As my business is based in Japan but live in California, I spend a good amount of time in the land of the rising sun. One of the perks of that is that I get to see crazy collections of musical instruments there. Even going into guitar stores there can be daunting when you see full lines of new and used models of American, German, English and of course Japanese. Recently visited a collector who had many Gibson, Fender, Hofner and Rickenbacker guitars and basses from the mid '70's-early 80's. Along with them were their Japanese counterparts from the same period made by Fuji-gen, Matsumoku etc. most of them matched right up and even surpassed their Ametican counterparts. Yes this was a low point in American quality but still interesting. Seeing Yanaha(Fender) Jazz & P's with Birdseye maple necks and beautiful woods was a surprise. I'm not sure Rickenbacker was at low period in quality during this period but several of the 4001 clones (Carlo Robelli!) were uncannily similar in every aspect in terms of quality wood, finish, balance and sound. I don't know how they engineered the pickups but puttin and playing them side by side was a pleasant surprise. They nailed it. That were bolt on necks and besides that and the Ribelli name on the headstock, keys you wou be hard pressed to question the quality. The Robelli Were lighter and better balanced neck vs body as well. They eventually will publish a book with detailed pictures, specs and total history of the manufacturing and the legal issues that came up. I told them they should do an English translation as well.
