The Electra Forums

I am looking for an Electra Corsair 2288, Rickenbacker copy bass guitar. Anybody knows where can I buy a new or an used one?

you won't find a "new" Corsair, as they were only made from '73 to '77

'73-'76 were mono, bolt neck with full width inlays, and full chrome pickups that were not like real ricks. had a checkered type binding. came in sunburst(rosewood fretboard) or natural (maple fretboard).

'77 was stereo, neck through, pickups/dimensions similar to real ricks. basically a copy of a '74 4001 with 1/2" neck pup spacing, and small inlays. sunburst and natural, both with rosewood fretboards.

all years of catalog pics show them having the name "Electra" in a Gibson type font on the TRC

the '77 catalog shows checkered binding, but I've only seen one example of a neck thru electra, and it had just plain white binding and the early "round E logo" ... and it may not be one of the '77 Electras. in the 80's there were more Electras (all types) made that were not distributed through SLM. some have a fenderesce type headstock with an additional little bump on them. some are a totally different design, and some have regular headstock. the log that was used for these is the same as the early electra logos that was used by both SLM and PCM. these later Electras are reported (In a Vintage guitar price guide) to be why SLM transitioned to Westone....

they are hard to find via the web. basically all the designs elements are trademarked by RIC. body shape, headstock shape, TRC (truss rod cover) shape, the toaster pickup design (look). I think they are even working on the design for the bridge, which might impact future sales of the MPC bass, as it used an identical bridge design....

because of how trademark laws are written, RIC is forced into stopping all sales of anything that infringes their trademark, or they risk losing the trademark. There are tons of RIC fans and RIC employees who check eBay for copies, and report them to RIC legal, who gets the auctions pulled.

your best bet is to find one locally, or in a less public place than eBay. They are out there though.... (I have 3)

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Thanks!