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| Billy Sheehan Lefty Attitude Knockoff Bass http://leftybassist.com./viewtopic.php?f=13&t=6746 |
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| Author: | pjmuck [ January 10th, 2016, 10:46 am ] |
| Post subject: | Billy Sheehan Lefty Attitude Knockoff Bass |
Another trademark infringing? creation from The Top Guitars website. I must admit, I'm curious about these guys. They also offer lefty Rick copies, including double necks, and customer testimonials seem to be pretty good. Someone take the plunge and report back so I don't have to be the guinea pig.  http://thetopguitars.com/custom-shop-4- ... -bass.html |
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| Author: | leftybassatl [ January 11th, 2016, 12:17 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Billy Sheehan Lefty Attitude Knockoff Bass |
wow...I have no idea how they get away with this... 
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| Author: | andrew [ January 11th, 2016, 12:28 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Billy Sheehan Lefty Attitude Knockoff Bass |
Yamaha Attitude is definitely on my wish list... |
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| Author: | Pete Gossett [ January 11th, 2016, 1:43 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Billy Sheehan Lefty Attitude Knockoff Bass |
They also have a Lemmy Rick knockoff available left-handed(per their option choices, though I wouldn't count on it), for around $750 shipped. Too much for me to gamble on, but yet somewhat tempting. |
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| Author: | pjmuck [ January 12th, 2016, 6:30 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Billy Sheehan Lefty Attitude Knockoff Bass |
andrew wrote: Yamaha Attitude is definitely on my wish list... +1. I also always wanted Fender to make a lefty Stu Hamm Urge bass. |
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| Author: | Addison [ January 12th, 2016, 9:03 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Billy Sheehan Lefty Attitude Knockoff Bass |
I've always wanted one of these...  And maybe someday I'll save enough to have a Fender master builder make me one... however, having learned more about how some of the smaller builders have to compete with knock-off companies who build identical looking but inferior basses and how much lost sales and legal fees affect their bottom line, I'd never give a company like this a dime of my money. If their product is good enough, it should stand on its own with with an original, or, at the very least, an "inspired" design, rather than a direct ripoff. I appreciate that they make lefties so willingly... but I dunno... just not a fan of how they roll. |
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| Author: | Jeroen [ January 12th, 2016, 10:30 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Billy Sheehan Lefty Attitude Knockoff Bass |
Those Roscoe Beck basses have always appealed to me as well! I like the different bodyshape, and the hardware and pickup choices too. I believe they no longer come with the Gotoh 206 bridge as they stopped manufacturing those, it is one of my favourite bass bridges out there. I like the sheet of perspex he has on there as a ramp by the way! Very discreet, doesn't noticeably alter the look of the instrument. It just appears to be held in place by the pickup height adjustment screws? |
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| Author: | superheavydeathmetal [ January 12th, 2016, 10:30 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Billy Sheehan Lefty Attitude Knockoff Bass |
Addison, A would agree with you in almost every case. The one case where I don't blame a manufacturer or a consumer one bit for making or buying a rip-off bass is for a model that the manufacturer of the original design will not make them left-handed. If there is a demand but the original manufacturer refuses to make them, then they really don't have any cause to complain. |
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| Author: | Addison [ January 12th, 2016, 11:33 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Billy Sheehan Lefty Attitude Knockoff Bass |
superheavydeathmetal wrote: Addison, A would agree with you in almost every case. The one case where I don't blame a manufacturer or a consumer one bit for making or buying a rip-off bass is for a model that the manufacturer of the original design will not make them left-handed. If there is a demand but the original manufacturer refuses to make them, then they really don't have any cause to complain. This company isn't ONLY making lefties that aren't available from the name brand. They make knock-offs of ANYTHING that will sell... lefty, righty, big company, small company... it doesn't matter. They're looking to cash in and they're doing it at the expense of the people who have worked the hardest to make the biggest impact on this industry. When you buy an instrument from them, you are supporting this... it doesn't matter if it's a lefty or not. And it's not just the companies either... artists like Billy Sheehan get royalties from the sales of his basses. These guys are stealing from him too. I guess I'm just always amazed that people are willing to pay for and play what almost always amounts to a piece of garbage that necessitates hundreds of dollars in adjustments/upgrades to be playable or sound decent, just so they can have something that LOOKS like the bass they REALLY want. There are plenty of kickass lefty bass choices out there... used and new... tons of which are quite affordable and have a much better resale value if you want to eventually trade up for better quality basses. That's what I've done... I'm not rich. I've spent years and years saving, gigging, selling and trading up to get the collection I have now. And it was completely worth it. Then again, I never understood various people's justifications for "file sharing" either... so, what do I know. |
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| Author: | Addison [ January 12th, 2016, 12:01 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Billy Sheehan Lefty Attitude Knockoff Bass |
Jeroen wrote: I like the sheet of perspex he has on there as a ramp by the way! Very discreet, doesn't noticeably alter the look of the instrument. It just appears to be held in place by the pickup height adjustment screws? Yeah, I dig it too. It also looks like he has some kind of clear tape over his bridge pickup... I'm assuming it's to keep the pole pieces from eating away at his fingertips...?  He's such a tasteful player, but he's also pretty aggressive... so it would make sense, I guess. |
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| Author: | Lefty4001 [ January 12th, 2016, 7:47 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Billy Sheehan Lefty Attitude Knockoff Bass |
Addison, and Superheavy......I see BOTH of your points. Personally??? If I want a Rickenbacker, I want the REAL thing. I would HATE buying some knock-off, then having to spend MORE money in order to fix something or to even get it to playing level. SO WHAT if I have to wait longer in order to have the coin to purchase said instrument.....waiting is half the fun!!!! (I worked overtime at former job in order to get my first Rick) But then, WHO am I to judge??? I have a Brice Hofner Beatle knock-off that I'm convinced is FAR superior to the real thing  Do Not Drink From The Toilet When Taking Lyrica |
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| Author: | thumbslam [ January 12th, 2016, 11:59 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Billy Sheehan Lefty Attitude Knockoff Bass |
I agree 100% with Addison. If you want a bass built with certain specs there are plenty of reputable builders who are more than willing to do so and you don’t have to rip off others designs and money out their pocket. It may not look exactly like a model from Fender or Rickenbacker you are trying to have to satisfy something you think you want but can’t afford that nobody really cares if you have or not. The one saving grace for me is when someone buys a rip off knock offs from unrepeatable builders in China or wherever I know they have one steaming turd of an instrument to try and play. I have had musicians come by my shop with fake Le Pauls and ask me to set them up and do a fret level and I kindly decline. I am no professional builder by any means but after I started to build and repair and see what actually goes into the craft I have a deep respect for it period. Builders and many musicians live on a shoestring of a living and I won’t be one cut them out. Maybe one day when one of these guys who like this kind of stuff loses their jobs to cheap imports of lesser quality whatever it may be or realize they help usher in garbage where there once was quality they may change. Just my .02 |
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| Author: | Pete Gossett [ January 13th, 2016, 5:42 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Billy Sheehan Lefty Attitude Knockoff Bass |
I'm certainly not a fan of outright theft, but most ofthe basses I saw on that site - with the exception of the Attitude bass - weren't outright clones, but rather designs that were inspired by the original. Much like how there have been copies of Fender basses for decades, many of which are as good as/better than actual Fenders, those Rick copies really don't look much like actual Ricks when you look at the components & costruction closely. Yes, I saw that some show a "Rickenbacker" truss rod plate, but I wouldn't count on it actually having one if you ordered it...then again, I wouldn't actually count on receiving anything resembling an actual playable instrument from THAT site! I have a short-scale SX P-bass that plays & sounds great - it actually has a way nicer natural/acoustic tone than my Stambaugh. The SX is live and punchy, while the Stambaugh is nearly completely dead with barely any sustain. That's just the different characteristics of those two pieces of wood. The SX has no construction or design flaws, so with a bit of setup time I was able to get it playing as nice as the Stambaugh too. Know which one I play most??? The Stambaugh - it's just a far nicer instrument...but I had to tweak my EQ like crazy to get it sound good. But that SX is a damn nice bass, considering the price brand new would have been ~1/20th of the Stambaugh. I play it way more that my Warwick, and it's built at least as well as it too! In addition to the lack of lefty availability of some of these basses, because I only can play short-scale, and prefer 5+ strings, it really limits options. I've talked to the Fender Custom Shop and they're unable/unwilling to build me a short-scale 5 or 6 string bass. I've never contacted Rickenbacker, but I'm confident the odds of them doing a custom build are even less. I'd never spend $600-$700 for a bass from the site above, especially without playing it first, but I'd spend $200-$300 on a Rick-inspired short-scale bass(if they had one) just to see if I liked the concept enough to build a nice version for myself. Actually, that's why I bought a Brice 30" 5-string from Rondo a few years ago...and it was a damn good bass for the $$. I ended up parting it out to use the hardware on another project, but the proof of concept was good enough that I was happy to spend some $$ on the Stambaugh when Matt listed it here, knowing that a 30" 6-string would work. |
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| Author: | pjmuck [ January 13th, 2016, 7:54 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Billy Sheehan Lefty Attitude Knockoff Bass |
My two cents, since I started the thread: There is ZERO justification in a company using another company's logo to market their own instruments. ZERO. That is blatant plagiarism and falsification of product. So I am in full agreement with Addison on this. But logos aside, here's where it gets a little gray: 1. Yamaha doesn't make a lefty Attitude bass; Gibson doesn't make a Ripper; Fender doesn't make a '51 P bass; etc. If you're lucky, said company might make you one of those basses...for at least 4X the price a righty would pay for a stock instrument readily available. Should I shed a tear for said companies that don't respect me enough to offer their instruments in left handed models or will only do so for an astronomical price? How, exactly, is a lefty buying a knockoff eating into their bottom line when it's a product they don't even make? (Unless we're talking about those knucklehead righties from another thread who love to buy lefty instruments to play upside down). The fact is most of these companies offering knockoff models are targeting those unique designs that the model's origin companies are not willing to offer. That's why Dillion made a T-Bird, that's why SX made their Taurus/'51 P bass knockoff, that's why Eastwood made an Ampeg scroll (Hell, ALL Eastwood does is repackage other people's designs), Gaskell targeted Gibson's T-Bird, Explorer, and V models, etc. There is a market there, albeit a limited one, that the big boys aren't bothering to target. 99.9% of these knockoffs have enough variation in their designs to avoid infringement, but we all know what they're attempting to do. 2. Regarding the argument that cheap inexpensive Chinese made instruments are pure crap, well sometimes yes, sometimes no. I've owned several instruments made in China that blew me away and also a few that were garbage. (My Spear S2 bass is in my top 5 favorite basses I own/owned). Now this particular company in question has Chinese, Korean, and Japan made instruments at various price points. There's also enough subtle variation in their instruments to make the argument that they're not doing a perfect ripoff of the instruments in question (Though the blatant use of other company's logos is absolutely wrong). But it's unfair to assume that everyone in the world has your skill set, budget, needs, or conception of what is quality and what isn't. Case in point, let's take the flip side of the argument: what about the overpriced upscale knockoffs like Lakland, Sadowsky, etc? Great instruments, no doubt, but I personally don't see the point of paying 2 to 3 times more than a Fender for one when the real deal gets the job done fine, IMO. So I'll NEVER consider owning a Lakland or a Sadowsky. Different needs, different budget. Likewise on a Hofner. Way overpriced, IMO, especially when I consider the el cheapo Rogue I bought is perfectly fine for those times when I need a Hofner-esque tone/look. But a full time Hofner player might feel differently, and that's okay too. But that is exactly why Hofner started making their own inexpensive instruments, because other companies out there were selling more affordable instruments and they wanted in on the action. So I don't see how low cost cheap instruments with mediocre quality eats into a big company's bottom line unless the instrument is actually good enough to compete with their product or it's reaching a demographic that they aren't, in which case maybe it's time for them to start rethinking their price point or business plan. 3. I finished my first build a few months ago. It's a lefty Nashville Tele. Fender doesn't make a lefty Nashville Tele. (Surprise!), so I bought cheap parts online and spent a little extra on quality PUPs and electronics. As a first build, I was happy to put together a very playable good sounding instrument for a little under $500. It;s not as high quality as my '52RI Tele, but its fine for the purpose I intended for it. But I learned a few things along the way and if and when I do another build I'll know what to avoid. Little thing like neck pockets, PUP routs, pick guard screw holes, etc. on Asian made instruments don't always line up or work well when modding for improvement. I also have an Ibanez Iceman bass kit I bought over a year ago that I need to get around to. Again, Ibanez never made lefty Iceman basses. Now here's the kicker: what was the last thing I did to the Nashville Tele to complete it? I put a Fender logo on the headstock. Why? Because nothing satisfies more than honoring a company that refuses to make this instrument for me...and I'm an idiot. And I have every intention of putting an Ibanez logo on the Iceman when that's done too. I see nothing wrong with building replicas for your own satisfaction. I'm not passing it off as the real thing or trying to sell it as such.
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