An issue with Rickenbacker

[GIBrat51]

More than a sliver, I hope. Either they care about their customers or they don't, and I think that they do, and also, unlike Gibson who makes a "new and more authentic limited reissue than ever before" every year, Rickenbacker means it when they say "limited".

AFAIK, the Macca Ric is known more for being left-handed with a righty headstock, that drippy paint-bomb refinish circa the Magical Mystery Tour, and then getting stripped down to raw wood, like John's Epi Casino, not a shade of "you should see a doctor about that" white that they've never offered before, as on the Chris Squire.

You should go for it! I'd love to see it when finished!

Actually, righty headstocks on lefty Ricks are nothing special. Paul Boyer could tell you exactly when Rick decided to put "correct" headstocks on lefties, but it was long after Paul's 4001 was made. Before that date (late '90s, I think)? They were all made that way... My lefty '01 COY 4003 is "correct", but my plain ol' lefty '73 4001? Righty headstock...

 

[woodyng2]

The sticky pick holder is egregious. Kinda with Ric on this one

That’s actually to hold more stickers. When one flakes off, you can popout a fresh one.

 

[Koshchei]

RIC is basically what everyone complains about Gibson being.

You mean:
1) Being objectively one of the worst places to work in North America?
2) Pushing out hundreds of thousands of poorly made instruments a year to stores like BestBuy?
3) Letting their design copyrights lapse for nearly half a century and then going after small builders on a rent-seeking legal adventure?
4) Buying out beloved companies like Cakewalk and then burying them in their attempt to become a "lifestyle brand"?
5) Selling less expensive overseas models that are ultimately better-made than the originals that they're copying?

Yeah, totally. Rickenbacker is very obviously all of these things *nods*. /s

 

[GodsLove66]

RIC is basically what everyone complains about Gibson being.

At least Gibson course corrected itself...after giving Henry Juszkiewicz the boot...

 

[farace]

I called them to ask just for laughs, the Ric rep said that's one of the silliest ones he's heard and confirmed they'll uphold warranty, with or without sticker

FWIW, I removed the sticker immediately when I bought my ‘15 4003. When it went back for a warranty refinish (actually slightly after warranty), it came back to me with a brand-new sticker (which again was promptly removed) and brand-new strings (I kind of wished they’d left the broken-in strings). I don’t dispute others’ experiences, but for the sake of a little balance I’ll mention that on the few occasions I’ve contacted Ric customer service I was dealt with timely and politely. On one occasion I was searching for a schematic for my ‘80s TR-14 amp, and John Hall himself went digging through file cabinets looking for it, to no avail (apparently no one has that schematic anymore). But he tried, and I appreciate that. I doubt you’d get that from the CEO of any other major instrument manufacturer, if you could even name them.

 

[DigitalMan]

I'm not going to test anything on TB - I love this place too much to mess with it!

The arguments that I have seen to date are more generally aimed at fb, twatter, et al. where their armies of left-wing trolls are paid to actively censor/moderate/'fact check' anything that does not support the company's desired political and commercial narratives. It can be, and is being, argued that Section 230 needs updating for the current day (it was written back when telephone companies were about all that constituted a media company) and should that happen then the constant threat of being sued might shake some sense into fb, twatter et al. Or not, who knows? Interesting to think about though, no? What if?

Without enforceable content policies, there would be no difference between a Disney kid’s forum and the pornhub forum. Without liability protection, there won’t be any forums at all.

 

[micguy]

At least Gibson course corrected itself...after giving Henry Juszkiewicz the boot...

The course corrected somewhat in terms of products (still haven't fixed the headstock issue), but the whole Play Authentic/Lawsuit thing is a huge miss. We and they all know they let their trademarks lapse for decades, and don't have a leg to stand on legally - the competitors, if they do give in, will only avoid the fight because of the cost of litigation, not because Gibson has a valid point..

 

[mrjim123]

I have a problem with any company that doesn't openly provide pricing, like everybody else. Screw that. Never owned a Ricky, never will.

 

[truand85]

Quite likely, and it would probably be better than the current garbage coming out of Hollywood! But I don't see how that has any relevance to our discussion here. And rejecting a submission to a company is not the same as moderating posted content to a public forum. Aw heck, who really cares anyhow? Now I just want to see your video dammit! Can you post a link to it here please? What kind of sandwich were you making?

Haha apologies I edited my post to add an article link a little too late it seems. It will explain things better than I can.

Oh and there was never any doubt my sandwich video is better than Hollywood crapola. Only problem is I don't actually make sandwich videos

 

[IngloriousOz]

I love Rics but Rickenbacker as a company can be summed up in one gif:

 

[Guzzi Toad]

I have a problem with any company that doesn't openly provide pricing, like everybody else. Screw that. Never owned a Ricky, never will.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[GodsLove66]

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

That's a first!

 

[Guzzi Toad]

That's a first!

The price list is one of the few things that always seems to get updated every year on the website.

 

[SleepyShark]

At least Gibson course corrected itself...after giving Henry Juszkiewicz the boot...

Is it even fair to say Gibson has corrected itself, or is it more fair to say they've, for the time being, stopped steering into the skid?

Jokes aside it's an interesting and puzzling comparison. All my opinion, of course... Feel free to voice where I'm misguided

Rickenbacker has always seemed to enjoy exclusively occupying the higher-end, more quirky zone of the mass-produced guitar market. They're not upfront about pricing (edit: they now do list MSRP, as someone linked), it can even be hard to tell what they're currently selling - which is compounded by the ancient-looking and feeling website - but they make some of the most iconic looking and sounding instruments out there, and people will pay to have that offering.

Gibson is/was a behemoth of the music world. The "lifestyle brand" label isn't too far off. They offer gear at every price point, which is great, but it's how they went about doing that, especially in the modern era that felt so misguided. I know it gets brought up a lot, but the robot tuners were a pretty big peak behind the curtain of what was going on there in the 2000s. I'm not sure if it's still this way, but for a while Gibson's product lineup was a confusing mass of "Les Paul Signature Professional Studio 1970 Reissue 50th Anniversary Edition" type of thing.

I don't think the two can really be compared, but it's still fun to look at.

 

[devnulljp]

FWIW, I removed the sticker immediately when I bought my ‘15 4003. When it went back for a warranty refinish (actually slightly after warranty), it came back to me with a brand-new sticker (which again was promptly removed) and brand-new strings (I kind of wished they’d left the broken-in strings). I don’t dispute others’ experiences, but for the sake of a little balance I’ll mention that on the few occasions I’ve contacted Ric customer service I was dealt with timely and politely. On one occasion I was searching for a schematic for my ‘80s TR-14 amp, and John Hall himself went digging through file cabinets looking for it, to no avail (apparently no one has that schematic anymore). But he tried, and I appreciate that. I doubt you’d get that from the CEO of any other major instrument manufacturer, if you could even name them.

You know, now you mention it. I did have a good experience with him once. I bought a used Ric a decade or so ago from a seller in the US and Canadian customs decided it had endangered shellfish parts -- they thought the fret markers were abalone -- and were going to impound it. I posted on the Ric forum looking for some kind of certified 'the inlays are plastic' document that customs would accept and JH messaged me. He faxed customs documentation on the composition of the fret markers along with a snarky note saying something like 'of course they're plastic, you idiots' and they released the bass to me. Personal service from the CEO. I guess you have to catch him on a good day (or find an issue that triggers him somewhat)?

 

[GodsLove66]

You know, now you mention it. I did have a good experience with him once. I bought a used Ric a decade or so ago from a seller in the US and Canadian customs decided it had endangered shellfish parts -- they thought the fret markers were abalone -- and were going to impound it. I posted on the Ric forum looking for some kind of certified 'the inlays are plastic' document that customs would accept and JH messaged me. He faxed customs documentation on the composition of the fret markers along with a snarky note saying something like 'of course they're plastic, you idiots' and they released the bass to me. Personal service from the CEO. I guess you have to catch him on a good day (or find an issue that triggers him somewhat)?

Somehow I can easily picture that one. "Of course they're lower quality parts!!! How DARE you assume we waste expenses on more exclusive materials?!"

 

[prowla]

Well, that's amusing - I appear to have just been hoiked out of an FB group called "Rickenbacker Basses and Guitars"!
I was posting there to say that a Ric was genuine, but suddenly I couldn't reply to the thread, the post notifications had disappeared from my notifications drop-down, and the group is no longer in my list of groups!
The amusing thing is I was defending a real Ric there!
Oh well, nevermind...

 

[Dabndug]

Captain Pedantic told me:

RIC has always published their MSRP. They do not, however, allow authorised dealers to publish their own discounted prices. Dealers can sell at whatever discount they like, but can't splash the discounted price online, in print, or via mass media.

 

[Durham52]

Well, that's amusing - I appear to have just been hoiked out of an FB group called "Rickenbacker Basses and Guitars"!
I was posting there to say that a Ric was genuine, but suddenly I couldn't reply to the thread, the post notifications had disappeared from my notifications drop-down, and the group is no longer in my list of groups!
The amusing thing is I was defending a real Ric there!
Oh well, nevermind...

Well, just a guess as to how the thought process works at Rickenbacker, but maybe by defending an instrument as a real Ric, you had by definition acknowledged the existence of fake Rics, thereby giving the fake Rics recognition?

 

[Doombuggy68]

its real simple, JH and his company DO NOT care what you think. they already have the next 2 years of production sold. Im not taking up for them but its a company that only puts out so many guitars and basses a year. Its why the used market for Rickenbacker is ridiculously high. Slowing production would make the used market rise to what a dealer sells a new one for and make a new guitar seem more appealing than paying only a few hundred less for a used guitar and you wouldn't compete with your old inventory floating around used. Whether they slow production deliberately to achieve this I have no idea. It makes a great conspiracy though.
Another thing most of you are missing, because you actually play and use your basses is that Rickenbacker probably has more people that cant play buying their guitars than a Gibson or Fender.
I don't like it but the guitars have become less of a tool and more of an investment to people who use to collect Star Wars dolls and cosmic books. Its your doctor, lawyer and investment banker buying Rickenbackers and living out a fantasy of being a Beatle lol.