Real Experiment for a Fake Bass

[rank]

So I have wanted a Rickenbacker bass for a while but didn't have a spare 2K laying around so I thought I would try an experiment. I have been very curious about some of the things I have seen on Aliexpress for a while &, after doing a little research, decided to roll the dice. I found a beautiful spalted maple Ric (copy) with a rosewood neck & ordered it with the understanding that I may never get it &, if I did, it may be completely unplayable. I shut my computer down, softly mumbled about how stupid I can be, & went to bed. I received random updates from time to time from Aliexpress that would get my hopes up but then nothing for half a month & then miraculously I received an update that it was in San Franciso & then a few days later, it was on my door step. It wasn't quite the same as what was pictured but I think it still looks good. I was immediately impressed with how solid it was. It needed a good set up. The truss rod & bridge needed adjusting & the nut needed some filing but after some tweaks by my amazing guitar tech, it feels & plays fantastic!


I'm thinking I will probably swap out to a black pick guard but my guitar player keeps telling me tort but I don't think so. All in, I'm still only a third of what a real Ric would run me but I'm slightly disturbed by it actually having a "made in U.S.A." truss rod cover. I know I see Aliexpress mentioned a lot around here & there is no real consistency with Chinese knock offs but I'm pleasantly surprised with my experiment.

[Zork]

Cool! It looks really good and very close to the real thing. There are copies of the Dan Armstrong Lucite Bass on ali express I find very tempting but I didn't have the balls yet to order one.

[Embenny]

Looks great. Your guitar player is wrong, you never put tort on a Rick, period. Looks good with white but would look even better with blacks.

I picked up a white Chickenbacker off craigslist a couple years back and it's a phenomenal bass. For sure they're a total crapshoot as there are many different sources for them but the one I got was great and I'm glad yours is too!

Mine says Rickenbacker on the TRC but doesn't say made in USA. I wouldn't sweat it as long as you aren't trying to trick anyone when selling it (which you clearly wouldn't do).

[somanytoys]

I’ve been looking at one of those for a while as well. I’d love to try one, but now isn’t the time.

I’m glad you got it, and that it’s great now that you’ve had it worked on.

I think tort would be lost in that finish, but that’s just my opinion. Black, or mirror/chrome might be better.