is,
I've had both, real 325's and chickenbacker's. I use 10's or 11's on all of them with no problems. The couple I received from China came with 9's. A little too light for me.. I've recently got another 310 (two pickup, no vibrato) from china. Great playing guitar, correct ramp, headstock and neck heel. It's the first fake that I'm going to spend a little money on upgrading. Accent vibrato, better electronics and such. I'll see how it goes. By the way, I believe you put the bridge on backwards? Maybe.. It was hard to see...
Perhaps. However, the saddles can be reinserted backwards and given a 180. Why? Because it is easier to adjust the intonation with a screwdriver from the rear, on the trapeze side. It is difficult to adjust the intonation with the screws between the bridge and bridge pickup.
I consider the Chinese Ricks a gateway drug to the real deal. It’s a great opportunity to demo the general feel of a Rick without diving deep to the USA made rigs.
GREAT VIDEO.How did you lower the bridge ? The video fast forwards when you are doing that. When I turn any of the 4 screws it does not seem to do anything
Very informative video, thank you and well done. My opinion on Chibsons, etc. is as long as you don't delude yourself into thinking you're getting the real deal for a fraction of the cost, or that you try to resell as an OEM guitar, it's your choice, legality aside. I actually saw a video where a guy had a truss rod cover made that said Chickenbacker lol. Prior to COVID I did some bar gigs and had a guy approach our band to request Freebird and he projectile vomited on my 1970 Gibson LP Custom. I got a couple Chibsons for that very reason. Problem solved. And with some TLC and zero upgrades they are good players.
I bought a Chibson SG with a 'Bigsby' trem and the logo was a sticker. I'd never get another one with a tremolo, unless you're planning to upgrade it with an original. I'm still debating on which one to get, a real Bigsby, a Maestro or a sideways Gibson tremolo. I hear a lot about tuning issues, mostly with the Gibson sideways trem, but I may just use it for the look and to help with the neck dive of SGs.
14:58 I think its called an accent vibrato, they also came with a pretty basic Kauffman vibrola in the 50s, which had the pretty catchy name of "Apparatus for producing tremolo effects" and was the first vibrato system i think
Nice review, I recently bought a 330/12 from China, eyes-wide-open and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Obviously, it needs that extra 15% to finish, but taken on its own merits, it's pretty good. I think it's a bit of a lottery, but I'd probably get another.
That's the best way to go into it - knowing it's kind of a lottery on what you get. After my working on this one, it played great, so the potential is there for a nice gem.
I bought a 620 12 string frOm AliExpress,not remotely like the one advertised when it came.the cricket bat sorry neck came as a short scale and the headstock had been made by someone who’d I don’t think had ever seen a rickenbacker big and square !!! I was told I could return it for exchange but would be at my own expense for send and return approximately £70 each way ….beware !!!!
I’m one of them. You know, these are what you pay for. They are playable but need a lot of work. In other words, by the time you modify them to a great piece, you might as well buy a real one.
sad that we didnt hear how it sounds. Chickenbackers will need some work, but most will be able to sound and be so playable well, that 99% of us wont tell the difference fromthe real deal. Thats why Rickenbacker USA does a really hard job to stop these better copies. If they were all lousy, they wouldnt mind. 😎😎
what i dont like about the chickenacker is the giant heel , one of the beauties is the almost non existent heel on a rick that allows you to get right down the neck but its also aesthetically speaking beautiful as well
I’ve got 4 Chickenbacker 310-325 guitars. Only one, and it’s about 6 years old, has a big heel. The newer ones seem to be getting better all the time. Actually, I’m really impressed..
So entertaining! Keep doin’ what your doin’ man. God bless you and your family. Really would like to hear how she sounds… Is there another video up? Also, (because your name has to do with Coffee and Guitars), Have you tried Death Wish Coffee yet? -Ronnie
38:00 Excellent tip about the action of new guitars in the store. 18:00 Hmm...🤔. I’ve heard it’s dangerous to dress the frets with steel wool because the tiny metal particles are attracted by the magnets and can ruin the pickups. Wouldn’t plastic Scotchbrite pads do just as well?
I’ve got three Chickenbackers, one is actually a 315 and also a 320, lastly a 325. I had them all made to my specifications. They ain’t too bad. I got tired of playing my expensive Ric 325 out in the bars. So since I liked the scale, I went with the cheap crap. They did the job, held their own. But… they aren’t anywhere near Rickenbacker. Lol
Harley benton bass is the bass I use for practice but a fender bass vi for my performances as I loop it on bass tones and have my bass player play along too and me playing guitar tones on it as lead after the bass loop and bass player get the pattern going which is easy I just use a orange guitar cab and a boss katana head and I set the head to the fuzzy doomy tones I need as well as me having my drummer I use a tribal drummer too
Is the guitar hardwood or softwood? I always thought that it was softwood because the heel was quite big, indicating that it needs to have extra material to support the strength of the strings. I'm not sure though
The originals had a maple body, neck and neck block, the following year a mix of maple and ash. This translates from my '58 original. I used my original as a template to 'upgrade' somebody's pretty decent Chickenbacker, and found the wood on that was ash - I was pleasantly surprised, the fretboard was bubinga - same as the real thing.
there is nothing immoral about a clone copy guitar 95% of the people buying them could never in a hundred years afford the real deal and if anything it is actually good for Rickenbacker because it will inspire people to practice hard and maybe work a 2nd or 3rd job to buy a real one
Thanks for the great video. You certainly know your stuff. I see the guitar has a Rickenbacker (Made in U.S.A.) name plate. Was the guitar originally shipped with that plate? Or did the previous owner put it on? Different model 320s and 325s were shipped with either a single or double truss rod. There does not to appear to be any consistent pattern as to which got what, when or why? Back in the day, I had a real 330/6. The real RICs are works of art and that's what you're paying for if you buy a RIC imho. Cheers from the Land Down Under.
As far as I know, the name plate is original to the guitar. I know the authentic Ric truss rod covers are *very* difficult to come by as Ric will not sell them unless you send in your original one. They've always been a very litigious, which is why there are aren't really any "legit" copies or close approximations available.
its a question if you want to spend 3 grand or a few hundred! I had a Rick 380 12 string made in america trying to tune it and playability for me was terrible! Chickenbacker I got now is better than what I had lol! 400 for really close to the same sound! Epiphone is China dont think you are getting a gibson
The latest 310 - 325 Chickenbacker guitars have the correct angle headstock. The paint seems a lot better, not perfect, but pretty good. After having 8 real Rics, I’m impressed with the latest build quality of these fakes. Rickenbacker is not the perfect guitar, their QC is almost a joke.
The sub $ 300 look-a-likes are ballpark close. The amount of labor to get this guitar from out of the box set up to Rickenbacker ideal is not $ 2,500 labor & any parts. Looks perfect now and if he guitar was $ 300 delivered.even, a Saturday with the guitar to work the nut, saddles, maybe neck pocket (shimming for a bolt on neck). The Chinese build us as good as any $ 3K guitar. I chuckle when I see a Chinese guitar get blasted for poor finish, especially the relic guitars that quite a few will pay $ 3K & more for. If the guitar is built properly, a set up is anyone's preference for playable or not, comfortable or not. I have nothing but Chinese guitars now, it's scary how after correcting a minor issue for a ballpark build & then a set up, how good a sub $ 100 Chinese guitar will play.
Time to invest in a string winder! Why would you cut the string AFTER you've already unwound it?? You could have saved yourself the time and simply cut it before removal.. I the excuse is the bridge cover - that's kinda nonsensical as well as you'll need to remove that anyway to intonate for your larger gauge string.. And the name isn't Rickenbocker
I find it interesting that some people believe that companies have an obligation to produce products that they want at a price-point they decide…or they are justified in stealing the companies technology and intellectual property. Sorry, it does not work like that. Rickenbacker designs and manufactures products that THEY deem to be in their best interests and price them based on their business plan. People who would like to purchase a Rickenbacker have a choice, buy one or not. However, no one has the right to illegally build counterfeit Rickenbacker guitars and sell them. The reason Rickenbacker aggressively protects their intellectual property rights is because people that steal their property rights are stealing! If one can’t afford a Rickenbacker guitar or bass, or if they are unwilling to pay the price that Rickenbacker sets for their instruments, then you have no “right” to own one. So, to those who are upset with Rickenbacker for not running their company the way they want them too, grow up and stop demanding that others run their businesses to suite you…the world does not revolve around you and your wants.
The issue with these knockoffs isn't that they take away so much from Rick sales in the short term, it's that they dilute the name and promote a crappy look alike as the real thing, damaging Rickenbacker's (and other manufacturers) reputation in the long term. You can say no one really expects them to be the same quality and that's true on the surface but people who have a bad experience with these are not going to be likely to take a chance on an actual Rick even as they consciously know the comparison is silly. This is called trademark dilution and has a real effect.
This is a Tokai made in China, they are sold as RebelRockers. They really are a good guitar for a copy. Unfortunately the Chinese do not respect Copyrights.
The old Japanese Tokai guitars were incredible. In their prime, you couldn't tell a Love Rock apart from a Les Paul in a blind test. Thanks for the info!
This is no Tokai - the Tokai copies of the 80's/ early 90's had a much darker neck - nowhere near the light colored Rickenbacker glossed fretboard! The recent chinese copies (like this) have gotten that correct!
As a lefty player, I purchased a ripoff lefty 325 as quite frankly, actual lefty Ric 325's are few and far between, cost an arm and a leg, and Rickenbacker these days refuses point blank to make any new ones. So yeah I gave in to the "sin" of a knockoff. And pretty much had the same trouble here. Warped neck, bad bridge, bad nut, horrible action and such. I set it up best I could, little improvement. Took it to a shop, they ran away screaming. Changed the tailpiece to a "Ric" spec from WInfield vintage, still only helped a little as the warped neck can't be corrected. Honestly, at this point, the money and time spent on it I would've been better off building one from scratch. And I probably will, as I love Rick's, but there are no lefty's of the models I want. So to all who are tempted to give in to the foreign knockoff's, just be aware it is a lottery. Some are gems, but many are duds.
Rickenbacker guitars are horrible. They won't make affordable models and never return your messages. They don't understand that people can't afford them. People are building their own these days too. I'm going to be building a 425 model soon. I made a 325 with a bolt on neck and sold it. Dude loves it. I got my 620 bought for me by a friend in the entertainment industry. I have wanted one since I was 13. I'm 47 now.
They're definitely in their own world. They also prevent other companies from making cheaper copies of their guitars because they litigate so often. As such, I think they're viewed as more niche.
I mean it's their choice, Gibson, Fender and the other well known American companies ask the same price if not more. That's the price you pay for American labour opposed to sourcing poorer countries to do it for cheaper. I rather it that way, but yeah their support is kinda crappy.
@@tiddlywinks497 At least Fender and Gibson have Squier and Epiphone to fall back on if you want something affordable. Plus there are other companies like Firefly too. Rickenbacker think they're the Stradivarius of guitars. I like my 620 but there is nothing too special about it. It's not doing anything another guitar doesn't do. Except for the stereo jack which can be put on a guitar with some modifications. But other than that its not shooting rockets and doing magic tricks.
@@jimbailey1122 the guitars themselves are good but the people running the company are. Like I said, they never return my calls, e-mails nor do they have any contact with customers. Thats bad business practices
![JOHN LENNON'S RICKENBACKER 325 GUITARS: A Brief History [Part 1 of 3]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/SbuVbe2pirI/mqdefault.jpg)
![JOHN LENNON'S RICKENBACKER 325 GUITARS: A Brief History [Part 1 of 3]](/img/tr.png)
![JOHN LENNON'S RICKENBACKER 325 GUITARS: Reissue Models and Buying Options [Part 2 of 3]](/img/n.gif)
Exactly my thought. I agree that a $300 Chickenbacker is not preventing the sale of a $3,000 Ric. Chickenbackers are just for people who won't or can't buy a real Ric. Chickenbacker isn't cutting into Ric's bottom line.
I have a Chickenbacker 381 and the fretboard is glossed. I raised the second pickguard with some spacers from Home Depot. Looks so real now. I was going to sell it because it is disappointing it is not hollow on the side the controls are. But after looking at it again and playing it I now want to keep it.
Chickenbacker best guitar brand fr
I owned/played a 1996 325V63 for ten years before letting it go at the Arlington Guitar Show to some guys from the UK with stacks of $100 bills. I made enough on it to walk over to Fullers Guitars (Houston) at the same show and walk out with a brand new Mapleglo 360/12.
Now that guitar was a monster. Those Hi-Gain pickups replicated the McGuinn tones beautifully without using a Janglebox. The 325 I used for rhythm with Ernie Ball 10’s on it. As such, they were so floppy at pitch (super short scale) that 9’s wouldn’t have worked. Stock strings as delivered were a .012-.056 set, I believe. Best thing I ever did was getting rid of the A’ccent Vibrato and installing a old Rick trapeze tailpiece. Ahh, tuning stability finally! Very difficult guitar to dial in but the neck pickup sound is worth the troubles.
What you're showing as "orange peel" on the headstock looks to me more like wood pores/grain *underneath* the finish, whereas orange peel is typically a part of the finish surface. In this case, the wood, likely some kind of asian mahogany (e.g., "luan" or one of the multitude of descriptors) didn't have its pores sealed, likely because it adds to the material/labor costs to do so. Typically, orange peel is due not to wood prep but due to the nature of spraying. Buffing (sometimes in conjunction with color sanding) will usually remove orange peel, given there's enough mils (thickness) of material to work with to avoid burn-through.
John Lennon used 9s on his 325s - in fact, on almost all of his guitars actually.
Turned my squier bullet strat into a custom fender spec had Kurt cobain Seymour Duncans put in her and changed the neck to a 79 fender and upgraded the bridge and nut to 70 strats and changed the tuners to grovers best 6 in a row tuners and had her repainted a matte black with a shiny black pick guard with a white outline to the edge of the pickguard
Rickenbacker guitars are made in California, for 4,000.00 dollars US. Nearest delivery time is next year.
I am sure that John did not pay that high of a price for his guitar. The Beatles once they became famous
started playing Fender, Gibson, Epiphones etc...It is called price gouging , when Rickenbeckers are so expensive.
I'm sure there's a premium price that's partly due to legacy and reputation but I gotta tell you real Rickenbackers are incredibly high quality guitars. The ones I have sound instantly like a record when plugged in, hold tuning, and are easy to play. Absolutely pro level instruments, and those cost no matter where you get them from.
A chickenbacker with upgrades to get buy is still gonna cheaper than a rick
Most of these are for beatles wannabes that know they will never have the money for a real rick, but are willing to spend the money on parts and the lot so its at least passable.
I have heard lots of people say that they only get these for the wood and replace the rest.
Nice way of doing videos, informative and relaxing, nice 1 👍🏼
Great video. I own a 1989 Rick 330/12 and my friend owns a '67 360. He's a lefty and he couldn't afford to order official Rick brand. So he ordered directly through some Chinese vendor site and bought a 330/12 copy and a 325 copy in left-handed form. We compared them with our two real ones. You can easily see differences in the plastics, bad flameglo finish and the pickup sound. Which was not exactly the rickenbacker sound. And like you said, the playability suffered without any good setup.
Thanks for the perspective. Hopefully he was able to get the playability sorted out. This 325 did end up playing really well after all was said and done.
I did read that Gibson make a lot of money out of counterfeits as people replace the parts for real ones purchased from Gibson.
Not sure how true that is,
I've had both, real 325's and chickenbacker's. I use 10's or 11's on all of them with no problems. The couple I received from China came with 9's. A little too light for me.. I've recently got another 310 (two pickup, no vibrato) from china. Great playing guitar, correct ramp, headstock and neck heel. It's the first fake that I'm going to spend a little money on upgrading. Accent vibrato, better electronics and such. I'll see how it goes. By the way, I believe you put the bridge on backwards? Maybe.. It was hard to see...
Perhaps. However, the saddles can be reinserted backwards and given a 180. Why? Because it is easier to adjust the intonation with a screwdriver from the rear, on the trapeze side. It is difficult to adjust the intonation with the screws between the bridge and bridge pickup.
Nice - thanks.
I consider the Chinese Ricks a gateway drug to the real deal. It’s a great opportunity to demo the general feel of a Rick without diving deep to the USA made rigs.
GREAT VIDEO.How did you lower the bridge ? The video fast forwards when you are doing that. When I turn any of the 4 screws it does not seem to do anything
Very informative video, thank you and well done. My opinion on Chibsons, etc. is as long as you don't delude yourself into thinking you're getting the real deal for a fraction of the cost, or that you try to resell as an OEM guitar, it's your choice, legality aside. I actually saw a video where a guy had a truss rod cover made that said Chickenbacker lol. Prior to COVID I did some bar gigs and had a guy approach our band to request Freebird and he projectile vomited on my 1970 Gibson LP Custom. I got a couple Chibsons for that very reason. Problem solved. And with some TLC and zero upgrades they are good players.
I was hoping you would do a sound demo.
I bought a Chibson SG with a 'Bigsby' trem and the logo was a sticker. I'd never get another one with a tremolo, unless you're planning to upgrade it with an original. I'm still debating on which one to get, a real Bigsby, a Maestro or a sideways Gibson tremolo. I hear a lot about tuning issues, mostly with the Gibson sideways trem, but I may just use it for the look and to help with the neck dive of SGs.
There’s a guy on FB selling one but he is about 8 hrs away from me. Does anyone have any leads on where I can find these?
A little site called Ebay!
14:58 I think its called an accent vibrato, they also came with a pretty basic Kauffman vibrola in the 50s, which had the pretty catchy name of "Apparatus for producing tremolo effects" and was the first vibrato system i think
Thank you for this great info!
For your info, Rickenbacker now has done away with the gloss fingerboard. I’ve not played a new one, might be worth a look.
Nice review, I recently bought a 330/12 from China, eyes-wide-open and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Obviously, it needs that extra 15% to finish, but taken on its own merits, it's pretty good. I think it's a bit of a lottery, but I'd probably get another.
That's the best way to go into it - knowing it's kind of a lottery on what you get. After my working on this one, it played great, so the potential is there for a nice gem.
I bought a 620 12 string frOm AliExpress,not remotely like the one advertised when it came.the cricket bat sorry neck came as a short scale and the headstock had been made by someone who’d I don’t think had ever seen a rickenbacker big and square !!! I was told I could return it for exchange but would be at my own expense for send and return approximately £70 each way ….beware !!!!
At present, 50% of all Chinese clone guitars are owned by CZcamsrs doing reviews of them, lol.
I’m one of them. You know, these are what you pay for. They are playable but need a lot of work. In other words, by the time you modify them to a great piece, you might as well buy a real one.
sad that we didnt hear how it sounds. Chickenbackers will need some work, but most will be able to sound and be so playable well, that 99% of us wont tell the difference fromthe real deal. Thats why Rickenbacker USA does a really hard job to stop these better copies. If they were all lousy, they wouldnt mind. 😎😎
Headstock pich is a dead give away. Rickys dont have slanted back headstocks
what i dont like about the chickenacker is the giant heel , one of the beauties is the almost non existent heel on a rick that allows you to get right down the neck but its also aesthetically speaking beautiful as well
I’ve got 4 Chickenbacker 310-325 guitars. Only one, and it’s about 6 years old, has a big heel. The newer ones seem to be getting better all the time. Actually, I’m really impressed..
@@carolbarnes3212 thanks for letting me know
So entertaining! Keep doin’ what your doin’ man. God bless you and your family.
Really would like to hear how she sounds…
Is there another video up?
Also, (because your name has to do with Coffee and Guitars),
Have you tried Death Wish Coffee yet?
-Ronnie
What’s the best biography of Leo Fender that goes into at least some technical things? He was a genius and I’d love to know more in depth.
38:00 Excellent tip about the action of new guitars in the store.
18:00 Hmm...🤔. I’ve heard it’s dangerous to dress the frets with steel wool because the tiny metal particles are attracted by the magnets and can ruin the pickups. Wouldn’t plastic Scotchbrite pads do just as well?
Cover pickups and anywhere else where particles can potentially enter into body cavities. Use adhesive tape that won't ruin the finish when removed .
I’ve got three Chickenbackers, one is actually a 315 and also a 320, lastly a 325. I had them all made to my specifications. They ain’t too bad. I got tired of playing my expensive Ric 325 out in the bars. So since I liked the scale, I went with the cheap crap. They did the job, held their own. But… they aren’t anywhere near Rickenbacker. Lol
Harley benton bass is the bass I use for practice but a fender bass vi for my performances as I loop it on bass tones and have my bass player play along too and me playing guitar tones on it as lead after the bass loop and bass player get the pattern going which is easy I just use a orange guitar cab and a boss katana head and I set the head to the fuzzy doomy tones I need as well as me having my drummer I use a tribal drummer too
Is the guitar hardwood or softwood? I always thought that it was softwood because the heel was quite big, indicating that it needs to have extra material to support the strength of the strings. I'm not sure though
I can't say for certain, but I suspect something this cheap would be basswood, which is fairly soft.
The originals had a maple body, neck and neck block, the following year a mix of maple and ash. This translates from my '58 original. I used my original as a template to 'upgrade' somebody's pretty decent Chickenbacker, and found the wood on that was ash - I was pleasantly surprised, the fretboard was bubinga - same as the real thing.
So what's the scale length on it ?🤣
there is nothing immoral about a clone copy guitar 95% of the people buying them could never in a hundred years afford the real deal and if anything it is actually good for Rickenbacker because it will inspire people to practice hard and maybe work a 2nd or 3rd job to buy a real one
Thanks for the great video. You certainly know your stuff. I see the guitar has a Rickenbacker (Made in U.S.A.) name plate. Was the guitar originally shipped with that plate? Or did the previous owner put it on? Different model 320s and 325s were shipped with either a single or double truss rod. There does not to appear to be any consistent pattern as to which got what, when or why?
Back in the day, I had a real 330/6. The real RICs are works of art and that's what you're paying for if you buy a RIC imho. Cheers from the Land Down Under.
As far as I know, the name plate is original to the guitar. I know the authentic Ric truss rod covers are *very* difficult to come by as Ric will not sell them unless you send in your original one. They've always been a very litigious, which is why there are aren't really any "legit" copies or close approximations available.
its a question if you want to spend 3 grand or a few hundred!
I had a Rick 380 12 string made in america trying to tune it and playability for me was terrible! Chickenbacker I got now is better than what I had lol! 400 for really close to the same sound!
Epiphone is China dont think you are getting a gibson
I bought a used 1981 Aria RS 800/12 strings 30 years ago from now, and it's still a marvel, neck thru, stays in tune and sounds great !
The latest 310 - 325 Chickenbacker guitars have the correct angle headstock. The paint seems a lot better, not perfect, but pretty good. After having 8 real Rics, I’m impressed with the latest build quality of these fakes. Rickenbacker is not the perfect guitar, their QC is almost a joke.
The sub $ 300 look-a-likes are ballpark close. The amount of labor to get this guitar from out of the box set up to Rickenbacker ideal is not $ 2,500 labor & any parts. Looks perfect now and if he guitar was $ 300 delivered.even, a Saturday with the guitar to work the nut, saddles, maybe neck pocket (shimming for a bolt on neck). The Chinese build us as good as any $ 3K guitar. I chuckle when I see a Chinese guitar get blasted for poor finish, especially the relic guitars that quite a few will pay $ 3K & more for. If the guitar is built properly, a set up is anyone's preference for playable or not, comfortable or not. I have nothing but Chinese guitars now, it's scary how after correcting a minor issue for a ballpark build & then a set up, how good a sub $ 100 Chinese guitar will play.
Time to invest in a string winder!
Why would you cut the string AFTER you've already unwound it?? You could have saved yourself the time and simply cut it before removal.. I the excuse is the bridge cover - that's kinda nonsensical as well as you'll need to remove that anyway to intonate for your larger gauge string..
And the name isn't Rickenbocker
I find it interesting that some people believe that companies have an obligation to produce products that they want at a price-point they decide…or they are justified in stealing the companies technology and intellectual property. Sorry, it does not work like that. Rickenbacker designs and manufactures products that THEY deem to be in their best interests and price them based on their business plan. People who would like to purchase a Rickenbacker have a choice, buy one or not. However, no one has the right to illegally build counterfeit Rickenbacker guitars and sell them. The reason Rickenbacker aggressively protects their intellectual property rights is because people that steal their property rights are stealing! If one can’t afford a Rickenbacker guitar or bass, or if they are unwilling to pay the price that Rickenbacker sets for their instruments, then you have no “right” to own one. So, to those who are upset with Rickenbacker for not running their company the way they want them too, grow up and stop demanding that others run their businesses to suite you…the world does not revolve around you and your wants.
Good video but the music/voice mix on your video is out of whack. IOW the music is WAY too loud compared to the narrative.
Thanks for the tip
I spent about 800 to get mine where i like it! what I would have had to pay would heve been Thousands! and Really! They aren't worth it!
The issue with these knockoffs isn't that they take away so much from Rick sales in the short term, it's that they dilute the name and promote a crappy look alike as the real thing, damaging Rickenbacker's (and other manufacturers) reputation in the long term. You can say no one really expects them to be the same quality and that's true on the surface but people who have a bad experience with these are not going to be likely to take a chance on an actual Rick even as they consciously know the comparison is silly. This is called trademark dilution and has a real effect.
This is a Tokai made in China, they are sold as RebelRockers. They really are a good guitar for a copy. Unfortunately the Chinese do not respect Copyrights.
The old Japanese Tokai guitars were incredible. In their prime, you couldn't tell a Love Rock apart from a Les Paul in a blind test. Thanks for the info!
This is no Tokai - the Tokai copies of the 80's/ early 90's had a much darker neck - nowhere near the light colored Rickenbacker glossed fretboard! The recent chinese copies (like this) have gotten that correct!
As a lefty player, I purchased a ripoff lefty 325 as quite frankly, actual lefty Ric 325's are few and far between, cost an arm and a leg, and Rickenbacker these days refuses point blank to make any new ones. So yeah I gave in to the "sin" of a knockoff. And pretty much had the same trouble here. Warped neck, bad bridge, bad nut, horrible action and such. I set it up best I could, little improvement. Took it to a shop, they ran away screaming. Changed the tailpiece to a "Ric" spec from WInfield vintage, still only helped a little as the warped neck can't be corrected. Honestly, at this point, the money and time spent on it I would've been better off building one from scratch. And I probably will, as I love Rick's, but there are no lefty's of the models I want. So to all who are tempted to give in to the foreign knockoff's, just be aware it is a lottery. Some are gems, but many are duds.
In a world of guitar snobbery, and expense,people will try copies,some great, some not so,
Rickenbacker guitars are horrible. They won't make affordable models and never return your messages. They don't understand that people can't afford them. People are building their own these days too. I'm going to be building a 425 model soon. I made a 325 with a bolt on neck and sold it. Dude loves it. I got my 620 bought for me by a friend in the entertainment industry. I have wanted one since I was 13. I'm 47 now.
They're definitely in their own world. They also prevent other companies from making cheaper copies of their guitars because they litigate so often. As such, I think they're viewed as more niche.
I mean it's their choice, Gibson, Fender and the other well known American companies ask the same price if not more. That's the price you pay for American labour opposed to sourcing poorer countries to do it for cheaper. I rather it that way, but yeah their support is kinda crappy.
@@tiddlywinks497 At least Fender and Gibson have Squier and Epiphone to fall back on if you want something affordable. Plus there are other companies like Firefly too. Rickenbacker think they're the Stradivarius of guitars. I like my 620 but there is nothing too special about it. It's not doing anything another guitar doesn't do. Except for the stereo jack which can be put on a guitar with some modifications. But other than that its not shooting rockets and doing magic tricks.
Rickenbacker guitars are not horrible.
@@jimbailey1122 the guitars themselves are good but the people running the company are. Like I said, they never return my calls, e-mails nor do they have any contact with customers. Thats bad business practices
Couldn't be any worse than a real 325, terrible guitars.
i always loved them. Miss you neil.
@@johnlennon6491 John you know I always said you should have used a Rick 360 but alas you wouldn't........
voh.fyi
neat