Real Rickenbacker 325c64 vs Chickenbacker 325 

8:52 "well, not bad sounding." 11:15 "ok, forget what I said."

You make the chickenbacker sound like a much better deal than the original. Time to call Ali Express!

Absolutely love this channel! I dig your entire personality and mood! Keep rocking

I mean, for $280... if it just had any other name on it and was its own brand, that would be a hell of a guitar

Good to see you with a new video. Would love to see more of your vids, they’re great! Interesting comparison, chickenbacker looks well made for the price you paid for it.

Holy shit I clicked on this not realizing who you were and the voice made me instantly recognize you! Our man SinatraLennon!

Love your comparison video! I have a dozen of Aliexpress guitars and ordered the 325 after your video. I'm a lefty and have to say, not only is the price/ quality is very good for the price but being a lefty, so much easier to purchase . Very honest video(s) and thanks for sharing.

Yesss I've been waiting for this video since I saw the video of your chickenbacker

I honestly prefer the look of the fake one.

Dude, it's about time! Have a happy new year

your singing with the chickenbacker sounded better, so maybe it's worth keeping, lol

I like the idea of a wider neck and the binding on the fake really looks great. Put the the pickups from the real Rick in to the fake one and then you have my ideal one.

Every guitar I own, you can hear when you tap on the pickups. Gibson & Fenders.

Just a small note: the loudness is most likely due to that high bridge as I noticed it's a lot further away from the strings and that makes a difference. Thanks for doing this comparison--I always loved this model and was curious as to how they would compare.

Thanks Brian for this try... pretty good job ! Cheers

Really enjoy your videos mate ! Thanks

love the British Red Phone Behind you on your desk c/w steam powered dial !!

The pickups on the Chickenbackers are usually humbuckers. It's a very different sound. And as you pointed out, they usually won't stay in tune unless you do a lot of work to them. The thickness of the neck is a major problem as the bridge cannot be lowered at all and the neck thickness cannot be changed.

Very good comparison video. Thanks for posting.

GREAT video! Very thorough and you answered every question I had about these! You just earned a sub. One thing though; I think you’re going to the B chord too early during the verses.

Brian, I am a new fan! - I loved your video even when you 'Crossed The Room and your Heart Went Boom' - i smiled! -

Came here from the shaving channel. Didn't know you were into guitars. Pretty cool.

Excellent video dude thank you so much !!♡!!

I dig your speaking voice man, you definitely should work in a radio station or earn a living with your voice somehow. Nice video thanks for posting

I believe I would prefer the Ricks' slimer neck than the copy's wider one. Do you know if the Chinese builder would be able to make a more standard 325 neck? Great video BTW. I was really surprised how close the tones were. Did the "blend" control work as it should on the copy?

To me the real one sounds better. Cleaner. You sound really good.

cool rotary phone on the desk LOL... been a bit since ive seen one... plus its red!! Great video.... i see alot of these at local auctions ppl are so unaware ....

Thanks for sharing! I wonder how the knock off would sound if you did a magnet swap to an Alnico V for the pickups? That simple mod would definitely improve the sound.

Thanks- I have the Tom Petty 660 twelve fake. It plays well. Replaced most of the hardware with real Ric. Put on upgraded aftermarket toasters, but your real 325 is brighter. So very helpful.

Thank you for the video, very informative. What have you done to help the Chick stay in tune for open chords? TIA

Here's my chickenbacker story. Years ago I listed a Rick copy on a well-known auction site. I was completely upfront that it was not a Rick, just a copy. It did not have the Rick headstock logo. Shortly after the listing became active it was shut down. Cold. They informed me that I violated some clause about copyright infringement and I was not to resist or I would be banned for life.(double secret separation). I wrote to Rickenbacker and got a very polite but stern response from John Hall. They owned the design after having protected said design for years, unlike the bigs. Told me that if it was up for sale at a garage sale, a Rick rep could legally take the guitar. This was years ago. Today I have no problem seeing Rickenfakers, Chickenbackers, etc. up for sale.

Will you void the warranty if you don’t use official chickenbacher strings for the chickenbacher?

In one of your videos u are comparing 325c58 to 325C64. I could never imagine u getting a chickenbacker I miss your C58 a lot. Such a rare beauty Hamburg model

I´m happy I have the real stuff! This one black (ofcourse) and one the same but sunburst 12-string...PLUS a 4001 red from 1975... Happy days!

What a great vid. Loved it. I can tell the difference easily. Much more rounding to the real Rickenbacker.

That guitar is so legendary..

I used to have one I found in a little Tennessee music store. It was branded “Riff” but I called a Rickenfaker.

I can not believe I have been watching your shaving channel for ages and never knew you had a guitar channel we have so much in common and to top it all off your a Beatle fan it doesn't get better than that, The Rickenbacker sounds best and now I have twice as much fun :-)

with a little bit of adjustment on the amp i think you can get the chicken to sound very close. maybe use a compressor .

Hi there. Thank you for the video. The link for the Chickenbacker doesn't work. Can you post details please?

Great Videos Brian..... Hey do you know what the link or email of the factory is?... and how did you ask them to do the upgrades?.. Thanks !!

Great comparison vid Bri...and good to see you still having fun bud...Not sure why they went to so much detail to make a copy and then bound the body...I think if you're anything like me you'd go the extra mile and recontour the heel and tail slope...Of course it helps if you have a real Rick to copy too...The neck thickness is a major problem to get the same on the Chicken...It could probably be done but the frets would also have to be removed for that work I guess...By the way Bri, after making my 325C58 (and vid) I managed to source a real one and also a 325C63...Then on comparison I realised that I had made a mistake on my original build...The neck width at the body was too thick...like the Chickenbacker...Dang!...I remember not being able to find that dimension at the time and guessing it cos I didn't realise that it was similar if not the same as all Rick 325's...I should have asked someone...Oh well...I remember a lot of those 80's and 90's copies had very dark fretboards and full scale necks...I know Tokai made one and Tanglewood (I think)...Loving the red 60/70's Brit phone too by the way...hehe...Anyway...Now I'm off to check some shaving video...Thanks Bri

I always love a good comparison video even if I don’t quite care about the object

Seems like the higher string clearance over the pickups accounts.for the less full sound on the copy.

Excellent video. Would you finally recommend buying a Chinese Rickenbacker? Can you get a Beatles sound with it? Does it maintain the tuning well? Thank you so much

He has such fun energy.

Rickenbacker themselves, have changed their necks as well! A friend wanted to replace my Rose Morris 330, and bought me two 2009 & 2012 American 330s. I broke his heart when we opened them to find a bump on the back of the necks. Mine was serial # DC289! (March 1964) What a loss! but my kids had to eat!

Mine is the 12-string variant of the John Lennon Signature. Love this guitar!

Nice Playing Bro I was getting Into that

The real one definitely sounds better. I'm surprised how the chinese knock-off looks so much better, they did a good job copying the real thing.

Could the higher output on the real thing simply be due to the relative height of the strings?

“... I come from a long line of electricians.” You definitely demo both guitars real well, Brian. Not a bad singer either. Strangely, watching these videos is whetting my appetite over again for a Brian May Special, instead of a Rickenbacker. I can’t help but think there are a couple of sonic similarities between it and a triple-pickup Rick.

ahh, the joy of being old ;( In '72 I saw my first 'copy', a Copy Cat (actually no name) Les Paul Custom. To me an honest copy since the head stock was blank. Guit was great. Friend took the pick up covers off,,,,same round/rec pole piece HBs on IBZ's and Electras.

Did you put new strings on? If so, what kind? I understand there are strings you can buy that are made specifically for short scale necks.

Do you think if I put in the real pickups and a Bigsby on the fake one it'll be close?

Put 2 of my chicken backer pickups in my sg and the bridge pickup is the Tony iommi signature pickups and use a Hartkey cab and laney cab with a heru head which works as one I plug in through the front and the other I have plugged in through the back both leading to the head this way, I use my kill switch pedal for the laney amp if I'm needing just the one amp working as I use both for my rhythm and either or for the lead

Fan of Rickenbacker recently 😁

Thanks. Good fun! 🙂

Great video. Would you mind mentioning the maker of the chickenbacker? I've looked on DHGate and AliExpress and can't find the bound one like yours.

Ladies and gentlemen, Tom Shillue with his Ricky & Chicky! Lol... Just kidding my friend... Great comparison video, awesome job! Thanks for taking the time to show us "Walmart shoppers" that we can buy an affordable, playable guitar that looks as cool as the "Neiman Marcus" guitars! Keep up the good work... God bless and take care...

what is the name of the ve dedor with wue did you buy this rickenbacker on aliexpress?

Brian. How did you get away with telling your wife you'd just bought a new guitar that is a copy of an original guitar that you already own?

Love it! Thanks!

The pups are closer together on the Chickenbacker. I wonder what the price difference is. I also wonder why the Chinese luthiers would make the neck sit so high at the join point.

Nice ! So tell me where do I get one ? Where did yours come from ? Thanks, Philip.

Thanks. I really want one.

Now, disclaimer: I was watching on a Pixel 2 XL smartphone, and listening on the built-in speakers. Had I listened on headphones or the home stereo, or especially had I been physically in attendance, I probably would've noticed more of a difference than I did here today. That said, the only meaningful difference I noticed today was volume. The real one is appreciably louder, appreciably hotter. I suppose it's brighter, I guess, but that was something I chocked up more to volume than voicing. Otherwise, it's a pretty remarkable resemblance both sight and sound. I guess at a bare minimum, I think we can all at least say the quality vector is profoundly smaller than the price vector, and were I buying today, assuming there aren't issues with legality and consequences, I would definitely be buying the knock-off and not the real thing. Actually, I am thinking of buying a "Chickenbacker" (or "Fakenbacker" is the term I prefer), but not one of these - at least not right away. Instead, my sight is set on the 4003 bass copy. So, fingers crossed! Good video!! :-)

The question if is it does worth for the Chickenbacker price ? What do you think

Does the chickenbacker have two truss rods like a real rickenbacker or only one?

Will you do a full version of this song??

The real Rickenbacker sounds better. The Chickenbacker looks good enough from a distance.

Is the Chickenbacker neck shorter? Also, I think that perhaps the pick-ups are microphonic because you are tapping on the metal covers.

Thanks for interesting riview... And going to buy my chicken one after this...

Is the neck they used on the chickenbacker a 12 string neck with a 6 string head stock. Just a thought

Do you have a link for where you acquired your Rickenbacker replica...???

I like the wider neck on the chicom :)

I purchased 2 ricks from Aliexpress and they seem to be very heavy (solid body) compared to my memory of the real rick (which was a hollow body) I had back in the early 80’s. Do you notice a difference In weight from the real Rick to the aliexpress Rick?

I saw several of those real Ric John Lennon Hamburg model re-issues floating around the Memphis TN GC back in the (late?) 2000s. They blow your mind, because they look so small with the 22.5" neck scale. I think that short scale helped Lennon use his pinky finger more easily for the old school rock chord 6th note progressions like the tunes you played (She was just 17). He often had that pinky going on this model when he played it.

Which seller did you get it from on Ali... there are several doing chickenbackers?

Great review! Where can I get a Chickenbacker?

Genuine all day! Thanks 🇬🇧

Course, I'm listening online on a PC, but to my ear the Rick projects a bit better, has more volume. However, with the right amp well-tweaked, I think the differences in sound are negligible.

The chikenbacker is softer because the pickups are farther away from the strings, and with the height of that neck , the pickups look like there maxed out in height. The tone sounded dead on the chickenbacker to me, you get what you pay for.

Stupid question time: does the f hole in these style guitars make that much of a difference? i'm thinking overall no, but i'd like to hear what you think/say about it. seeing's how you have rics & i has none. thanks.

Thanks for the demo! I was unaware the Chinese were cloning Ricks as well as Gibsons! I found a vintage guitar shop in Louisville, KY back in 1993 and they had a very nice selection of Ricks, including the John Lennon signature 325. I was a bit disappointed with how the 325 felt in my hands. The neck was thick and felt like a baseball bat in my left hand. It played and sounded really nice, but felt odd. If I ever get a Rick I think I will go for a 360-12v63 George Harrison model.

Would like to hear what the tremolo/whammy-bar does... Btw, what's the cost of the Rickenbacker??

I'd love to buy the "Chickenbacker" from you, but I highly doubt I live anywhere close to your area. Good to see another video from you!

Why not change the Chinese pickups and pots to Rickenbacker parts?

Yes Your back

wow I'm very impressed with that chickenbacker!

Thanks for singing-good!. $280 sounds like a deal.

Is it semi-hollow body like the real Ric? I ask because my purchase from China was supposed to be but isn't. It took 2 months to get it, and it arrived looking okay, but it is a disaster. Also, the link you have for AliExpress doesn't exist anymore. Do you have a new one?

Hello my friend. Amazing comparison, very best. I'm very interested in this Chickenbacker guitar. So I would like to know what do you thought about Bigsby vibrato? I saw some persons saiyng that the Bigsby is very bad.

Its really a pity that here in the Netherlands the Rickenbacker 325c64 costs around €3600, because this guitar is like my dream guitar, and for a teenager like me that is alot of hours of work lol. Enjoy ur video’s glad you’re back!

great comparison...the link is broken so maybe let me know the seller name...BTW.. since you are playing the John guitar you should have sung the low harmony on that chorus LOL Great shot of the dial phone in the background...

Interested to know was the Chickenbacker being sold as the real thing?

Hello, does anyone have proper, working link to aliexpress chickenbacker? @Brian Jepson

Could you tell me what Chinese company you got this from and how long it took to receive it, and did you get the one you ordered? Would be very appreciated👍🏻👍🏻

Very interesting! I bought a 325c64 back in 1994 from Ace music in Santa Monica. I had to wait 2 months to get it and it cost me $1250 at the time. Then in 2010 my son needed money for college, so I sold it to my cousin for $1250 with the agreement that he would sell it back to me if he didn't want any longer. Two years later, my cousin tells me he sold it to a collector for $3500. But a month after...he missed the Rick and bought a Chickenbacker for under 500. He had to make a few mods for the Chicken to look like a Rick. But dam I miss the 325c64!

Brian, are you still having tuning problems with this guitar? Would you recommend it? And which seller did you get it from (there are a few on AE)? Please feel free to PM me. Thanks.