Fretless Rick, need advice

[Yolly111]

Happy New Year to all!

I spotted this one recently and I am considering purchasing. Thing is, I know very little about Ricks, but they have a good enough reputation for me to maybe buy and try this blue one.

Can you please tell me a bit more about this bass. I know it is a fretless but do you know model number, year of manufacture? I did look online and the bridge makes me think it is an older model. but how old?...

Also, what is a Fretless Rick worth? Since I might purchase to try, I'd rather know I could resell it quickly if i do not like it.

Thank you for your advice/recommendations!

[Billw97]

Be careful cause it is also a Chinese copy!

[paulo]

It’s a Chickenbacker!

[Matt R.]

If it’s super cheap, buy it just to give RIC and John Hall the finger.

[jersey bluesdude]

If it’s super cheap, buy it just to give RIC and John Hall the finger.

Say what you will about John Hall and Rickenbacker
I give him props for never off shoring Rics and producing cheap knockoffs of this classic American bass.

[Yolly111]

Thank you all for the feedback, I never even considered it might be a knockoff. Tells you how much I know about Ricks...

[LHBASSIST]

CHINESE. If it's more than 300 bucks- pass.

[crescenze]

Like Yolly I don't know much about Rics. This might be a pain to answer, if so I apologize. In the interest of education. What are the signs that are apparent in the pics that give it away?

[Jeroen]

Many!

That square neck heel
The pickups and pickup positions
The pickup cover mounted on top of the bridge pickup surround rather than under
The pickup surround being just a flat plate instead of a bent frame
The shape of the headstock
The lack of contouring around the edges on the back
The wonky bridge without mutes
The trans blue finish. Should be solid Midnight Blue.

[crescenze]

Many!

That square neck heel
The pickups and pickup positions
The pickup cover mounted on top of the bridge pickup surround rather than under
The pickup surround being just a flat plate instead of a bent frame
The shape of the headstock
The lack of contouring around the edges on the back
The wonky bridge without mutes
The trans blue finish. Should be solid Midnight Blue.

Thanks!

[ch willie]

The makers have tried hard to make it look like a Ric. I know they sell to people who don't know Rics as well, but why not go those few extra miles and fix that headstock--one of the most iconic and noticeable things about a Ric. And the bridge!

Costs for the bridge, ok
But for that headstock? It seems this would have been replicated.

[Upsidedown]

Another quick spot for fakes is the edge binding should have a gap for the width of the thru neck skunk stripe below the tailpiece. Stores that hang basses up on the wall let you spot this without having to touch it.
There were some MIJ copies - Ibanez, Goya etc that had more convincing hardware. If the price is right, those can be good instruments.
The nastiest thing to me is the use of a fake truss cover nameplate. Otherwise, I'm easy about affordable copies of iconic instruments being available just so long as they aren't deliberate counterfeiting of the original brand.

One of the cheekiest fakes I've seen was a Les Paul sold as a restoration project - most of the hardware was missing, but it had a proper Gibson headstock overlay. It was actually a cheap plywood '70s Japanese copy (MIJ wasn't always a sign of quality) with a bolt-on neck.