@@dunkelwelpling that's still way way way... More than I, and allot of other people could ever afford to spend on a bass, I think them having a line like Squire or Epiphone would help far more people.
@@jakubshouseofrock7109 Well then just safe up, it will take a while, but you'll get there. Don't buying unnecessary stuff that you don't need, like cigarettes for example, will make the progress faster. Honestly, i understand if people complain that the Rickenbacker isn't worth 2200, but complaining that 1700 is too much, although the price would be fair in this case is a real low blow. Don't be a cheap fuck! I find it awesome that Rickenbacker decided against a cheaper model that sucks and makes use out of low pay foreign countries.
@@dunkelwelpling c'mon maaan. I agree. RIC should just make a cheaper brand like what Fender and Gibson did. I'd buy a Chickenbacker on the strength of the design alone.
PLEASE DON'T ASK WHICH SELLER I BOUGHT IT FROM... I get way to many of these messages... I bought it from a seller called Four Corner Guitar Store on AliExpress.com, unfortunately I can't send you guys a link as the seller has long since disappeared from the site. Your best bet is to just search AliExpress for a similar bass. Key words like "neck through" "neck thru" "4003 bass" ect... seem to work well to find these types of basses on there. Goodluck ! Hope you all enjoy ! For you impatient people, the demo stats at 38:10 :) I just wanted to apologise for the awkward editing in this video, It was already way to long so I was trying to cut out all of the times I say "umm" or pause to long... ect... So the video's a bit jumpy, but more to the point.
@@DenisVolga it was a Hipshot Rickenbacker replacement bridge, It's a very good bridge, but I actually wouldn't recommend one for one of these, unless you're ready to do some tinkering... This bass needs a slightly taller bridge then a reall Rick, so I had to shim the whole bridge up with a slab of aluminium... you can see the finished bridge installed in my video on Rick-O-Sound
Main takeaways from my neck through Chickenbacker: 1. I got the natural finish for the same reason you got your finish, to confirm it was an actual neck through. Happy to see it is, although the neck heel could be a bit shorter. 2. The neck pickup, however nice sounding, is VERY microphonic. I use picks, so when I use one while using that pickup and accidentally hit it, you DEFINITELY notice it. 3. The bride pickup is set REALLY low. I tried to raise it, but turns out the holes for the screws were bigger than the screws itself, so I had to put electrical tape in them to get a grip on the screws. Also, it was a pain to get the springs back on the screws, so I resorted (probably stupidly) to cut the springs down a bit to get them to work. 4. The bridge itself is a mystery box I could do without, honestly. I have yet to get the action right on it, although that could be due to the frets not being level and not the bridge itself. I will be bringing it to a friend of mine who works on guitars to confirm this. Aside from all this, I am very pleased with it. It sounds great, and some tinkering has made it play reasonably well. I have you to thank for me biting the bullet on getting it. Great bass for the value.
This is an impressive model. I'm digging the neck-thru piece and the fact that there is only 21 frets, typically the other copies have 23 which is a dead giveaway against the real ones. Looks great! Might need one myself
You didn't notice the inlays around the body. The inlays in the body is the checker board pattern that rickenbacker stop making in the 70s, having it is rare, that's an awesome plus!!!
God knows why more companies don't do Rickenbacker bass copies, especially Ibanez. The guys in the Jam and Joy Division started out with Ibanez Rickenbacker copies until they could afford the real thing! Rics look amazing and any band whose bass player uses one always gets a look in from me!
I have a question that I don’t know if you can still answer: Do you know how long it took for this bass to reach you? I know from prior experience buying things from these types of websites typically means long shipment times.
It took manny months for them to build the bass (because i asked for certain customizations ... ) but the actual shipping time was about average speed for something from China, so just over a month
Hey Jakub. How are the two Chickenbackers holding up? I’ve heard reports of necks twisting and bowing leading to the bass becoming unplayable. Have yours remained stable? Also, are the original bridges a pile of crap?
thanks for asking ! my original black one has been striped for parts to augment this one haha so she's been out of action for a while but this ones' been holding up good, i've modded out some of the hardware and the electronics to make it as close to a real Rick as possible, and it's been sounding great though it's hard to say whether the necks bowed or not, It's needed fret level and a proper setup from the get go.. but I've gotten advice to wait about half a year at least before attempting a proper fret level so that the wood settles (since this bass was built to order..) so iv'e just been playing it with fairly high string action to compensate in the mean time, but since it's a neck-through bass and the neck is made of multiple pieces of laminated wood, it should theoretically be very stable so I don't think it's bowed at all since I got it The original bride isn't a pile of crap, it did the job, and when you get to know it, you can get it set up really well, I only changed mine because someone sent me a Hipshot one, which while superior quality, isn't designed for these Chinese basses so i had to do some massive tinkering to get it to work ... if you're thinking of getting one i'd recommend either sticking with the stock bridge, maybe even slightly modifying it (I have a video on that ;) ) or using something like a typical fender style bridge, though that won't nearly as accurate ... because sadly it looks like bridges designed for actual Rick basses have their maximum height set too low for these copies anyway hope that helps
Are the ones from AliExpress the same ones from Dhgate? Your fretboard looks like my Ibanez tmb 310 board which is made of jatoba,also did you get charged for the factory mods?
I haven't been on Dhgate but from what I've heard they are... Yeah it's either that or a thin layer of lacker making it look darker Yes the mods did cost more but they ignored some of them unfortunately...
I haven't been on Dhgate but from what I've heard they are... Yeah it's either that or a thin layer of lacker making it look darker Yes the mods did cost more but they ignored some of them unfortunately...
Great review. My custom chickenbacker also had buzzing issues. I had to raise the action quite a bit to take care of it. Did you ever do the fret leveling? Let me know if it worked, as I'm considering doing that with mine.
I haven't yet, but it's on my massively long "to do" list... I know that it definitely will help with the buzzing on mine. in the mean time I've got the action fairly high to compensate too, as well as the bass tuned down to C# Standard, which helps loosen the sting pressure while the action is high, so it's much more comfortable to play
Hope you can help here, how were you able to identify which was a neck through build? I have seen many on AliExpress, but none specifically mention that they are "neck through".
usually it will specify in the listing, i'm seeing a few on their now that do say it.. but you can tell by looking at the wood grain , and by the heel joint of the bass if the heel joint of the neck is flush with the back of the basses body than it's likely a through neck, but if the neck is not flush with the body, (picture the heel joint on a typical bolt on Fender neck or something like that, but obviously not bolted on) than it's likely a set neck I hope that both made sense and was helpful...
I got a real Rickenbacker 4003 (left handed btw) and it took me forever to save up but it was a goal of mine to get one since it was my dream bass and I can't ever see myself letting it go. This copy, is pretty darn close to the real deal and that's really impressive. Little fun fact, for whatever reason, Rickenbacker has always made left handed truss rod covers in 2D rather than 3D. Not sure why right handed basses get the 3D treatment but 2D truss rod covers have been a thing with every lefty Rickenbacker I've played.
no, the main issue wasn't even the screw spacing or anything like that, but the Hipshot one was too low... I had to cut a 5mm aluminum plate into the shape of the bridge so i could put it under it and raise the whole thing... it was a bit of a process, but worth it in the end yes the screws, and the actual positioning of the Hipshot bridge is different to the stock Chickenbacker ones
@@jakubshouseofrock7109 does the chickenbacker have the bridge area routed out like on a proper rickenbacker? or is it just the flat body? thanks for the info, very helpful
Reason I’m asking about which seller you got it from is that I ordered one from China last year and they never sent it. I had to go through a bit of a hassle to get my money back. So as you can imagine, I’m a bit nervous about trying it again but it seems like you had a good experience.
sorry to hear that man... yeah it can be a bit risky buying from there, but sometimes it's worth it as I stated in the pinned comment, I bought it from a seller called Four Corner Guitar Store on AliExpress.com, unfortunately I can't send you a link as the seller has long since disappeared from the site... Good luck on your next bass if you're still willing to attempt buying one. Sellers on the site have a total rating, based on people's reviews of them, so I'd make sure you buy from one with a high rating to be sure
I’ve always planned on getting an Ali-Express Rick clone but waited for them to get better. This one looks almost like the real deal, aside from the finger board and other minor things. Do you still have the link to this bass? Also, what modifications did you ask for to get it looking that good? I’m looking for a neck through that looks something like that but I can’t seem to find anything.
Gosh Josh to help further, that guitar store may be out of business as i can’t find it anywhere, but i’m on the same hunt for a good chickenbacker, and if you search for a neck thru rickenbacker you can find a lot of seemingly good ones.
Hi! Sorry this is so late, but I plan on buying one of these Chickenbackers from a site like DHGate or Aliexpress and giving it the Cliff Burton treatment, but I’m not sure on what the best seller would be. Could I get some tips? I plan on replacing the pickups and bridge and then taking it to my music store to have it set up and possibly even get a new nut depending on the stock one. Could I please get some tips?!
sorry for the late reply too... I'm not sure what tips to give, you seem to have a good plan. I'd say research he differences between these and genuine Ricks, that way you'll know which knock off ones are the closest to the real deal. Try to buy from sellers that have good ratings/reviews on those sites, prepare to wait a long long time for these, as they're often made to order... and enjoy !
The Ali Ric makers are fine with one or two "custom" elements. They'll change colors, headstock angles, add or subtract f-holes, that sort of thing. They are NOT a custom shop nor do they claim to be. They're in the business of selling $300 copies of $3000 guitars. When a $300 325 copy grosses them about $225 after the free shipping, they might net $100 on the thing. Not bad, but you don't agonize over a guitar for a hundred bucks. I've owned six and for the most part, they are fantastic "for what you pay".
that's an interesting point it's a bit annoying still because in their listing they said they can modify it and tailor it to whatever specifications the customer wants... I specifically gave them a list of things I wanted them to do, and ask them "can you do these customisation" they said "yes" and billed me extra individually for every modification... only later when i pointed out that they didn't do them, did they send me a minor discount... Regardless I do agree they are great for the money
@@jakubshouseofrock7109 I've heard that and, sadly, that's the "shady" side of the Ali experience. Promising everything, charging for it and doing what they want is quite similar to their hit-or-miss QC. They know that no one is going to pay to send it back so they have a pretty much captive audience. Good luck with the channel and enjoy them for what they are.
i have wanted a rickenbacker bass for over 10 years now but have always been scared away by the over $3k price where i live. I ordered one of these recently and really excited to get it. Done tons of bass modding on the basses i own. Looking forward to modding this one. I ordered the same one shown here, it doesnt have the the dual jacks but im not too worried about it.
@@jakubshouseofrock7109 one thing i recommend if you havent done already is to replace the tone bridge bezel with one from a real rickenbacker. I found that the tone pickup was too far from the strings. The factory rick' bezels bump out where the pickup attaches; which will allow the pickup to be moved closer to the strings. Im going to replace this pickup with a "retrovibe" rick pickup, but getting it closer is an added bonus. I also think the raised bezel looks cooler.
Where did you get that one ? There's a bunch of shops on Ali that sells 4003s copies, but I heard a lot of them were pretty shady, so by now, I'm trying to figure out which one would be serious enough to actually buy a bass from them. I'd be happy if you had advice on that, Jakub ! There's also something weird : I'm chatting with a guy from an AliExpress shop (apretty reactive and reliable one, I must say) but they don't use maple for the body, since he asks for which specs I wanted... And he told me the body would be built using mahogany. That kidna surprises me, you or another youtuber doing a video about a Chickenbacker was told he would get a mahogany body, but he ended up getting some shady wood, like plywood... The guy I talk with looks pretty serious, and takes time to ask me what I want, discuss it with some engineer, and then responds to me, but that mahogany thing can be a scam, I guess...
They were called Four Corner Guitar store They're no longer on there sadly, At least by that name You're gonna have to try to find a good rated seller from one of the other ones Good luck!
they were called Four Corner Guitar store, i think they are no longer on AliExpress, at least by that name sadly though, you may just have to keep searching, use key words like ''neck through'' or alternate spelling like '' neck thru '' and you will hopefully find some you can also ask most of the seller to customize yours a bit so if they don't have what you want they may make it for you, be weary though, they can be sloppy with customizing and leave out some of the stuff you request, so make sure you're happy with the photos they send and be firm before confirming that it's good to post to you goodluck ! and sorry for the late reply
Yeah, i agree with Jakub. If you feel like they don't understand you well, or even if their is not good, take your time, have a break, search more later. Mainly they talk with pictures. For one of the guitars i very specifically asked for a specific stein with Visible wood grain - nhaa; also they "confirmed" M.O.P. (mother of pearl), i didn't see it on photos before shipping, but after getting it i've realized that there is no MOP, i asked them about that and they asked me back "what s mop" ... You can ask for some specific things with pictures, but not too much. Make sure that solid top is solid, ebony is ebony (and not a stained rosewood), silver is silver, gold is gold, make sure that the logo is right or/and covered for customs, and so on. If you are too specific, too detailed, too wordy, too picky and annoying (like me ;) they will just block you and will spread the message to other sellers, kind of . Most of their pickups are harsh, noisy and thin, but it all depends on your future plans, money, ears,... Now they make even high-end, high quality acoustics (and not cheap). Anyways, most of the guitars are made in China ... ;) www.aliexpress.com/item/32845812249.html?spm=a2g0s.imconversation.0.0.39fe3e5fvbcy6P www.aliexpress.com/item/32818186744.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000013.1.5c7162bchrqo0p&gps-id=pcDetailBottomMoreThisSeller&scm=1007.13339.146401.0&scm_id=1007.13339.146401.0&scm-url=1007.13339.146401.0&pvid=6f950647-b26f-4aaa-98f3-302aace6d6d4 That's what i plan on buying, but some people scared me a bit with all those double-tross, bad bridges,.. I will compare those with other models, sellers and prices and i will decide calmly... Desperation, being in a hurry, going too cheap - never good.
Man I've been following your last few vids on this and soon gonna pull the trigger....but like yours. I love that autumn glo and I dig the Walnutglo So hopefully they can handle that. Thank you for sharing this info. - Rick :)
Wow, that new one looks great! I'm thinking if I drop authentic Rick pickups into one, it will nearly sonically identical. Good to see they're making neck-thru designs! I'll have to order one.
Hey dude! Thank you for making a video like this. I’m thinking of ordering one of these from aliexpress. I love the Rickenbacker style but I’m a college student so I don’t have money. I’ve never modded a guitar before or had one modded. Do you think it would be easy to get one modded?
All the best, I hope you get your hands on a good one! As for modding it really depends on what you want done I'd say if your a hands on kinda person and do your reaserch than it's not too difficult :)
I bought it from a seller called Four Corner Guitar Store on AliExpress.com, unfortunately I can't send the a link as the seller has long since disappeared from the site
Hey man! This bass looks and sound absoloutely cool. I have 2 questions. First question is where did you buy it? Second is could you play a few riff with that "Motörhead" tone?😀 Very nice video overall.
thankyou ! I bought it off AliExpress.com , the original seller is gone from that site, but you can find similar ones on these haha sure if I get time in the next week or so (might be a while, life's a bit hectic at the moment) I'll see if I can record some Motorhead tones :) I'm a big fan of em'
Nice Color. I'm getting an actual Rickenbacker bass next week :D. If you were to get a Rickenbacker, what color would you get? I like the Fireglo finish 🔥. Good video also 👍
thanks man! wow I'm super jealous haha :) hard to say... I do love burst / glow effects, but I'm a huge Chris Squire fan so I may go with a solid cream colour like his bass, Then again, I've also loved ones done in a teal, blue colour so I may go with that
Chivas The Bass Player I bought the fireglow real Rickenbacker a couples years ago. Love that color. I also bought the chinenbacker a couple years ago, same color. To tell the truth, the Chinese Rickenbacker is sturdier and sounds better, it’s thicker, heavier - maybe that adds to the nice sound. I didn’t change anything on the chickenBacker! $250 instead of $2250 oh well
Jakub's House of ROCK damn $15,000 for cream CS Rickenbacker, and dude the amount of money youre spending on fake ricks and modifying them, like i know this new chickenbacker is at least $600, you coulda got a real one by now lolll
If only ! haha.. seriously the Real ones are super expensive, especially on my side of the world.. (with the exchange rate being so bad when comparing AUD to USD ) I'd still be no where near getting the real thing if i used the money from the Chickenbackers and what I spent on parts...
Jakub's House of ROCK damn thats very true, not only converting but import charges... sorry for assuming i know AUS rickenbacker market! 🤷🏻♂️ as long as youre enjoying the bass brother!!
Do you think the pricing is fine for them ive seen them go for 350 or more. Cuz i wanted a rickenbacker for while to and i know this would be the closest i can get.
I think it's worth it for sure, at least if you're keen on a Rickenbacker style guitar, and don't mind tinkering a bit with it to get the most out of it, especially considering how insanely high the real things go for... yes, you can probably get a better instrument out of the box if you go for a Squire or Harley Benton, or Artist Guitars or something like that for the money, but nowhere will you find anything resembling a Rick like this... even with investing allot into modding this one, it still is next to nothing compared to the price of a genuine one, and i'd argue almost just as good ! sorry for the very late reply... I hope that helped
@@jakubshouseofrock7109 Thank you so much. This might be the first thing i will save up for when i start working. Then later one i might save up for the real thing.ill let you know if i ever get it.thank you.
haha ! cool!, funny thing is i asked them to make it out of solid cream binding, but they made it with the zebra stripe pattern, I think it looks really cool either way though :)
It does sound like a Rickenbacker though. The thing you're talkin about with the wood settling actually holds true on real Rickenbacker's as well. I really didn't like my Rickenbacker the first year I owned it. Then all of a sudden about a year later the sound and tone started to tighten up and a lot of the buzz went away.
the bass needed some minor tweaking to get 'em in, but nothing too tricky. I likely went over it in some of my other videos detailing the modding process...
5.7 cm at the 12th fret. A real Ric is 5.4 cm at the 12th fret. And the higher on the neck, the wider these get. This is my biggest issue with the Chinese copies. One of my favorite features about a Rickenbacker is that the neck doesn't get very much wider as you go up the neck. The copies all seem to have more Fender like dimensions.
Most us rickenbackers are rose wood,interms of the finger board, some models have maple finger boards,The 5 string models made as of 2018, have a carribian rose wood finger board
haha! no they're definitely not left over stock, the specs though getting closer to the real thing are still way off.. I bet these are made in the same factory as the Harley Benton Rickenbackerish Basses though, they appear to have the same hardware, but only a slightly different shape
My 4001 is 1.5/8” in thickness. Hope that helps. Don’t do metric. Also don’t know about 4003s but I guess they are the same. The neck is 3 piece and 5 pieces at the headstock with the wings. The bottom of the heel terminates just under 1/4” below the bottom horn. The scratch plate on yours is too wide at the top. You can get a free accurate template or buy one from picguardian look em up. I’ve also seen 3D truss covers for sale on FB marketplace, not genuine of course.
I noticed that when I was a stereo Jack haven't seen that. Have you seen the Walnut ones. There's two of them ones like 420 and the other ones like 280 I can't tell if they are different. A lot of them showreel Rickenbacker's in the pictures.
sorry for the late reply... yeah the 2 jack ones are more recent and less common for these basses I have seen the walnut ones, and they look gorgeous ! yeah I wouldn't' trust a seller with photos of a real rick... but they come up a lot
No Doubt, I have a 95 mapleglo but it's seen better days I played it all through college. One day I'll probably get another one. Yeah they are retarded expensive, but if you keep it in good condition they double in value every 20 years. When I first started playing bass they were only $800.
That specific seller has dissapeard from Aliexpress since making this video, which is common for seller on there.. Your best bet is just to search there and find annother well rated seller that's selling these Good luck! :)
I just got one after carefully browsing various listings and comparing pictures. The one I chose to buy was about $100 more than other listings and I went with that one because it looked more like a real Rick. It arrived today and I am very disappointed. It's not even close to looking like the picture. There is no truss rod cover at all, the frets are different, the fretboard material is different, the bridge pickup is in a different location, the knobs are different and the neck heel is much larger. I think the binding is different too. My seller ripped me off. I've opened a dispute for a partial refund but I doubt anything will come of it.
Damn sorry to hear about that :( these can be really hit and miss Some listings literally use stock photos of real Ricks, I would avoid those and only buy from sellers with a good rating and another tip to avoid this issue is to ask for a photo of the exact bass you will receive before paying.. They didn't even get the colour right on mine on the first attempt so I rejected it after seeing the photos then they made this one.. Its still not perfect to what I asked fir but close enough... Good luck getting that refund! Be persistent and keep pestering them till you get it
It was from Four Corner Guitar Store on AliExpress, I don't think that seller still exists on there by that name at least.. Try searching "Neck through bass" or "neck thru" and stuff like that and you might find it, bear in mind you can always ask them to customizer instruments, but they may not always do it how you requested the first time ... Good luck!
Both Chickenbacker's you feature have far to wide neck angle compared with a real deal Ric which is almost flat. Tokai with their Rockinbetter manufactured far more accurately their ric bass copy, neck angle, body depth, neck width and neck heel.
Just got my wine red chickenbacker in today and im loving it so far, the strings it came with were worse than barbed wire though lol! I re strung it and i adjusted the truss rod and its already 10x better than it was out of the box. Now I just gotta mess with the saddles and it should be perfect! (until I save up a lil more money for a hipshot bridge) Thanks for inspiring me to get this my dude!
That's awersome :) it's always fantastic to hear when people get good ones Fair warning about replacing the bridge, the Hioshot Rickenbacker replacement ones are too low for these Chinese basses, I had to heavily modify mine in order to get it to work on this bass Something like a stock fender style bass bridge would work better (though look less cool)
@@jakubshouseofrock7109- Thank you for the tip. I’ve also ordered one and it’s on its way. On arrival I’ll have a set of Rotosounds at the ready, and I expect a little setup. For string buzz at certain frets I recommend picking up a fret crowning file & fret rocker. It’s easy to do, and in my opinion it’s as essential as rosining up on a bow.
@@Bikewithlove thanks for the tip ! :) yeah I've been meaning to do that for ages, well actually I'm planning on doing a full fret-level. I've been putting off learning how to level a guitar/bass for way too long ! but I've gathered the supplies and watched heaps of tutorials so I'll definitely give it a go in the near future.
@@jimrindgen6292 sorry for the late reply (i didn't get a notification of your last one) I asked for an Autumn Burst and sent them photos of real Ricks in that colour
I would but the original seller is no longer on AliExpress Your best bet is to browse on there for similar ones I think they all come from the same factory any way so it shouldn't be hard to get the same thing...
@@jakubshouseofrock7109 it's so bad, all of them are 22 frets copies, which modifies the location of the grilled pickup!!! :( the tone can't be accurate
@@bapt_andthebasses yeah unfortunately these can be a bit harder to find, it's worth asking some of the sellers if they'd customize it for you, which they're usually open to
Not true actually... maybe in places like the US, but here in Australia even the cheapest Ricks cost well over what I spent in total on these two basses...
@@handwriting8804 damn! i'm jealous! Here you'd be lucky to find one for $2000 at cheapest, not to mention the import/postage costs (we don't have them stoked anywhere locally) typically they're listed in the 3-4000 $ range
I know right ! it sounds even closer now with the new pickups ! (check my Rick-O-Sound video if you want to heat that) thanks for checking out the review !
Let the bass acclimate. I have purchased several basses from Japan and Korea. Very important to let them sit and acclimate for a few week if you buy overseas.
That neck is way wide for a Ric. Not fun to play. I have a 5 string that wide. Keep working on that Yes material, you will get it nice and smooth in time. Practice it slowly to a metronome and play it cleanly with good articulation. Then speed it up bit by bit. Things have never been this easy for new players. I had no internet in the 70s when I started. You used your ears. Cheap gear was usually pretty bad.
My ChickenBacker sounds better than my real one, and I haven’t changed anything on the chickenBacker. The chickenBacker is heavier than my real Rickenbacker, it’s about 1/4” thicker.
Wow really? that's really interesting, the stock pickups on these Chickenbackers are actually really decent once you've got their height set up properly mines a tad thicker then a genuine Rick too... thanks for checking out the video and commenting! you're lucky to have a real one :)
I've been pretty keen to mess around with a kit for a long time, but unfortunately I don't really have a good work space, the tools, or honestly even the time to work on one hopefully in the future though ! luckily this bass is great, especially with a few mods thanks for checking out the video man !
I don't know how to word this without sounding like a dick... but do you think you could do a demo of this bass with Rotosound jazz bass 77 flatwound strings? I know that the 4001s couldn't handle the high tension of those strings and the necks on them would become irreparably bowed over time (that's what happened to roger waters' Rickenbacker), and also some cheaper basses sound like shit with flats on.
sorry for the super late reply.... nah sorry bro, I'd like to help but Rotosounds are super expensive for me, so I wouldn't order a set unless I had a really good reason, and even then I'd likely order their "swing bass 66" strings as I like a nice bright punchy tone and don't really go for flatwounds
no sadly that specific seller has long since Disappeared from AliExpress, or more likey they now go by a different name or something.. your best bet is to search on there till you find similar ones or ask other guitar builders on there for a custom made one goodluck !
@@jakubshouseofrock7109 They are usually the same factories, they tend to change their Aliexpress name stores because of counterfit. I bought mine today, can't wait to have it in my hands :)
If they made it in the exact Rickenbacker specs then they would most certainly get their asses sued! You can't expect them to do that. They're making a look a like, not the real thing.
If I could get hold of one of these I could be happy. I'm fucked if I'll pay £2500 for a guitar designed in the '60's for fuck knows how long I have to wait, that let's face it is shit compared even to the Tokai's of the '80's the Musicmans of the '90's and the Fender MiJ's going forward. This is a lazy company trading on the 'Made In USA' logo too long. Times move on, 'Made in China' may indeed be laughable now but so is 'Made in USA', We laugh at the quality they export from their car plants, many sent back as they won't pass the EU tests, the meat thats allowed into our market is shite, the global view of the US is quite stark, but to still try to trade off the USA label without any kind of real development into the guitar is trading on dreams. The thing is with dreams is when you wake up, many times you can't remember them. Risky.
Here's the problem with Rickenbacker, they have priced them out of reach of most bassist. Therefore, even the used ones are usually well over a grand. And the real older ones, way out of reach. They are not much different over the decades, so price increases are questionable over those decades. Build them for under a grand and they will come, AND the lawsuits will wind up being less. I am fortunate to be able to afford either new or very old BUT I have put off buying one for this very reason, the prices are not reasonable. And I believe in this saying....a fool and his money will soon part. 2 months ago (edited)
I couldn't agree more ! the funny thing is despite this I still get comments of people saying ''why don't you just get a real one, if you sold your other basses you could afford it..." which first of all is false... the rest of my guitars don't even come close to the price of a real Rick... and even if they did, I like having lots of basses/guitars and I think the price of a real Rick is very unreasonable too ! haha thanks for your comment and checking out the video ! ( i'm really jealous that you can afford one ! haha )
Vintage guitars are only worth what people are willing to pay. Its the new ones being expensive thats ridiculous. Its just for name. In the old days they were better quality and more reasonably priced. Even adjusted for inflation. No you pay the same or more for less quality
Is it? or is it just jealousy that my hand wrist and fingers get to be positioned on this fine bass in the first place? ! Haha, thanks for commenting and checking out the video regardless. Also thanks Scott! I defiantly agree that what works and is comfortable for different people is entirely subjective and varries person to person, the way I play works for me really well, and though I'm not great at the theoretical side of it, I can play anything i do know with ease, comfort and precision
@@rael6168 I didn't know you were the authority of how to properly place hands while playing... SMDH Again, it's down to what's comfortable for the player. Stop being a jackass about it.
@@rael6168 Thanks for your suggestion but I have looked into "correct" hand placement and all of that in the past but I've determined that I'm honestly very happy and comfortable playing it the way I do, even very experienced and well known musicians have their own unique way of playing their instrument, there's no one "correct way" , it may be a good starting point but we all develop and change the way we play to the way that works best for us.
Why a joke? They're actually extremely rare here in Australia, you'll never see them in guitar stores, I think the only way to get them here is to import them from the US
I've been playing bass for 20 years and have NEVER even seen a real Rick other than when I saw Motorhead live,their so exspensive that some of us side musicians and hobbyists can't justify spending the money on the real thing,and even if I could myself ever have the money to buy one I'd rather spend a couple hundred and not have to insure the damned thing,the fakes break who cares,if you break a real one you'll have to remortgage your house to fix it,just don't make sense to me where as these chickenbackers are right up my alley🤘
@@aarondavis4341 yeah I totally agree! And lucky! I always wanted to but never got the chance to see Motothead live, but I've seen rickenbackers on stage a handful of times, I was fortunate to see Yes live in 2014 before Chris Squires passing and naturally he was playing his classic cream coloured Rick bass, and one or two local bands use em' But I've never seen one in a store (used or new,) and dbout I ever will here...
@@micksly6742 thats true, I agree that ideally it would be allot better to have both in hand to compare... I did the best with what I had, using my reaserch on the specks of the real ones and just going over my thoughts of this one as a bass in general.. I could have just as easily (more so actually) not even filmed and uploaded this review at all, but doing so helps out everyone who's curious about these Chickenbackers
Rickenbacker is missing a huge market, they should have their own Squier or Epiphone.
Exactly ! it would be so awesome if they did !
I disagree. They just should drop their prices from 2200 to 1700, because that's what they're really worth.
@@dunkelwelpling that's still way way way... More than I, and allot of other people could ever afford to spend on a bass, I think them having a line like Squire or Epiphone would help far more people.
@@jakubshouseofrock7109 Well then just safe up, it will take a while, but you'll get there. Don't buying unnecessary stuff that you don't need, like cigarettes for example, will make the progress faster. Honestly, i understand if people complain that the Rickenbacker isn't worth 2200, but complaining that 1700 is too much, although the price would be fair in this case is a real low blow. Don't be a cheap fuck! I find it awesome that Rickenbacker decided against a cheaper model that sucks and makes use out of low pay foreign countries.
@@dunkelwelpling c'mon maaan. I agree. RIC should just make a cheaper brand like what Fender and Gibson did. I'd buy a Chickenbacker on the strength of the design alone.
PLEASE DON'T ASK WHICH SELLER I BOUGHT IT FROM...
I get way to many of these messages...
I bought it from a seller called Four Corner Guitar Store on AliExpress.com, unfortunately I can't send you guys a link as the seller has long since disappeared from the site. Your best bet is to just search AliExpress for a similar bass. Key words like "neck through" "neck thru" "4003 bass" ect... seem to work well to find these types of basses on there.
Goodluck !
Hope you all enjoy ! For you impatient people, the demo stats at 38:10 :)
I just wanted to apologise for the awkward editing in this video, It was already way to long so I was trying to cut out all of the times I say "umm" or pause to long... ect... So the video's a bit jumpy, but more to the point.
What kind of bridge (model, where from, price) did you put instead of that wonky one? Thanks!
@@DenisVolga it was a Hipshot Rickenbacker replacement bridge, It's a very good bridge, but I actually wouldn't recommend one for one of these, unless you're ready to do some tinkering...
This bass needs a slightly taller bridge then a reall Rick, so I had to shim the whole bridge up with a slab of aluminium... you can see the finished bridge installed in my video on Rick-O-Sound
It looks great. Sounds like the real one. Maybe even more powerful xD. Chinese ...they are getting closer and closer.
Main takeaways from my neck through Chickenbacker:
1. I got the natural finish for the same reason you got your finish, to confirm it was an actual neck through. Happy to see it is, although the neck heel could be a bit shorter.
2. The neck pickup, however nice sounding, is VERY microphonic. I use picks, so when I use one while using that pickup and accidentally hit it, you DEFINITELY notice it.
3. The bride pickup is set REALLY low. I tried to raise it, but turns out the holes for the screws were bigger than the screws itself, so I had to put electrical tape in them to get a grip on the screws. Also, it was a pain to get the springs back on the screws, so I resorted (probably stupidly) to cut the springs down a bit to get them to work.
4. The bridge itself is a mystery box I could do without, honestly. I have yet to get the action right on it, although that could be due to the frets not being level and not the bridge itself. I will be bringing it to a friend of mine who works on guitars to confirm this.
Aside from all this, I am very pleased with it. It sounds great, and some tinkering has made it play reasonably well. I have you to thank for me biting the bullet on getting it. Great bass for the value.
Great summary man! matches my conclusions almost perfectly too
This is an impressive model. I'm digging the neck-thru piece and the fact that there is only 21 frets, typically the other copies have 23 which is a dead giveaway against the real ones. Looks great! Might need one myself
it's totally worth it :) thanks for cheking out the video
You didn't notice the inlays around the body. The inlays in the body is the checker board pattern that rickenbacker stop making in the 70s, having it is rare, that's an awesome plus!!!
Haha I did knoticed that
I actually asked for solid cream coloured inlays but the checkered ones are still really cool :)
God knows why more companies don't do Rickenbacker bass copies, especially Ibanez. The guys in the Jam and Joy Division started out with Ibanez Rickenbacker copies until they could afford the real thing! Rics look amazing and any band whose bass player uses one always gets a look in from me!
Same here! Haha
Love the sound and look of em, I wish we had more options too
It was actually a hondo
I have a question that I don’t know if you can still answer: Do you know how long it took for this bass to reach you? I know from prior experience buying things from these types of websites typically means long shipment times.
It took manny months for them to build the bass (because i asked for certain customizations ... ) but the actual shipping time was about average speed for something from China, so just over a month
Hey Jakub. How are the two Chickenbackers holding up? I’ve heard reports of necks twisting and bowing leading to the bass becoming unplayable. Have yours remained stable? Also, are the original bridges a pile of crap?
thanks for asking !
my original black one has been striped for parts to augment this one haha so she's been out of action for a while
but this ones' been holding up good, i've modded out some of the hardware and the electronics to make it as close to a real Rick as possible, and it's been sounding great though it's hard to say whether the necks bowed or not, It's needed fret level and a proper setup from the get go.. but I've gotten advice to wait about half a year at least before attempting a proper fret level so that the wood settles (since this bass was built to order..) so iv'e just been playing it with fairly high string action to compensate in the mean time, but since it's a neck-through bass and the neck is made of multiple pieces of laminated wood, it should theoretically be very stable so I don't think it's bowed at all since I got it
The original bride isn't a pile of crap, it did the job, and when you get to know it, you can get it set up really well, I only changed mine because someone sent me a Hipshot one, which while superior quality, isn't designed for these Chinese basses so i had to do some massive tinkering to get it to work ...
if you're thinking of getting one i'd recommend either sticking with the stock bridge, maybe even slightly modifying it (I have a video on that ;) ) or using something like a typical fender style bridge, though that won't nearly as accurate ...
because sadly it looks like bridges designed for actual Rick basses have their maximum height set too low for these copies
anyway hope that helps
I’ve had one for 3 years… no neck issues.
Are the ones from AliExpress the same ones from Dhgate? Your fretboard looks like my Ibanez tmb 310 board which is made of jatoba,also did you get charged for the factory mods?
I haven't been on Dhgate but from what I've heard they are...
Yeah it's either that or a thin layer of lacker making it look darker
Yes the mods did cost more but they ignored some of them unfortunately...
I haven't been on Dhgate but from what I've heard they are...
Yeah it's either that or a thin layer of lacker making it look darker
Yes the mods did cost more but they ignored some of them unfortunately...
Great review. My custom chickenbacker also had buzzing issues. I had to raise the action quite a bit to take care of it. Did you ever do the fret leveling? Let me know if it worked, as I'm considering doing that with mine.
I haven't yet, but it's on my massively long "to do" list... I know that it definitely will help with the buzzing on mine.
in the mean time I've got the action fairly high to compensate too, as well as the bass tuned down to C# Standard, which helps loosen the sting pressure while the action is high, so it's much more comfortable to play
Hope you can help here, how were you able to identify which was a neck through build? I have seen many on AliExpress, but none specifically mention that they are "neck through".
usually it will specify in the listing, i'm seeing a few on their now that do say it..
but you can tell by looking at the wood grain , and by the heel joint of the bass
if the heel joint of the neck is flush with the back of the basses body than it's likely a through neck, but if the neck is not flush with the body, (picture the heel joint on a typical bolt on Fender neck or something like that, but obviously not bolted on) than it's likely a set neck
I hope that both made sense and was helpful...
I got a real Rickenbacker 4003 (left handed btw) and it took me forever to save up but it was a goal of mine to get one since it was my dream bass and I can't ever see myself letting it go. This copy, is pretty darn close to the real deal and that's really impressive. Little fun fact, for whatever reason, Rickenbacker has always made left handed truss rod covers in 2D rather than 3D. Not sure why right handed basses get the 3D treatment but 2D truss rod covers have been a thing with every lefty Rickenbacker I've played.
hey jakub! is the hipshot bridge a straight swap for the stock one, or did you have to drill new holes? cheers
no, the main issue wasn't even the screw spacing or anything like that, but the Hipshot one was too low... I had to cut a 5mm aluminum plate into the shape of the bridge so i could put it under it and raise the whole thing... it was a bit of a process, but worth it in the end
yes the screws, and the actual positioning of the Hipshot bridge is different to the stock Chickenbacker ones
@@jakubshouseofrock7109 does the chickenbacker have the bridge area routed out like on a proper rickenbacker? or is it just the flat body? thanks for the info, very helpful
@@andrewkelly1942 these have a totally flat body, no rout out for the bridge
Reason I’m asking about which seller you got it from is that I ordered one from China last year and they never sent it. I had to go through a bit of a hassle to get my money back. So as you can imagine, I’m a bit nervous about trying it again but it seems like you had a good experience.
sorry to hear that man... yeah it can be a bit risky buying from there, but sometimes it's worth it
as I stated in the pinned comment, I bought it from a seller called Four Corner Guitar Store on AliExpress.com, unfortunately I can't send you a link as the seller has long since disappeared from the site...
Good luck on your next bass if you're still willing to attempt buying one. Sellers on the site have a total rating, based on people's reviews of them, so I'd make sure you buy from one with a high rating to be sure
Is the manufacturer KSG (Ken Shi)? I am really tempted to give it a shot but I just want to make sure it's worth it ☺️
I’ve always planned on getting an Ali-Express Rick clone but waited for them to get better. This one looks almost like the real deal, aside from the finger board and other minor things. Do you still have the link to this bass? Also, what modifications did you ask for to get it looking that good? I’m looking for a neck through that looks something like that but I can’t seem to find anything.
Gosh Josh he has said the store was Four Corner Guitar Store (i believe), he said this in another reply hope this helps :)
Zaztah_OP RoS thank you very much! Also, thank you for being positive and helpful instead of unnecessarily rude. I really appreciate it!
Gosh Josh to help further, that guitar store may be out of business as i can’t find it anywhere, but i’m on the same hunt for a good chickenbacker, and if you search for a neck thru rickenbacker you can find a lot of seemingly good ones.
Hi! Sorry this is so late, but I plan on buying one of these Chickenbackers from a site like DHGate or Aliexpress and giving it the Cliff Burton treatment, but I’m not sure on what the best seller would be. Could I get some tips? I plan on replacing the pickups and bridge and then taking it to my music store to have it set up and possibly even get a new nut depending on the stock one. Could I please get some tips?!
sorry for the late reply too...
I'm not sure what tips to give, you seem to have a good plan.
I'd say research he differences between these and genuine Ricks, that way you'll know which knock off ones are the closest to the real deal.
Try to buy from sellers that have good ratings/reviews on those sites,
prepare to wait a long long time for these, as they're often made to order...
and enjoy !
The Ali Ric makers are fine with one or two "custom" elements. They'll change colors, headstock angles, add or subtract f-holes, that sort of thing. They are NOT a custom shop nor do they claim to be. They're in the business of selling $300 copies of $3000 guitars. When a $300 325 copy grosses them about $225 after the free shipping, they might net $100 on the thing. Not bad, but you don't agonize over a guitar for a hundred bucks. I've owned six and for the most part, they are fantastic "for what you pay".
that's an interesting point
it's a bit annoying still because in their listing they said they can modify it and tailor it to whatever specifications the customer wants...
I specifically gave them a list of things I wanted them to do, and ask them "can you do these customisation" they said "yes" and billed me extra individually for every modification... only later when i pointed out that they didn't do them, did they send me a minor discount...
Regardless I do agree they are great for the money
@@jakubshouseofrock7109 I've heard that and, sadly, that's the "shady" side of the Ali experience. Promising everything, charging for it and doing what they want is quite similar to their hit-or-miss QC. They know that no one is going to pay to send it back so they have a pretty much captive audience. Good luck with the channel and enjoy them for what they are.
That’s the one thing keeping me pulling the trigger is the damn shipping. 80$ is rough
@@tracesbasses2423 that's odd... maybe try a different seller ? I got free shipping on mine
@@jakubshouseofrock7109
There's no such thing as "free shipping" the shipping is always priced in to the total price.
i have wanted a rickenbacker bass for over 10 years now but have always been scared away by the over $3k price where i live. I ordered one of these recently and really excited to get it. Done tons of bass modding on the basses i own. Looking forward to modding this one. I ordered the same one shown here, it doesnt have the the dual jacks but im not too worried about it.
sweet ! I'm sure it'll come out very nice !
@@jakubshouseofrock7109 one thing i recommend if you havent done already is to replace the tone bridge bezel with one from a real rickenbacker. I found that the tone pickup was too far from the strings. The factory rick' bezels bump out where the pickup attaches; which will allow the pickup to be moved closer to the strings. Im going to replace this pickup with a "retrovibe" rick pickup, but getting it closer is an added bonus. I also think the raised bezel looks cooler.
Where did you get that one ? There's a bunch of shops on Ali that sells 4003s copies, but I heard a lot of them were pretty shady, so by now, I'm trying to figure out which one would be serious enough to actually buy a bass from them. I'd be happy if you had advice on that, Jakub !
There's also something weird : I'm chatting with a guy from an AliExpress shop (apretty reactive and reliable one, I must say) but they don't use maple for the body, since he asks for which specs I wanted... And he told me the body would be built using mahogany. That kidna surprises me, you or another youtuber doing a video about a Chickenbacker was told he would get a mahogany body, but he ended up getting some shady wood, like plywood... The guy I talk with looks pretty serious, and takes time to ask me what I want, discuss it with some engineer, and then responds to me, but that mahogany thing can be a scam, I guess...
Which factory/store did you get it from? There's a fair few on ali express
They were called Four Corner Guitar store
They're no longer on there sadly, At least by that name
You're gonna have to try to find a good rated seller from one of the other ones
Good luck!
which seller did you buy from? I'd like to get one, but I'm only seeing the old less accurate style
they were called Four Corner Guitar store, i think they are no longer on AliExpress, at least by that name sadly though, you may just have to keep searching, use key words like ''neck through'' or alternate spelling like '' neck thru '' and you will hopefully find some
you can also ask most of the seller to customize yours a bit so if they don't have what you want they may make it for you, be weary though, they can be sloppy with customizing and leave out some of the stuff you request, so make sure you're happy with the photos they send and be firm before confirming that it's good to post to you
goodluck ! and sorry for the late reply
Yeah, i agree with Jakub. If you feel like they don't understand you well, or even if their is not good, take your time, have a break, search more later. Mainly they talk with pictures. For one of the guitars i very specifically asked for a specific stein with Visible wood grain - nhaa; also they "confirmed" M.O.P. (mother of pearl), i didn't see it on photos before shipping, but after getting it i've realized that there is no MOP, i asked them about that and they asked me back "what s mop" ... You can ask for some specific things with pictures, but not too much. Make sure that solid top is solid, ebony is ebony (and not a stained rosewood), silver is silver, gold is gold, make sure that the logo is right or/and covered for customs, and so on. If you are too specific, too detailed, too wordy, too picky and annoying (like me ;) they will just block you and will spread the message to other sellers, kind of . Most of their pickups are harsh, noisy and thin, but it all depends on your future plans, money, ears,... Now they make even high-end, high quality acoustics (and not cheap). Anyways, most of the guitars are made in China ... ;)
www.aliexpress.com/item/32845812249.html?spm=a2g0s.imconversation.0.0.39fe3e5fvbcy6P
www.aliexpress.com/item/32818186744.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000013.1.5c7162bchrqo0p&gps-id=pcDetailBottomMoreThisSeller&scm=1007.13339.146401.0&scm_id=1007.13339.146401.0&scm-url=1007.13339.146401.0&pvid=6f950647-b26f-4aaa-98f3-302aace6d6d4
That's what i plan on buying, but some people scared me a bit with all those double-tross, bad bridges,.. I will compare those with other models, sellers and prices and i will decide calmly... Desperation, being in a hurry, going too cheap - never good.
Man I've been following your last few vids on this and soon gonna pull the trigger....but like yours. I love that autumn glo and I dig the Walnutglo So hopefully they can handle that. Thank you for sharing this info.
- Rick :)
That sounds awesome man! I hope they can too, those walnut ones look really nice too
Thanks so much for checking out the vids :)
Wow, that new one looks great! I'm thinking if I drop authentic Rick pickups into one, it will nearly sonically identical. Good to see they're making neck-thru designs! I'll have to order one.
That's what I did and it sounds great ! :)
I have a question .....does it have the mute system that you original Rick has ? Thank you
you mean the foam mute on the bridge?
no
(sorry for the super late reply... I missed this comment in my notifications)
Have a best up but restored Hondo II fireglo copy - luv it!!!
Just quick question : any problems with the wood(body&neck) at present time?
I've had no issues since getting it luckily
Hey dude! Thank you for making a video like this. I’m thinking of ordering one of these from aliexpress. I love the Rickenbacker style but I’m a college student so I don’t have money. I’ve never modded a guitar before or had one modded. Do you think it would be easy to get one modded?
I'm in the same situation man
All the best, I hope you get your hands on a good one!
As for modding it really depends on what you want done
I'd say if your a hands on kinda person and do your reaserch than it's not too difficult :)
Looks great! What seller did you get it from on Ali express?
I bought it from a seller called Four Corner Guitar Store on AliExpress.com, unfortunately I can't send the a link as the seller has long since disappeared from the site
Hey man! This bass looks and sound absoloutely cool. I have 2 questions. First question is where did you buy it? Second is could you play a few riff with that "Motörhead" tone?😀 Very nice video overall.
thankyou !
I bought it off AliExpress.com , the original seller is gone from that site, but you can find similar ones on these
haha sure if I get time in the next week or so (might be a while, life's a bit hectic at the moment) I'll see if I can record some Motorhead tones :) I'm a big fan of em'
How much does the bass weigh? Price?
Nice Color. I'm getting an actual Rickenbacker bass next week :D. If you were to get a Rickenbacker, what color would you get? I like the Fireglo finish 🔥. Good video also 👍
thanks man! wow I'm super jealous haha :)
hard to say... I do love burst / glow effects, but I'm a huge Chris Squire fan so I may go with a solid cream colour like his bass,
Then again, I've also loved ones done in a teal, blue colour so I may go with that
Chivas The Bass Player I bought the fireglow real Rickenbacker a couples years ago. Love that color. I also bought the chinenbacker a couple years ago, same color. To tell the truth, the Chinese Rickenbacker is sturdier and sounds better, it’s thicker, heavier - maybe that adds to the nice sound. I didn’t change anything on the chickenBacker! $250 instead of $2250 oh well
Jakub's House of ROCK damn $15,000 for cream CS Rickenbacker, and dude the amount of money youre spending on fake ricks and modifying them, like i know this new chickenbacker is at least $600, you coulda got a real one by now lolll
If only ! haha..
seriously the Real ones are super expensive, especially on my side of the world.. (with the exchange rate being so bad when comparing AUD to USD ) I'd still be no where near getting the real thing if i used the money from the Chickenbackers and what I spent on parts...
Jakub's House of ROCK damn thats very true, not only converting but import charges... sorry for assuming i know AUS rickenbacker market! 🤷🏻♂️ as long as youre enjoying the bass brother!!
Do you think the pricing is fine for them ive seen them go for 350 or more. Cuz i wanted a rickenbacker for while to and i know this would be the closest i can get.
I think it's worth it for sure, at least if you're keen on a Rickenbacker style guitar, and don't mind tinkering a bit with it to get the most out of it, especially considering how insanely high the real things go for...
yes, you can probably get a better instrument out of the box if you go for a Squire or Harley Benton, or Artist Guitars or something like that for the money, but nowhere will you find anything resembling a Rick like this...
even with investing allot into modding this one, it still is next to nothing compared to the price of a genuine one, and i'd argue almost just as good !
sorry for the very late reply... I hope that helped
@@jakubshouseofrock7109 Thank you so much. This might be the first thing i will save up for when i start working. Then later one i might save up for the real thing.ill let you know if i ever get it.thank you.
@@pacingtigersbv1786 no worries man
I hope you get a really good one and that you'll be able to get the real thing one day!
where can i buy a better bridge?
Maybe I missed it, but the body looks thicker than original. Is that the case or just the camera?
Yes the body is thicker in these ones
You got the vintage Zebra stripe binding, very rare! Pre 1973 ricks had it.
haha ! cool!, funny thing is i asked them to make it out of solid cream binding, but they made it with the zebra stripe pattern, I think it looks really cool either way though :)
Jakub's House of ROCK Wow you got a rare binding by accident, mine was solid white.
The checkerboard binding on these Chickenbackers are fairly common now, mine has it as well.
That neck to body at rear is massive.
indeed, this bass gotta big booty haha!
It does sound like a Rickenbacker though. The thing you're talkin about with the wood settling actually holds true on real Rickenbacker's as well. I really didn't like my Rickenbacker the first year I owned it. Then all of a sudden about a year later the sound and tone started to tighten up and a lot of the buzz went away.
I don't knoiw--close but it's not quite as "full" for lack of a better term
Yo! So do original Rick pickups slot straight in?
the bass needed some minor tweaking to get 'em in, but nothing too tricky. I likely went over it in some of my other videos detailing the modding process...
5.7 cm at the 12th fret. A real Ric is 5.4 cm at the 12th fret. And the higher on the neck, the wider these get. This is my biggest issue with the Chinese copies. One of my favorite features about a Rickenbacker is that the neck doesn't get very much wider as you go up the neck. The copies all seem to have more Fender like dimensions.
Most us rickenbackers are rose wood,interms of the finger board, some models have maple finger boards,The 5 string models made as of 2018, have a carribian rose wood finger board
I believe that the fret board wood you mentioned as light brown is Indian rosewood 😁
It's bubinga.
Sounds good. Nice bite.
Are those copies, or left-over stock??? Since a lot of big names go to china and make us believe it's made in the u.s.
haha!
no they're definitely not left over stock, the specs though getting closer to the real thing are still way off..
I bet these are made in the same factory as the Harley Benton Rickenbackerish Basses though, they appear to have the same hardware, but only a slightly different shape
@@jakubshouseofrock7109 Thanks...
My 4001 is 1.5/8” in thickness. Hope that helps. Don’t do metric. Also don’t know about 4003s but I guess they are the same. The neck is 3 piece and 5 pieces at the headstock with the wings. The bottom of the heel terminates just under 1/4” below the bottom horn. The scratch plate on yours is too wide at the top. You can get a free accurate template or buy one from picguardian look em up. I’ve also seen 3D truss covers for sale on FB marketplace, not genuine of course.
I noticed that when I was a stereo Jack haven't seen that. Have you seen the Walnut ones. There's two of them ones like 420 and the other ones like 280 I can't tell if they are different. A lot of them showreel Rickenbacker's in the pictures.
sorry for the late reply... yeah the 2 jack ones are more recent and less common for these basses
I have seen the walnut ones, and they look gorgeous !
yeah I wouldn't' trust a seller with photos of a real rick... but they come up a lot
No Doubt, I have a 95 mapleglo but it's seen better days I played it all through college. One day I'll probably get another one. Yeah they are retarded expensive, but if you keep it in good condition they double in value every 20 years. When I first started playing bass they were only $800.
These would be much cooler if they didn't say Rickenbacker. I'd be happier playing a copy with an obscure brand than a straight-up counterfeit.
Please post a link to your seller - looking for 4005 Ricky Bass
That specific seller has dissapeard from Aliexpress since making this video, which is common for seller on there..
Your best bet is just to search there and find annother well rated seller that's selling these
Good luck! :)
The new one has thicker binding I think (it's way more visible)
How much did you pay, including shipping?
i don't remember exactly, around $300 i think, with free shipping from China
Good luck to you mate!🇬🇧 One day you’ll have the real thing. Cheers.
Nice ! Coudl you please tell us from which store you got it ?
I think it was Four Corner Guitar Store on AliExpress.
I can't see the answers!!! WHYYYYY
I just got one after carefully browsing various listings and comparing pictures. The one I chose to buy was about $100 more than other listings and I went with that one because it looked more like a real Rick. It arrived today and I am very disappointed. It's not even close to looking like the picture. There is no truss rod cover at all, the frets are different, the fretboard material is different, the bridge pickup is in a different location, the knobs are different and the neck heel is much larger. I think the binding is different too. My seller ripped me off. I've opened a dispute for a partial refund but I doubt anything will come of it.
Damn sorry to hear about that :(
these can be really hit and miss
Some listings literally use stock photos of real Ricks, I would avoid those and only buy from sellers with a good rating and another tip to avoid this issue is to ask for a photo of the exact bass you will receive before paying.. They didn't even get the colour right on mine on the first attempt so I rejected it after seeing the photos then they made this one.. Its still not perfect to what I asked fir but close enough...
Good luck getting that refund! Be persistent and keep pestering them till you get it
Were did you get it because I can only see the inaccurate one
It was from Four Corner Guitar Store on AliExpress, I don't think that seller still exists on there by that name at least.. Try searching "Neck through bass" or "neck thru" and stuff like that and you might find it, bear in mind you can always ask them to customizer instruments, but they may not always do it how you requested the first time ...
Good luck!
Both Chickenbacker's you feature have far to wide neck angle compared with a real deal Ric which is almost flat. Tokai with their Rockinbetter manufactured far more accurately their ric bass copy, neck angle, body depth, neck width and neck heel.
very true, i've heard allot of good things about those older Japanese copies
thanks for checking out the video !
Just got my wine red chickenbacker in today and im loving it so far, the strings it came with were worse than barbed wire though lol! I re strung it and i adjusted the truss rod and its already 10x better than it was out of the box. Now I just gotta mess with the saddles and it should be perfect! (until I save up a lil more money for a hipshot bridge) Thanks for inspiring me to get this my dude!
That's awersome :) it's always fantastic to hear when people get good ones
Fair warning about replacing the bridge, the Hioshot Rickenbacker replacement ones are too low for these Chinese basses, I had to heavily modify mine in order to get it to work on this bass
Something like a stock fender style bass bridge would work better (though look less cool)
@@jakubshouseofrock7109- Thank you for the tip. I’ve also ordered one and it’s on its way. On arrival I’ll have a set of Rotosounds at the ready, and I expect a little setup. For string buzz at certain frets I recommend picking up a fret crowning file & fret rocker. It’s easy to do, and in my opinion it’s as essential as rosining up on a bow.
@@Bikewithlove thanks for the tip ! :) yeah I've been meaning to do that for ages, well actually I'm planning on doing a full fret-level.
I've been putting off learning how to level a guitar/bass for way too long ! but I've gathered the supplies and watched heaps of tutorials so I'll definitely give it a go in the near future.
Good review and you're a good guy.
thankyou ! :)
Did you custom order that color?
Yes I did
Though it took them a few tries before they got it right
What kind of burst color did you tell them?
@@jimrindgen6292 sorry for the late reply (i didn't get a notification of your last one)
I asked for an Autumn Burst and sent them photos of real Ricks in that colour
can you please provide the link to the store page?
I would but the original seller is no longer on AliExpress
Your best bet is to browse on there for similar ones
I think they all come from the same factory any way so it shouldn't be hard to get the same thing...
@@jakubshouseofrock7109 it's so bad, all of them are 22 frets copies, which modifies the location of the grilled pickup!!! :( the tone can't be accurate
@@bapt_andthebasses yeah unfortunately these can be a bit harder to find, it's worth asking some of the sellers if they'd customize it for you, which they're usually open to
Agreed! Seems the only way a poor joe like me can afford! And receive it a lot faster!
where can I buy it
AliExpress.com
that bass sounds really good!!
Thankyou!
can you gave us a link for it??
No sadly
As I've detailed in the pinned comment, the seller I bought this from is no longer on AliExpress
Where did you get the truss rod cover?
it came with the bass, i've seen them sold on their own on AliExpress too
thanks for checking out the video !
Don't fret. For years you could custom order an ebony fretboard and still can. I had one in the early 80s. 360/6
With how much money you've spent on those two basses and the mods you probably could have bought a 1981 4001
Not true actually... maybe in places like the US, but here in Australia even the cheapest Ricks cost well over what I spent in total on these two basses...
@@jakubshouseofrock7109 oh yeah, I didn't even take that in to consideration. Here a player grade 80/81 rick is like 1,200 dollars.
@@handwriting8804 damn! i'm jealous!
Here you'd be lucky to find one for $2000 at cheapest, not to mention the import/postage costs (we don't have them stoked anywhere locally) typically they're listed in the 3-4000 $ range
@@handwriting8804 In that case, my videos are probably useless to you, and you're better off buying one of those!
@@jakubshouseofrock7109 yeah, still like your videos though, very informative
HOW HAVE YOU GOT THAT EVIL DOGHEAD! Thats from that famous picture! NO WAY! ACES!
I made him in high school :) he's called Woolfy
he's a good boy
a genuine, used rickenbacker here in brasil costs 12 or 13 times more than a aliexpress one. Serious considering getting one of those
vale muito a pena
I own a Rickenbacker with a glued on neck, 77 4000
Use Pyramid flat wound strings , they sound awesome on this bass!
420 subs dude!
It's way more than I eve expected haha!
That sounds freakishly like the real thing man forget paying for a real rick
I know right ! it sounds even closer now with the new pickups ! (check my Rick-O-Sound video if you want to heat that)
thanks for checking out the review !
Jakub's House of ROCK I’ll have to check it out, could you link where you bought this bass?
Let the bass acclimate. I have purchased several basses from Japan and Korea. Very important to let them sit and acclimate for a few week if you buy overseas.
I had the same problem taking a Canadian guitar to Korea. Different climate turned the neck into a lasagna noodle.
Rice'n'backer
haha, thanks for checking out the video
Sound nice!!!!
yes it dose :) thanks for checking out the video !
That neck is way wide for a Ric. Not fun to play. I have a 5 string that wide. Keep working on that Yes material, you will get it nice and smooth in time. Practice it slowly to a metronome and play it cleanly with good articulation. Then speed it up bit by bit. Things have never been this easy for new players. I had no internet in the 70s when I started. You used your ears. Cheap gear was usually pretty bad.
That make’s it a set neck only US versions are neck through.
No, this one is a neck through.
you can get both set necks, and neck through ones from China
Oh I just subscribed too
You tried custom ordering a chickenbacker? Haha. Dat funny!
My ChickenBacker sounds better than my real one, and I haven’t changed anything on the chickenBacker. The chickenBacker is heavier than my real Rickenbacker, it’s about 1/4” thicker.
Wow really? that's really interesting, the stock pickups on these Chickenbackers are actually really decent once you've got their height set up properly
mines a tad thicker then a genuine Rick too...
thanks for checking out the video and commenting!
you're lucky to have a real one :)
Could you tell me which store you got yours from?
arcanefrontier I bought mine off AliExpress, not sure which exact store.
Find a good rickenbacker kit and build it with new components
I've been pretty keen to mess around with a kit for a long time, but unfortunately I don't really have a good work space, the tools, or honestly even the time to work on one
hopefully in the future though !
luckily this bass is great, especially with a few mods
thanks for checking out the video man !
I don't know how to word this without sounding like a dick... but do you think you could do a demo of this bass with Rotosound jazz bass 77 flatwound strings? I know that the 4001s couldn't handle the high tension of those strings and the necks on them would become irreparably bowed over time (that's what happened to roger waters' Rickenbacker), and also some cheaper basses sound like shit with flats on.
sorry for the super late reply....
nah sorry bro, I'd like to help but Rotosounds are super expensive for me, so I wouldn't order a set unless I had a really good reason, and even then I'd likely order their "swing bass 66" strings as I like a nice bright punchy tone and don't really go for flatwounds
@@jakubshouseofrock7109 oh shit bro I didn't even remember commenting this lmao.
Yeah they're like 60 bucks a set totally understandable homie.
you have the seller link, I thought it was beautiful :)
no sadly that specific seller has long since Disappeared from AliExpress, or more likey they now go by a different name or something..
your best bet is to search on there till you find similar ones or ask other guitar builders on there for a custom made one
goodluck !
@@jakubshouseofrock7109 They are usually the same factories, they tend to change their Aliexpress name stores because of counterfit. I bought mine today, can't wait to have it in my hands :)
@@ynzsbstn exactly ..
Nice! hope it gets to you soon
@@jakubshouseofrock7109 Thank you! :)
@@ynzsbstn did you get it yet??
it looks good but compared to real rics that neck heel is way taller
haha yeah it is
You can get a real Rick second hand for roughly 1500€
I know, but man, that's still way to expensive for me haha!
Thanks for checking out the video
If they made it in the exact Rickenbacker specs then they would most certainly get their asses sued! You can't expect them to do that. They're making a look a like, not the real thing.
If I could get hold of one of these I could be happy. I'm fucked if I'll pay £2500 for a guitar designed in the '60's for fuck knows how long I have to wait, that let's face it is shit compared even to the Tokai's of the '80's the Musicmans of the '90's and the Fender MiJ's going forward. This is a lazy company trading on the 'Made In USA' logo too long. Times move on, 'Made in China' may indeed be laughable now but so is 'Made in USA', We laugh at the quality they export from their car plants, many sent back as they won't pass the EU tests, the meat thats allowed into our market is shite, the global view of the US is quite stark, but to still try to trade off the USA label without any kind of real development into the guitar is trading on dreams. The thing is with dreams is when you wake up, many times you can't remember them. Risky.
Agreed
Love the passion in this comment!
Thanks for writing it and checking out the video
Here's the problem with Rickenbacker, they have priced them out of reach of most bassist. Therefore, even the used ones are usually well over a grand. And the real older ones, way out of reach. They are not much different over the decades, so price increases are questionable over those decades. Build them for under a grand and they will come, AND the lawsuits will wind up being less. I am fortunate to be able to afford either new or very old BUT I have put off buying one for this very reason, the prices are not reasonable. And I believe in this saying....a fool and his money will soon part.
2 months ago (edited)
I couldn't agree more !
the funny thing is despite this I still get comments of people saying ''why don't you just get a real one, if you sold your other basses you could afford it..." which first of all is false... the rest of my guitars don't even come close to the price of a real Rick... and even if they did, I like having lots of basses/guitars and I think the price of a real Rick is very unreasonable too ! haha
thanks for your comment and checking out the video !
( i'm really jealous that you can afford one ! haha )
Vintage guitars are only worth what people are willing to pay. Its the new ones being expensive thats ridiculous. Its just for name. In the old days they were better quality and more reasonably priced. Even adjusted for inflation. No you pay the same or more for less quality
Stewie from family guy ?
I don't watch Family Guy haha...
🐔🐔🐔🐔🐔🐔🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸 lmao
😂😂😂 sounds just like a cheap shit ricky copy..what a waste of pocket money.
stop buy garbage ricks and get real ones
Thumb rest
?
Rickenbacker are money hungry fools
Sounds bad!
Thanks
The bass is good. Your hand, wrist and fingers positioning is awful.
It's all about what is comfortable for someone. Your criticism is the truly awful thing here.
Is it? or is it just jealousy that my hand wrist and fingers get to be positioned on this fine bass in the first place? ! Haha, thanks for commenting and checking out the video regardless.
Also thanks Scott!
I defiantly agree that what works and is comfortable for different people is entirely subjective and varries person to person, the way I play works for me really well, and though I'm not great at the theoretical side of it, I can play anything i do know with ease, comfort and precision
Jakub's House of ROCK you should learn how to put exactly the hands, no matter what bass or guitar you're playing.
@@rael6168 I didn't know you were the authority of how to properly place hands while playing... SMDH
Again, it's down to what's comfortable for the player. Stop being a jackass about it.
@@rael6168 Thanks for your suggestion but I have looked into "correct" hand placement and all of that in the past but I've determined that I'm honestly very happy and comfortable playing it the way I do, even very experienced and well known musicians have their own unique way of playing their instrument, there's no one "correct way" , it may be a good starting point but we all develop and change the way we play to the way that works best for us.
This guy has never held a genuine Ricko......is this a joke ?
Why a joke?
They're actually extremely rare here in Australia, you'll never see them in guitar stores, I think the only way to get them here is to import them from the US
I've been playing bass for 20 years and have NEVER even seen a real Rick other than when I saw Motorhead live,their so exspensive that some of us side musicians and hobbyists can't justify spending the money on the real thing,and even if I could myself ever have the money to buy one I'd rather spend a couple hundred and not have to insure the damned thing,the fakes break who cares,if you break a real one you'll have to remortgage your house to fix it,just don't make sense to me where as these chickenbackers are right up my alley🤘
@@aarondavis4341 yeah I totally agree!
And lucky! I always wanted to but never got the chance to see Motothead live, but I've seen rickenbackers on stage a handful of times, I was fortunate to see Yes live in 2014 before Chris Squires passing and naturally he was playing his classic cream coloured Rick bass, and one or two local bands use em'
But I've never seen one in a store (used or new,) and dbout I ever will here...
@@aarondavis4341 My point is.....How can anyone make comparisons between two guitars,when they've never played one of them ?
@@micksly6742 thats true, I agree that ideally it would be allot better to have both in hand to compare...
I did the best with what I had, using my reaserch on the specks of the real ones and just going over my thoughts of this one as a bass in general.. I could have just as easily (more so actually) not even filmed and uploaded this review at all, but doing so helps out everyone who's curious about these Chickenbackers