Note the headstock shape and the direction of the fret inlays.
A 1974 4001c64 Azureglo Rickenbacker, left-handed. That's the bass that Haruko uses in FLCL, and it's also indeed a real, actual bass guitar. Or at least, it mostly is - there are some inconsistencies with the headstock indicating that it was modeled after a 4003, which is the model where Rickenbacker stopped using the right handed headstock on lefty guitars, but the single piece pickguard combined with the Azureglo color would definitely place it as a 4001, so I think it was mostly just a bit of confusion from a few pieces of reference material.
Notice the shape of the headstock on this 1979 LH 4001 - completely different from Haruko's.
You can see this on the truss rod cover and on the headstock - it's often upside-down, which is consistent with 4001s, but the cover itself and the headstock shape is the wrong way, or the text is the wrong way. There's an interesting discussion on how this might make Haruko's bass a 4003, and it's pretty convincing!
The headstock swoop here is correct, but the headstock shape is not.
But digging through reference photos, discussions on construction, and various registered 1974 Azureglo basses cemented the 4001 theory for me. That, and the fact that the guitar was mentioned by name in an interview. If it was a 4003, it would have had to have been made in 1985, which is the only year the one piece pickguard came back and Azureglo was still being made. That's a pretty big if - the few Azureglo Ricks from 1985 that I have seen are all two piece pickguards. And a lefty version would have been even more rare. In fact, there is only one registered lefty Azureglo from 1974 at this moment.
This image shows a 4003 headstock - LH 4001 Ricks had the swoop and wording in the other direction.
Anyway, Rickenbackers are very real, still made, and very highly regarded. And also really expensive. If I were to go out today and buy the closes thing possible, it would be a midnight blue Rickenbacker 4003, which is a beautiful instrument, but not quite Haruko's, if we're being overly picky. Used Azureglo 4001s are nearly impossible to come by in decent condition, super rare, and even more expensive than their new counterparts. Trying to find a specific year adds another level of difficulty to that. And, if I did manage to snag one of these, there's not a chance in hell I'd add the lawnmower pull, or sticker, or even carry it around at a convention! From a musical standpoint, it would be a joy to play, and may make for a very, very carefully coordinated photo. But this is not an instrument you would swing around.
An actual 1974 4001, right handed. A beautiful instrument.
Okay, so obtaining the actual bass is out. Obtaining a newer version of the actual bass is much more feasible, but still out. When I become a decent musician, I will reconsider this. But, I've built an electric guitar, I could probably build a bass, or so I thought. Bonus: if I built one, I wouldn't be afraid to drill in an add the lawnmower motor attachment to the back of it or getting it a bit beat up!
Ricks also don't have bolt on necks, and the neck color is the same as the body color.
Turns out Rickenbacker cracked down on kits that looked like their basses a few years back, and understandably so. Other companies sometimes allow for similar kit versions of their instruments to be produced, but Rickenbacker didn't. If you're a craftsman, you definitely want your name to not be muddied, and Ricks are renown in the music world for their quality and tone. I couldn't even find a used kit, let alone a pre-built kit that someone was selling, so that was out. I even tried to find a model of the body and neck to see if I could mill a prop out of wood, but even that led to a dead end. Had I started this project earlier, that would have been the way to go, but that's going to be tabled for future improvements.
I figured I would just use my blue electric Strat copy that I had built, because it's pretty cool, and why not? Still, I kept perusing forums to see what I could find. And I did find something.
The Rickenbacker forums (there are a lot) had sections discussing look-alike or knock-off Rickenbackers, known as Fakenbackers, Chickenbackers, or many other things. They've actually been around for years - Ibanez, Greco, and Tokai made look-alikes going back to the eighties. They look very similar to a real bass, but the sound of a real Rick is hard to beat. That said, a lot of the owners of these instruments carefully modify them to improve their sound, so take what I am saying with a grain of salt.
I was curious though, as the price point for a newer version of one of these was low enough that it fell into the okay-to-drill-a-lawnmower-motor-into category. I am also nowhere near as much of a musician as I want to be, so this would be a good starting point for me while I saved up for the real thing, should I decide to do so. And, I would not at all try to pass this off as the real deal - this would be a prop, and I would be up front about that. Finally, a few other hardcore cosplayers have done the same thing!
A knock-off Rick.
So, I decided to go this route and use one of these. I had a few interesting discussions with various musicians over the ethics of this sort of thing, and the conclusion was: musicians buy Rickenbackers for the sound. People buy the knock-offs because they "look cool." No one is buying the knock offs for the sound - the groups do not intersect. The idea of counterfeiting is crappy, but these knock-offs will never threaten the market for the real deal. If I am going to be using it as a prop, it should be fine. Again, this is a touchy subject and I am not advocating in either direction, I am simply recounting my experience in this. I also promised myself that by buying something like this, I am solemnly swearing to use it to actually learn to play bass, and buy a real one someday.
So, Fakenbacker will be here soonish, and then I will finish the lawnmower attachment and potentially repaint the body to better match the Azureglo color, as the knock-offs are a strange blue. I also have the P! decal that I can put on it. I'll 3D print a new truss rod cover and probably write something like FLCL on it. However, no, I will not be putting a gun in my cheap bass. I have standards.
A friend asked me why I didn't just make a prop from styrofoam. I...I don't have a good answer. I go all out.
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