An issue with Rickenbacker

[MustangWally]

Well, that is debatable. Social media platforms act as todays town square. They have the legal exemptions they do because specifically because they promised to behave as platforms and not as editors. But now they're behaving as editors. I don't mind the idea of them behaving as editors as long as they are legally accountable for their actions as editors. But I do NOT like the idea of them behaving as editors while having the legal exemptions as platforms.

This. Exactly.

 

[sleddogn]

Here is a bad glue joint that made it thru QC at ric and at wildwood. Once i contacted wildwood they were on it, but was sad it ever was sent this way, it was a 4003ac, 2400 dollar bass....

 

[trickyric]

i think it’s okay to cut rickenbacker some slack sometimes. i read a post by the dude on reddit who first broke the “unfinished fretboard” announcement to the world, and he was getting all sorts of insults and hate his way. he was saying that there isn’t any change they can do to please everybody. think about the ric fanbase, and the general public opinion of them. two extreme sides.

one side thinks that they’re the perfect guitar and any change to them, however big or small, is sacrilegious and they’ll complain constantly to rickenbacker if they don’t like the change and they’ll say how rickenbacker just wants to make money and cut costs.

the other side thinks that rickenbackers are outdated pieces of crap that should never have had finished fretboards, should be 34” scale length, should be totally contoured, should come standard without pickup covers and basically just want rickenbacker to be any other modern-ish guitar company.

i’ve seen the folks on facebook and how, even now, many are opposing the change to a single truss rod because it’s “cost cutting” and “you can’t trust them” and all the works. rickenbacker can’t win, no matter what they do. they change, they get purist hate. they stay the same, people who don’t like rickenbackers complain about design features that they think are outdated.

do they probably overreact with their “censorship”? yeah. but it’s a tough spot.

they don't have to respond to comments that aren't customers concerns related to products they sold to them... however, they have really not been good with warranty repairs.. or the lack of..

 

[bon viesta]

they don't have to respond to comments that aren't customers concerns related to products they sold to them... however, they have really not been good with warranty repairs.. or the lack of..

that stuff is not okay. i forgot about those things. in general, i think rickenbacker as a company can do a lot better. with such expensive instruments they owe the consumer basic things like warranty and being responsible for their products. but just in terms of how they handle pr when everyone freaks out over a change, or how they handle changing things in general, it’s a tough spot to be in. but even then they can probably do a little better. announce things, be engaged, see what people want.

 

[smurfco]

My 4001v63 is my favorite instrument, but I'm glad I bought it used.

 

[TTA]

Someone ban this guy quick!


On a serious note… i asked if the skunk stripes would be 2022 only. I fear i may be banned also.

If anyone is interested. Ric confirmed the skunk stripe is here to stay.

imho it looks fantastic for walnut, mapleglo. I dont love it for fireglo. Jetglo… looks terrible. :-D

 

[GodsLove66]

If anyone is interested. Ric confirmed the skunk stripe is here to stay.

imho it looks fantastic for walnut, mapleglo. I dont love it for fireglo. Jetglo… looks terrible. :-D

Yeesh! So then Rics MOST SUPERIOR 4003(/1) was the 2019-early 2021...with the V2 Bridge, Lacquered Boards, and no skunk stripe... Nearly 60 years of existence and they've only got it right for two lol. Alright, I'm ready for my crucifixion to those with other opinions now

 

[TTA]

Yeesh! So then Rics MOST SUPERIOR 4003(/1) was the 2019-early 2021...with the V2 Bridge, Lacquered Boards, and no skunk stripe... Nearly 60 years of existence and they've only got it right for two lol. Alright, I'm ready for my crucifixion to those with other opinions now

Lol. I like the skunk… and am 100% for the non-lacquered board. My 2021 jetglo is unlaquered and amazing!

 

[bon viesta]

Yeesh! So then Rics MOST SUPERIOR 4003(/1) was the 2019-early 2021...with the V2 Bridge, Lacquered Boards, and no skunk stripe... Nearly 60 years of existence and they've only got it right for two lol. Alright, I'm ready for my crucifixion to those with other opinions now

i agree that the lacquered boards look spectacular, but in all honesty the ease of not having a layer of hardened plastic over your metallic clanging playground is more beneficial than the shiny coolness.

imagine having to go in for a refret and ending up having to strip off that tough conversion varnish, and then find someone with the expertise to spray it back on well. i’ve heard it’s tough!

 

[GodsLove66]

i agree that the lacquered boards look spectacular, but in all honesty the ease of not having a layer of hardened plastic over your metallic clanging playground is more beneficial than the shiny coolness.

imagine having to go in for a refret and ending up having to strip off that tough conversion varnish, and then find someone with the expertise to spray it back on well. i’ve heard it’s tough!

Simple! Don't get it refretted!
BE A MAN!!!

 

[MustangWally]

Regarding warranty in the US: isn't there some kind of federal requirement for a 1 year warranty on pretty much anything that you buy that supersedes any manufacturers warranty? I don't know how much use it actually is though.

 

[farace]

Just for the sake of clarity, aside from the questionable practice of the warranty running from the time of manufacture, meaning it’s running before you even buy the instrument, the one-year warranty is on the finish only. The manufacturing defects warranty is five years.

 

[Doombuggy68]

Another big issue with the guitars is that they have been inflated to a cult like status by a certain group within the Rickenbacker community. I refer to them as "The John Hall Fanboy Brigade" aka The Sticker Boys". They are a nasty bunch, especially the younger members (under 40) of this elite, social media strike force. when it comes to anything negative its all hands on deck, they only accept total devotion and praise for all things Rickenbacker. Ever tried posting a Greco copy on eBay, (dont you dare use the R word) it came down within 2 hours? that was the JHFBB at work. Even if you have owned Rickenbackers for 40 years and know how quirky and junky they can be but you put up with the pot metal tailpiece lifting or the Rick-O-Sound turning to Crackle-No-Sound you wont get a pass saying anything negative, its no joking around. If you mention anything derogatory on these fan site pages, prepare to be attacked and bludgeoned, repeatedly and more than likely banned from the page.
Of course Im joking but its not too far off.
For some its like owning a exotic European sports car (more like a 1974 MGB in the late 1980s), or being in an elite club where there is none of those nasty "foreign" versions like Fender (Squire) or Gibson (Epiphone) has and you buy them as investments, like stock and bonds or bitcoin if you are under 25 lol and you do everything in your power to keep the prices going up, up, up! Oh sweet Rickenbacker investment bring me an early retirement!
One member started a post titled "ISO a FireGlo 4003s will pay $1500. He was attacked several times and had a half a dozen laughing emojis. Because everyone knows you are only suppose to sell or buy a used Rickenbacker for $100-200 less than list lol. It took about 20 mins and someone posted they had one they would sell. People were ringing their hands and jumping up and down, mad as hell that they paid $1900 for their used bass and that he got his so cheap. One guy called him a douche bag lol.
In fact the seller even said in the ad $1500 OR BEST OFFER! the guy could have gotten it for $1400 if it wasnt posted on his post and people like me who were looking for one in that price ranged also hadnt see it. :O

Here's the type of people who buy Rickenbackers for wall hangers now (see shirts?)
.

Heres who use to play them lol.

 

[GodsLove66]

As a 25 year old who owns a 2018 that was gifted (and even then acquired by a buddy from GC at $1100 NEW), I can't help but snicker a bit at those thinking these NEW ones are ACTUALLY worth sticker price!!! $2700??? For what?! The most entertaining ones are the sticker brigade....like WHY keep such a TACKY looking thing on there??? I wanna know who's daft enough to keep the push pull stickers on theirs too!

 

[Root 5]

I understand your opinion on this. I totally get that it looks that way to those who get banned or deleted. I've seen plenty of perfectly valid comments and accounts get killed.. generally incorrectly by accident, but it isn't because they are evil.

It's very complex actually, trying to host social media. Probably one of the most legally complex businesses in the world.

I work in software and internet stuff often, and making sure things are legal and acceptable where ever your website is to be view, that's all been part of my career experience. Social media companies have no choice but to do what they do, or they would disappear pretty fast.

The legal challenges that social media hosting companies have are nearly insurmountable, and ANYTHING that could be even misconstrued into a complaint becomes another of the thousands of ongoing legal battles they have to deal with, most of which or futile from the complainant's side, but still cost them dearly. So they are as proactive as they need to be to keep operating.

Also, legally speaking, they are private companies and, according to the terms and conditions we all agree to when we sign up, they can do whatever they want with our posts, since they own the posts, they own the content, and they host it around the world in countries that have very different laws than we do, so they have to jump fast based on algorithms using search words and phrases.

Sometimes they are wrong, and anybody has the right to complain if they are wrong and get reinstated. I've seen people do that often. It's mostly algorithms guessing what to delete, after all. However, social media companies are allowed to delete whatever they want, legally. The only way they can keep operating is to be too tough on posts than too lenient, in case something slips through that turns out to be a big problem for them to host.

It's not censorship, which is an entirely different circumstance in law. It is the only way real time posting can work online - there MUST be proactive, too tough, automated and manual deleting and warning etc. It's just social media - it's not supposed to be controversial content, and they must protect themselves.

YouTube recently removed an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience - his talk with virologist & immunologist Dr Robert Malone - the inventor of mRNA technology. Hard to believe big tech don’t “censor” when things like this happen.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Just for the sake of clarity, aside from the questionable practice of the warranty running from the time of manufacture, meaning it’s running before you even buy the instrument, the one-year warranty is on the finish only. The manufacturing defects warranty is five years.

...... And in either case, YOU get to pay to ship it to CA. I'm guessing average for that would be $100+? It's a pretty blatant and transparent tactic to discourage warranty claims, and highly effective, too.

 

[dkelley]

YouTube recently removed an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience - his talk with virologist & immunologist Dr Robert Malone - the inventor of mRNA technology. Hard to believe big tech don’t “censor” when things like this happen.

Again, I won't use the word "censor" even in quotes since that isn't the correct term for what they do on media hosting.

Now, I could look at your comment two ways, and I'll try to answer both:

- 1 - it IS hard to believe that a bunch of people didn't complain to youtube about it, because they believe that the guy who invented the technology that is in use may be incorrect, or lying, or spreading similar false information.

- 2 - I presume, being the doctor that invented the technology of the vaccines currently in use and has been proven for a very long time, and in use for covid for two years now, that it would be fact laden, and would point out errors in any conspiracy theories that may have been asked about by rogan, as part of the interview.

If it's fact based truth, obviously it doesn't break any laws or cause any issues, so the youtube staff themselves would not remove it.

If it's fact based truth, and lots of people complain about it, it becomes huge headache for youtube to filter through those complaints, but once again they will not remove a post no matter how many similar complaints there are, if the complaints are not founded in fact, and the video/post etc is proven to be founded in fact.

People can find fault in anything, but if what they find fault in is actually not at fault, then the blame lies on the complainant, not on the poster, in which case no matter how many complaints, in the end the correct decision is made.

So yea, I can see that it would have been controversial, but I'm happy that in the end most social media companies at least try to vet every detail in every post that draws complaints, so that they can verify validity and keep the post live. I am also happy that if they ever do find errors of judgement or misinformation in posts or videos, that they can take down those posts in an effort to help people from learning from the incorrect post.

Regarding youtube in a more musician-topical way, I have a real problem with YT's judgement issues about music in videos, though. It seems rather inconsistent and drives most of us up the wall how they follow the record labels recommendations defacto without looking into it themselves first of all. Oh well, like I've said all along, they aren't perfect by any means!

 

[trickyric]

Again, I won't use the word "censor" even in quotes since that isn't the correct term for what they do on media hosting.

Now, I could look at your comment two ways, and I'll try to answer both:

- 1 - it IS hard to believe that a bunch of people didn't complain to youtube about it, because they believe that the guy who invented the technology that is in use may be incorrect, or lying, or spreading similar false information.

- 2 - I presume, being the doctor that invented the technology of the vaccines currently in use and has been proven for a very long time, and in use for covid for two years now, that it would be fact laden, and would point out errors in any conspiracy theories that may have been asked about by rogan, as part of the interview.

If it's fact based truth, obviously it doesn't break any laws or cause any issues, so the youtube staff themselves would not remove it.

If it's fact based truth, and lots of people complain about it, it becomes huge headache for youtube to filter through those complaints, but once again they will not remove a post no matter how many similar complaints there are, if the complaints are not founded in fact, and the video/post etc is proven to be founded in fact.

People can find fault in anything, but if what they find fault in is actually not at fault, then the blame lies on the complainant, not on the poster, in which case no matter how many complaints, in the end the correct decision is made.

So yea, I can see that it would have been controversial, but I'm happy that in the end most social media companies at least try to vet every detail in every post that draws complaints, so that they can verify validity and keep the post live. I am also happy that if they ever do find errors of judgement or misinformation in posts or videos, that they can take down those posts in an effort to help people from learning from the incorrect post.

Regarding youtube in a more musician-topical way, I have a real problem with YT's judgement issues about music in videos, though. It seems rather inconsistent and drives most of us up the wall how they follow the record labels recommendations defacto without looking into it themselves first of all. Oh well, like I've said all along, they aren't perfect by any means!

being a platform and having a 230 exemption as a utility means that you do not editorialize.. the phone company does not turn your phone off because someone didn't like what you said.
And,
The Taliban still has a youtube page.... drops mic...

 

[dkelley]

being a platform and having a 230 exemption as a utility means that you do not editorialize.. the phone company does not turn your phone off because someone didn't like what you said.
And,
The Taliban still has a youtube page.... drops mic...

interesting interpretation of the law. it doesn't work that way actually for privately held companies with clear T&Cs.

 

[GregC]

YouTube recently removed an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience - his talk with virologist & immunologist Dr Robert Malone - the inventor of mRNA technology. Hard to believe big tech don’t “censor” when things like this happen.

The episode was removed because Rogan has an exclusive deal with Spotify. Nothing to do with “censorship.”

And this whole string of complaints about Twitter, YouTube, etc. has ZERO to do with Rickenbacker. It’s just politically motivated griping.