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Thread: Controversial use of replicas

  1. #1
    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Controversial use of replicas

    So, I saw this elsewhere and was wondering. Some bands use replica guitars. Some of which even look like Asian made fakes like this one (that tailpiece sure doesn't look different from what you get in Chinese knockoffs). I could be wrong and I give it the benefit of doubt, but...



    To each his own, I guess. But me, I wouldn't buy, gig with, and definitely not make flyers or record covers with a fake guitar.

    What do you guys think?

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    Forum Member Jkbarnes's Avatar
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    Re: Controversial use of replicas

    It’s tribute bands I don’t understand....

    I guess it makes sense that a replica band would use replica guitars!
    At what point does my 31 year old Strat become “vintage?”

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    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Controversial use of replicas

    He might just have a copy that sounds close or spot on? Remember that Slash played a copy of a LP and Noel Gallagher played an Epi LP on the first two or three Oasis albums. I'd never buy a copy of a Ric--I'm admittedly close minded and am drawn in by the Ric brand. I'd buy a good copy of a Les Paul in a heartbeat, but not a Ric.

    Tribute bands can be so silly. I remember some huge show in the late 70s-early 80s , a Beatles show that played on Broadway and then went on tour. The group did costume changes, and on stage, they made faces that were supposed to look like the way the lads made faces while rocking. It seemed so silly to me. I'd rather have heard a band in jeans and t-shirts playing the songs without looking like cartoons.

    The lead singer of the Petty faux band looks like he bought his outfit from the Halloween costume shelves at Walmart. But he's probably making a good living--and you gotta admit, MC and the boys in the band were great musicians, so the material would be a blast to play.
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    Forum Member Laker's Avatar
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    Re: Controversial use of replicas

    My band played a festival one year where our opening act was a Doors tribute band. When I was in the dressing room prior to the start of their show I was watching the lead singer stare at himself in a floor-length mirror making a lot of weird gestures. When I asked him if he was OK he told me he was “becoming Morrison” to do their show.

    That was a strange moment in my musical career.

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    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Re: Controversial use of replicas

    I wasn't addressing the "how hard do you try to look like the guy you're covering" aspect. I mean I wouldn't buy or use a counterfeit for what counterfeits are.

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    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Controversial use of replicas

    Quote Originally Posted by Laker View Post
    My band played a festival one year where our opening act was a Doors tribute band. When I was in the dressing room prior to the start of their show I was watching the lead singer stare at himself in a floor-length mirror making a lot of weird gestures. When I asked him if he was OK he told me he was “becoming Morrison” to do their show.

    That was a strange moment in my musical career.
    Strange Days... People are strange when you're a stranger....
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Controversial use of replicas

    Yeah, Serge, I was talking about that, but it naturally brings out the discussion of copying overall with acts like this. I addressed the issue.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Forum Member jrgtr42's Avatar
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    Re: Controversial use of replicas

    I think it's a fine line. Honestly, most people wouldn't even notice the details that we as guitra geeks would, even fans of the (original) band.
    Part might be that at this point in his career, he can't afford a real Rickenbacker? They're not exactly cheap, ya know.
    I have seen tribute bands that go for the look, but if they can't play the songs, it just seems rediculous. I know of a couple that really are spot on to the origionals, other than a case of genders (an Aerosmith trib and a Led Zep trib, both all female.)
    I also follow a couple others that don't go for the look, but nail the sound and feel of the originals (a Rush and a Pink Floyd tribs) Both of those do go for similar equipment, at least guitars - the Rush guitarist has a LP Axcess, a Gibson DoubleNeck, and a couple others, the bassist a |Geddy Jazz and a Rick. I've been following them long enough that the guitarist had a PRS and an Epi double, the bass just had his Geddy (hey, $700 clams anyone can come up with.) The drummer has a big kit, though not close to Peart's, and it's a Premier.
    The PF one has gone through a ton of gear over the years, generally Strats for the guitarist, but occasionally other, generally P-bass but not always, etc.
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    Forum Member Gravity Jim's Avatar
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    Re: Controversial use of replicas

    One would think that America's #1 Tom Petty Tribute Band could afford a real one.

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    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Controversial use of replicas

    We lose sight of the fact that 99.9 percent of the audience will have no idea and will not care, and even if they did, they probably wouldn't care.

    I'm not going to buy a Ric copy, if only because those who make them simply make terrible copies. I've read so many reviews by folks who tried to save money or just didn't have the dosh, and their copies were a pile o' muck.I feel a bit bad for some of them because they want a Ric and hope to get close, and then they can't even play the thing they get.

    And maybe the Pettyisher player gets closer to Petty's sound with his than he could with the new Rics. Maybe he's more about tone than brand? If so, he's a better man than I am.
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    Forum Member dirtdog's Avatar
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    Re: Controversial use of replicas

    Another example of people listening with their eyes!

    I’d never buy a counterfeit. I have bought the budget versions of my favourite guitars before managing to score an original (eg my recent acquisition of a Gretsch).

    I’d probably have played in a tribute band if the opportunity presented itself and it would have been lucrative. At one point recently, my former bandmates were discussing the possibility of a Blue Rodeo tribute (BR are huge in Canada), but didn’t pan out. But it wouldn’t have been a faithful visual tribute.

    Saddest musical act I’ve ever seen was a Zeppelin tribute band. The frontman had the looks and mannerisms of 1970s Robert Plant but the dude's main claim to fame was having briefly encountered the real Robert Plant in an airport. I can only imagine what the real RP thought meeting this guy - like looking in the mirror, but 30 years in the past?

    Musically, to each their own but I don’t agree at all buying a counterfeit guitar. That’s just theft of somebody’s IP.
    Last edited by dirtdog; 11-20-2020 at 08:56 PM.

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    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Re: Controversial use of replicas

    Yeah it's not about only a legit being good enough for a band. It's all about what counterfeits mean. They're just not right in any way.

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    Forum Member dirtdog's Avatar
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    Re: Controversial use of replicas

    Quote Originally Posted by Sérgio View Post
    Yeah it's not about only a legit being good enough for a band. It's all about what counterfeits mean. They're just not right in any way.
    Yep.

    I mean by all means buy a 'knock-off' Rickenbacker - as long as the logo doesn't say "Rickenbacker", fill yer boots. I don't get bent out of shape (pun intended) about copying headstock shapes and the "lawsuit" guitars of days of yore. Its kinda of weird what Gibson and Fender patented back in the day, but the net result is that their patents are their IP. Theft of IP is not cool. However, the guitar world is notorious for "influenced by" stuff outside of patented IP. I mean, half the amp builders and almost all the guitar builders out there would be guilty of this if guitar designs were patented from top to bottom! There are VERY few truly original guitar or amps designs after, say, 1960(ish).

    But it you steal someone's brand name for your guitar and market that guitar as the "authentic" brand, you're a thief, plain and simple. If you buy a counterfeit, you're an accessory.

    Now, a grey area for me is a replica guitar. If someone builds, for their own use, a replica of a famous guitar for personal use, that's *almost* OK. As long as the logo isn't passed off as "authentic'. If they then go to sell that guitar as an authentic XYZ/whatever...that's not cool.

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    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Controversial use of replicas

    Totally agree with you dirtdog.

    When it comes to someone trying to pass off a Ric or a Fender copy for the original, that's prosecution-worthy. But copies? How many companies copy the Strat? I had a Strat form a company whose name I don't remember and never saw on any other guitar. It cost me 125 dollars that I bought on the drip. One of the Strattiest sounding guitars I ever had. Played great too. It was a righty and I gave it to a buddy after I got my first lefty Fender.

    This isn't a rhetorical question: Why do we have no probs with Strats and Teles being copied by so much but we do with copies of Rics? We all know there are builders like Suhr who make better quality Strats than many of Fender's models. I'd love to have one and wouldn't look back. But if a company like that made a superior Ric, I'd still go with the Ric. I think my attitude is contradictory and narrow-minded.
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    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
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    Re: Controversial use of replicas

    Maybe its a really nice guitar and he likes to play it.
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

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    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: Controversial use of replicas

    "The Ventures play Mosrite Guitars." That was the first time I ever saw a band endorsing a guitar brand, or vice-versa. Up until then, it didn't really matter to me what brand of guitar a player or a band used. Paul McCartney's Höfner "violin" bass was visually different than other basses at the time, but I thought that was more for the visual effect than a preference for tone or playability.

    Maybe I was naïve, maybe I still am. I've seen Jeff Beck play a Les Paul, a Telecaster, a Stratocaster and a cigar box. Eric Clapton has played more guitars and brands than anyone alive, it seems. So, when Fender releases a Jeff Beck or an Eric Clapton Stratocaster, isn't that a replica? My first new guitar was a Framus 12-string I purchased in Germany. Framus (who can boast relationships and contracts with the likes of Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Bill Wyman and Jan Akkerman) went out of business, but was "revived" by Warwick. Are the guitars now made by Framus "replicas?"

    I'm not trying to virtue-signal here. When I was younger, I wanted the "real deal" and not an imitation. I couldn't afford the brand names, and didn't want to be seen playing an imitation, so I stayed away. Having gotten to the point where I can now buy the real thing, I've gone ahead and done so. Often, and stupidly, at times. But I've softened a bit. I do not contend that my guitar-playing skills qualify me for a $5,000 Martin, and I've also found that among my collection, one of my "keepers" is a $650 Ibanez (most of my Fenders have run me over $1,000).

    So, I have to confess: I don't know what this thread is all about. Is it the lousy album cover? Is it the fact that it's a tribute band that I've never heard of? There's some talk about the Ric being held on the cover as being counterfeit. Is it? If I see Alvin Lee's "Big Red" ES-335 with its extra (Stratocaster) pickup and his other mods (removed the Bigsby, added stickers & such), is that a counterfeit? Heck probably more posters here mod their guitars than don't. Does that make them counterfeit? Does it matter?
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    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Controversial use of replicas

    McCartney bought the Hofner because it was cheap. The others went in debt for their Rics and Gretsches, and McCartney wasn't about to splash out.--he hardly ever has--His main instruments, the Ric,Casino, Jazz Bass, Vox amp, etc were all given to him. Even his five string Wal was a present form Linda, and the 50s Telecaster he's playing now is a present from his current wife, Nancy. I found one source that said he paid the equivalent of $45, less than $400 today if another source is right about the value of money in different years.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Forum Member dirtdog's Avatar
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    Re: Controversial use of replicas

    Now I’m wondering what model that is supposed to be a copy of. I know very little about Rickenbacker models but I don’t see anything with the features that this guitar shows: tailpiece, f-hole, knob arrangement, neck pickup placement and a body shape that seems a bit “off”.


    if this is supposed to be a counterfeit, I think it’s not a very good counterfeit!

  19. #19
    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Re: Controversial use of replicas

    Quote Originally Posted by dirtdog View Post
    Now I’m wondering what model that is supposed to be a copy of. I know very little about Rickenbacker models but I don’t see anything with the features that this guitar shows: tailpiece, f-hole, knob arrangement, neck pickup placement and a body shape that seems a bit “off”. if this is supposed to be a counterfeit, I think it’s not a very good counterfeit!
    Looks like a very poor fake 1993 plus with some 330 features. Or the other way around.

    When I bought my 620 I was lucky to find out that there aren't many fake 620s and the ones you'll find are so hideously gross it would take a complete fool to mistake them for real Rickenbackers.

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