Any word on these?
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Any word on these?
I find it hard to believe that anyone could build anything that even vaguely resembles a Rickenbacker in any way shape or form...
Rickenbacker defends it's designs more than any other company on the planet...
(Yeah, that company...) ;)
December 26, 2016
Expected Ship date March 2017
May 17, 2017
We are expecting the shipment in to our USA warehouse early next week and will start shipping right away.
Electric “Ricky” Mandolin Tribute
As a long time Rickenbacker fanatic, a couple of years ago I heard (from a Rickenbacker local dealer who spoke with Rickenbacker representatives at a trade show) that Rickenbacker president John Hall spends LOTS of time each day searching the internet for instruments that possibly violate the Rickenbacker trademarks, and has all sales and advertising of those instruments immediately stopped with threats of legal action.
That being said - those are sweet looking instruments at a good price . . . but you had better get one FAST, because chances are pretty good that they won't be on the market for too long!
My understanding is that only the headstock design is protected i.p. The body is not. Clearly there were enough design changes to pass Legal's smell test.
Well, the issue is not what is legal or not...
The issue instead are the threats of legal action, which can be quite expensive and a hassle to deal with, even when you know the coast is clear...
...and Mr. Hall will flip out when he sees this thing...
Another large company thus comes to mind, and the vitriol in the musical instrument community towards both companies is very similar ...
Spruce is right - we Rickenbacker lovers often find this stuff cool, even if it is cheap junk . . . and at $400, I'll bet more than a few of these things sell, even as just a wall-hanging.
Eastwood is a Canadian company.
US trademarks are regulated by the Lanham Act which is domestic US civil law and only has jurisdiction in the U.S.
If Eastwood tries selling into the US, Rickenbacker can send legal letters, but US lawyers huff-and-puff means nothing outside the US.
Failing that, Rickenbacker can have those goods ceased at the border or point of sale, if they have a USPTO issued trademark for that instrument, but first they'd have to convince get a Federal court to issue an order before law enforcement gets involved.
Let me know when John Hall isn't looking, and I just might sneak over the border to get me one of those little beauties . . .
Cool. But the Rickenbacker-inspired mandolin I want is like the ones Tony Revell made:
Attachment 157371
Apparently Ric's lawyers shut down any further builds in that style back in the '90s, alas.
I was offline for a couple days and only now saw the horrific autocorrect from "headstock" to "breadstick." For some reason I cannot get back in to edit the typo. All I can say is "oy."
I googled "breadstick guitar" trying to figure that one out, thinking it might be like, I don't know, maybe a lipstick pickup. :)
Paul - that 330 copy is VERY cool! Do you know if more than one was made?
It's funny, I once considered converting a 360-12 into a mandolin configuration . . . I may still try it, someday.
I think that there were just the two made by Tony and a colleague--the Fireglo shown above and the one Mike Campbell plays, with the green finish and "Vibrola." The link tells the story: http://www.emando.com/builders_active/Revell.htm
There have been a few other builds in that style, but none so accurate. Dillon makes one, but their website claims they are sold out until 2018.
Attachment 157418
I sort of did that ( not on a Rick..) using a mix of drop-tuning strings that are readily available, and got all the tensions very workable. I was going for mandocello tuning. Fun experiment, great for surf music with the reverb cranked all the way. Or an echoplex would be really cool. Had a hard time making it much good for anything else, though.
I had a Fireglo (red) Ric mandolin just like those. It was well made, cool looking, and quite a conversation piece. But I did not find it particularly useful. Might have just been me, though.
new color will be black
From what I recollect, the Fireglo one I've posted at emando.com was sold on eBay twice, and I really should have bought it the first time but was feeling tapped out. (That was before PayPal Credit.) The seller in that first eBay auction claimed that Nigel Kennedy also had one, which, along with the Mike Campbell instrument, would make three. Mike acquired his from Lark Street Music in Teaneck, NJ, IIRC.
Those Heartbreakers have MAS, GAS, and BAS just about as bad as anyone on the planet...
I had a Hammertone octave 12 on E%$y about 7-8 years ago, and Mike and Tom bought it on the condition that I hand-deliver it to The Gorge, where I had front row seats waiting...
Great concert, and yeah, I think Mike did play that RIC mando thingy (the green one?) at the show...
We've had several answers to the question; this is just the latest.
Remember the GoldTone mandocellos? I think there were 12 in the initial batch that hit the beach a few months ago and generated all the talk. I hear there are hundreds more in a container still awaiting CITES clearance.
Just got an email update:
Quote:
Good news! Just got word from the USDA that they have released our shipment and it will get to our warehouse early next week. Better late than never...
We have a LOT of instruments to setup and ship, so a little more patience is needed. We will start shipping next week and should have everything to UPS within the next 10 days. We will email the tracking number as soon as it is picked up.
In stock....here ya go...
just ordered a black one,$25 discount for signing up to the Eastwood mailing list
....sure looks a lot different that what they had originally offered?
They bagged the RIC pickup, for one thing. Wonder if they got threatened legally if they used it?
Any one seen the back side? (Facebook posting> https://www.eastwoodguitars.com/prod...edium=Email+RT
One problem with the thru body ferrule, As used in the Fender FM 61 8 string is it only works well with a single string in it.
2 strings in it and when 1 breaks, because the 2 balls are jammed together, both strings have to be replaced..
Anyone want to make a divided ferrule that treats 2 strings individually , though they may share an exit hole?
...
I was not aware of the potential for an issue with the way the strings attach. I'm sure we'll start seeing posts about this in the near future if it becomes a problem.
On another note, last night I received an email invoice from Eastwood for the Ricky mandolin. After I made my payment I sent them an email asking for a probable ship date. The reply came quickly. It'll ship out on Monday and, hopefully, arrive here on Thursday. Now the long wait gets longer.
I ordered a Cherryburst, wasn't part of the funding campaign, and it will be here Monday.
Curious to see what it looks like as they are not posting pics..
If the Eastwood mandola bridge was used, as stated, one string from each course is loaded from the back of the instrument, and the other through the end of the tailpiece on the top.
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