They finally caved

[ilan]

RIC is now offering a Ric-made Treble Bezel. Almost identical to the Tubeampology bezel, but significantly cheaper ($15). Only in black (Tubeampology has them in chrome also).

http://boutique.rickenbacker.com/BASS-PICKUP-TREBLE-BEZEL_p_783.html?fbclid=IwAR1zm001rgTgmYOOAM7wthU_iOOo3h94_MvJbpgSkjIXp3p_Mm1zCvn-zoc

[Happy Face]

Thanks! Those were getting hard to find.

[Dave W]

Will wonders never cease! Are they finally admitting that the chromed plastic cover doesn't affect the sound?

What's next? A less expensive copy of the Hipshot bridge?

[gearHed289]

Will wonders never cease! Are they finally admitting that the chromed plastic cover doesn't affect the sound?

They never claimed that, but John Hall did claim that the shoes on a modern horseshoe do. Which I doubt.

Now that his kid has pretty much taken over, they seem to be loosening up a bit on new ideas.

[ilan]

I hope they signed an agreement with the Tubeampology guy, it was his idea and design, even the name remains - Treble Bezel.

[Chris P.]

That was my first thought. It would be shameless otherwise.

[Dave W]

After all the fuss they make about any Ric copies, even ones made before they trademarked the body shape, you would think they would buy rights to it, since they're making an exact copy and using the name. I hope so.

[ilan]

This is what Frank Pistorio, designer of the original Treble Bezel, posted on the RRF:

by frank pistorio (sunsetjunk) » Thu May 02, 2019 6:29 pm

@Ilan
No, I wasn't contacted by Rickenbacker regarding the use of my "Treble Bezel" name or my designs. This is more a moral than legal issue in this situation.

I have been making the original Treble Bezel since 2010.
First 2 years were CNC machined and Soft touch top coated until I could save up enough money to invest in injection mold tooling.
From 2012 to present they have been injection molded.
My bezels are more expensive, but they are of extremly high quality,the price includes S&H and a life time no questions asked warranty. Any bezel can be returned or exchanged upon request, customer covers return shipping costs, a new/different version ships out quickly after I receive the returned version. No receipt necessary, just the bezel.
Each bezel is inspected, numbered and dated by me.

The black versions are molded out of a 20% Glass Filled Nylon for stiffness and durability.
The chrome plated versions are molded out of ABS and then sent off to be chrome plated, with real metal, NOT vacuum metalized, this creates a brilliant and durable metallic exoskeleton, with some shielding properties.

So basically the Original Treble Bezel offering from TubeAmpology comes is 7 unique versions to give you the cleanest and most unobtrusive asthetic for your desired application.

Chrome Plated in, Standard, Cove or Deluxe.
Black texture in, Standard, Cove or Deluxe.
4001V63/C64 in Standard only, This version comes as a kit, with spacers,and fits the Horseshoe pickups with the cover removed.

There are pictures posted in my store that can be zoomed in on to see the quality of the finish.

http://tubeampology.com/store1/4003-treble-bezels/


Quite frankly, I never thought Rickenbacker would stoop down to Chinese business ethics by copying a product design AND name. As I stated earlier, this is more a moral than legal issue.
I've always respected Rickenbacker's Made in America ethos and Jim Halls efforts to curb fakes/copies. And I have always been proud to support their company by buying and playing their basses, as well as being proud to be able to design and produce a product that I believed would make their basses better for some players. All this while making sure I didn't copy or infringe on any of rickenbackers designs when designing the Treble Bezel.
And now seeing this offering from them, using the Treble Bezel name and even some of my wording from my website describing it is very disheartening.

[Dave W]

That's hypocritical, considering RIC's pursuit of others.

There's probably nothing he can do to stop them. Business is business.

[Chris P.]

I just read some angry facebook posts with the same information.

I guess the voice of the public might be the only way to stop them? Think Gibson and the Hendrix 'strats'.

[Basvarken]

So it turns out John Hall is a gigantic hypocrite.
Very, very disappointing.

[Chris P.]

I recently heard the story that the Hall family owns a very large amount of property. Land. Something which dates back from when California was under Spanish Rule. A very rich family, so making basses and guitars is more of a hobby I guess. Even worse if you rip someone off then..

[Granny Gremlin]

Seems to me there is a legal case here.  Not that it is worthwhile or a shoe in or anything because they'd try to drag it out to win by financial endurance.

Pretty shamefull at the very least. 

[Dave W]

Not really. As Frank said, it's more of a moral issue than a legal one.

We buy products all the time that were originally developed by someone other than the company we're buying from. The bad thing here is that it's a company with money shitting on a little guy just because they can.

[Chris P.]

Raise your hand of you got a Fender style bass, not by Fender:)