These guys sounded so much like the real Beatles that my love for the Beatles was rekindled. In the late 90s, I found some live recordings done by 1964 The Tribute. I eventually bought a Contemporary Stratocaster by Fender Japan. When I was about 21 years old I already had 3 Gibsons and two of them were Les Pauls. Guitar players see their idols owning dozens of guitars and so we too just can’t be happy with 1 or 2.

Ario Pro II Rockinbetter RG40 Unsung Silver Star Jet URK512 Seen below were some of the older copies from Korea. These days the Chinese have gone all-out making copies. The difference today is that we have many more guitars competing for the same dollar.Īlthough there were some questionable copies made in the ’60s the best were made in the ’80s and ’90s, the so-called lawsuit years. The prices are relatively high, but if you factor in inflation, the price is about the same as what a good guitar cost 30-40 years ago. The 320, 325 models are ¾ sized and after playing Gibson and Fender guitars for many years, the Rickenbacker ¾ feels a bit flimsy but the tone variety is amazing. I have big trust issues with companies that do not want to display their prices openly. Rickenbacker is also the only manufacturer that I know who refuses to let retailers advertise their pricing. They even go as far as trying to prevent people from selling their used copies on eBay.This seems to have been eased. Doing this, they have kept jobs in America and quality control. Other than John Lennon, George Harrison, Tom Petty, how many Rick players can you name? Another reason is that Rickenbacker vigorously fights to keep copies out of the USA and updates its patents on the design. This is due to their long-established popularity. Les Paul & Stratocaster guitar models are the most copied guitars ever. No one to my knowledge has yet compiled a list. Since I began my search I discovered that they have been and still exist several clones and knock-offs. Whereas you used to find a used one in the $1000 range, now expect to pay $3500 or more. Used Rickenbacker prices have gone up & up. Rickenbackers are still only made in the states and a lot of the process is still done by hand. They also issued a lesser expensive line made in Korea. The Gretsch Country Gentleman or Country Classic can be found at reasonable prices because Gretsch moved production to Japan. I already had an old Hofner bass and a ’66 “SG” Standard but I wanted to get my hands on a Gretsch Country Gentleman and a Rickenbacker like the ones Lennon used.

Having been a Beatle fan since the Sullivan show, I have always dreamed of owning a set of Beatle guitars. The names Fakenbacker, Rickenfaker, Chickenbacker, and now even Chinabackers all relate to knock-off and counterfeit guitars made to resemble the classic Rickenbackers used by the Beatles and others.

Jay turser copy of a rickenbacker 325