Talk me down from buying a Chickenbacker

[Lost In Autumn]

For as long as I can remember, I've loved Rickenbackers, but I've always found them unpleasant to play, especially the necks. My platonic ideal would be a Rick 330, with a Gibsonesque neck... One popped up locally to me at a price I can't resist; it's more Rick-inspired than a straight clone, which is fine by me. It looks like it might be a great mod platform; I think perhaps with a red-sparkle paint job and perhaps an electronics upgrade, it could be really nice. Thing Is, I really don't need another guitar or another project. I've got 4 in the paint booth already and my parter will have kittens if I bring home another...

[JMFan]

I have a Chickenbacker also. A real beauty. It is a copy of a Ric 381. I have not played many Rics but I have a few and can say this neck is a lot more "normal" than a Ric, or thicker. I don't mind a smaller or thinner neck tho because I also play Mosrites.

The issue I have with the Chickenbacker is it is not full hollow. Most Rics are full hollow or maybe a wood piece going down the middle, this is only about 40% hollow. The pickups look good but I know they don't sound Ric. Maybe if I could find real Toasters it would sound like a real Ric even though it is not full hollow. Some Rics are solid body so maybe it would sound like a cross between a 381 and a 325. I was thinking of selling it but it is too beautiful to sell, so one day I will put real Toasters in.

Not me and not mine. Mine is prettier though because it has nice flame maple top.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0kJg3JseTI&t=6s

[Embenny]

I have a 4003 I bought used that the seller claimed was a Canadian-made copy, but I just assume it's a Chickenbacker.

Regardless, it plays as well as any Squier or MIM Fender I've ever owned, and feels like a P-bass in terms of the neck, which is much more familiar and comfortable to me than an actual Rick.

It 100% killed any desire for me to buy a Rick. I keep thinking of buying some nice aftermarket pickups for it, but frankly, it sounds great as-is. The only reason I'd upgrade would be to get something noiseless. The neck pickup is actually a humbucker already despite looking like a Rick toaster, so I keep threatening to get one of those Seymour Duncan bridge position humbuckers. It probably won't sound that much like a Rick anymore, but I do love me some noiselessness.

I keep casually considering a 480/481-style Chickenbacker. The vintage ones are crazy expensive, and the new reissue is even more expensive. It's way too niche a guitar for me to pay "vintage Offset" money for. If I wanted to spend that much...I'd be buying a vintage Offset, frankly.

But they're so cool. Even the copies are cool. Possibly even cooler, because they're cheap and you can throw whatever pickups you want in there with zero concerns.

I'd be fine with an unbranded/de-branded one, though.

[Maggieo]

I bought this wonderful guitar from Fullerplast, and put a Mastery on it, and it's fantastic.


The Frankenbacker, January, 2010 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

If you can find an older Japanese or South Korean with proper upgrades, they're as good as Jim's.

[JMFan]

I bought this wonderful guitar from Fullerplast, and put a Mastery on it, and it's fantastic.


The Frankenbacker, January, 2010 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

If you can find an older Japanese or South Korean with proper upgrades, they're as good as Jim's.

Where is that made?

Is it full hollow? Mine is only about 40% hollow. Bums me out they didn't make it full hollow.

Are the pickups true single coils? I think my Chickenbacker 381 are humbuckers.

Remember in the 90s Musicians Friend sold Rogue Ric copies? I wonder how good those are?

[JMFan]

This is like mine but mine is a 6 String. I would have gotten a 12 but I already have a nice 1970s Orlando 12 electric made in Japan. I did one thing to it. You see the two pickguards are touching each other? Real Rics have a space between them. So I bought some rubber grommets and placed them between the screws to allow space between the pickguard so it looks legit.

When I bought it in 2019 I received it in one week. Very fast for Aliexpress. Usually takes months because they are taking orders and waiting for enough orders to do a run then ship it. They must have had this ready already. Sellers on Alie are open to customization, sometimes for a price and sometimes included. Had I knew what I was doing I should have asked for it to be full hollow like a real Ric. They probably would have done it. So if I put real Ric pickups in it it may sound like a cross between a 381 and a 325.

[Maggieo]

I bought this wonderful guitar from Fullerplast, and put a Mastery on it, and it's fantastic.


The Frankenbacker, January, 2010 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

If you can find an older Japanese or South Korean with proper upgrades, they're as good as Jim's.

Where is that made?

Is it full hollow? Mine is only about 40% hollow. Bums me out they didn't make it full hollow.

Are the pickups true single coils? I think my Chickenbacker 381 are humbuckers.

Remember in the 90s Musicians Friend sold Rogue Ric copies? I wonder how good those are?

Semi hollow, with a block under the PUPS and bridge. The PUPS are Rickenbackers.

[Fiddy]

That is fugly though.

My Japanese copy

[muffonrat]

Go for a Greco RG, 42,7 mm width at nut and very nice quality!
Love mine!
[https://imgur.com/a/yeHWTyI][/url]
Edit: sorry can't make the image work,but I guess the link works.

[Flurko]

Go for a Greco RG, 42,7 mm width at nut and very nice quality!
Love mine!
[https://imgur.com/a/yeHWTyI][/url]
Edit: sorry can't make the image work,but I guess the link works.

You need to put a .jpg link between

Code: Select all

 [img] [/img] 

tags

[muffonrat]

Haha, thanks!

[cincinnatiharry]

IMHO, the Japanese copies are great... if you can find them. The Greco ones especially are nice.

I bought a "Chickenbacker" off AliExpress, I wouldn't recommend it. I gave it to the luthier I use and he needed to put a new fretboard on it. Strong spacing was off. Smelled of petrol. To be honest I kept looking at it and comparing it to real Rickenbacker's I have owned and it was nowhere near it. Making that Chikenbacker playable was expensive, a waste of money. I would have been better off paying €1000 to my luthier to just build me a 330 or 381.

I actually liked the cheap knock off pickups in it... don't get me wrong, they were not "good pickups" but that had a tone I liked.They did a thing. Come to think of it, I have bought a few Chinese copies over the years... mainly Gibson copies. I ALWAYS regret it.

Do I learn? No. I bought a "Bad Cat" Dan Armstrong knock off on AliExpress for €254 after seeing this review... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPcuiLPGn0c I am hoping it is playable.

FWIW I would suggest getting a Greco or "Rockin'Better".

I don't think Maggieo's fake Rickenbacker is a Chinese made one, I have been lusting after it for a decade easily, well before the Chinese started making Rickenbacker copies.

[cincinnatiharry]

Go for a Greco RG, 42,7 mm width at nut and very nice quality!
Love mine!
[https://imgur.com/a/yeHWTyI][/url]
Edit: sorry can't make the image work,but I guess the link works.

You need to put a .jpg link between

Code: Select all

 [img] [/img] 

tags

I really want a Greco Rickenbacker. I hunt Reverb.com regularly.

[muffonrat]

Try zenmarket, last time I checked were 2 for sale, a six string and a twelve string.
Edit: everything I was looking at reverb were way way way overpriced.

[cincinnatiharry]

Try zenmarket, last time I checked were 2 for sale, a six string and a twelve string.
Edit: everything I was looking at reverb were way way way overpriced.

Good idea. Right now Ireland is being SUPER AKWARD regarding non-E.U. imports. They are returning items to senders on a massive scale, so much that there is a banner on the Irish Post website. It's REALLY annoying. So it would be my luck that I'd buy one and Irish Post would reject it for not meeting their impossible standards.

In short, I should fly to Japan and buy a couple of guitars and fly home with them.