An issue with Rickenbacker

[Tim Schnautz]

Lesson about RICs
1) you don't question the Rickenwaffen.
2) if you do question them, then refer to rule #1

 

[bon viesta]

I had the Honor(?) Of being the brief target of John Halls' ire yearsago on Ricresource when he still occasionally posted there. I had the temerity to question why they were still having bridge tail lift after 20+ years of well documented problems. He did NOT like that! (But offered no coherent explanation, BTW) He's an a$$hat for sure, but no longer runs the company. His son Ben should now be the object of any gripes that need to be aired. They appear to be at least trying to respond to their rabidly loyal customer bass with some long overdue improvements like the V2 bridge, push pull tone cap, 5 string bass, and (possible) change to a single DA rod. Their warranty still sucks, but since they sell.every bass they can make, hard to argue with their business model. Im cautiously optimistic.

the change to new DA truss rods was made official the other day. another improvement for rick basses!!

 

[Iristone]

I like their instruments - but they are not designed by John Hall, either. If anything, John stopped the natural evolution of the instruments (4001 to 4003 for example) I'm glad I own only a used Ric.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Individuals are capable of compassion and reason under normal circumstances, but social media has whipped everything into crazy extremist camps. I have no idea how to get us back to a mode of being where symbols and ideas aren't a matter of life or death, and where people can disagree completely and still be friends. I really miss those days.

Also: that dumb sticker was gone from my bass the second the receipt started printing.

I think anonymity is the cause for a lot of angst on the web. When ButtHead327 and SnickerDoodle218 engage in an argument there isn't as much of a holdback in what you say or express. You're not a person speaking to a person, you're two online anonymous, faceless entities that are there for the entertainment value. I would love in Facebook had a way to verify your account as the actual individual you're posting as (they do have that capability) and then give me the option to turn off comments from anonymous accounts. There are too many bot accounts that are designed to keep people arguing.

 

[Clark Westfield]

That’s why you just buy a Fender or Music Man.

Just saying.

 

[trickyric]

the other day on the rickenbacker bass group, i saw a post talking about the whole sticker thing. apparently, a large percentage of people think that removing a dingy “made in america” sticker from your 2000 buck bass guitar is a statement against the country of america. a guy wrote a whole essay about how the state of the world and politics is all yadadada and the comments were just like “dude… it’s a sticker.”

i thought that was funny. so that’s what the whole thing is about??? i mean, my generation really likes to goof on facebook but like… sometimes people are a little crazy.

I wish I had one of those stickers for mine.. the original owner removed it

 

[woodyng2]

I wish I had one of those stickers for mine.. the original owner removed it

Willy Wonka’s got ya covered.

 

[WillyW]

I wish I had one of those stickers for mine.. the original owner removed it

Willy Wonka’s got ya covered.

I’m down to less than 50…

 

[Gunga Din]

Um... no. These are private systems, and the owners have the right to boot folks off as they feel.
Facebook groups are also private, and while they can be subject to someone who runs the service, the folks who set up and maintain the group can boot you for whatever reason they like.
They are under no obligation to explain why or give any reason to the other members. There is no legal requirement that you be heard on any of these online platforms.
Poof. You're gone.

It was the same in the BBS days. A lot of folks got banned from dialup services back then and demanded their rights were being violated for it. Nope. No way. Eventually they stop banging on the door and find another place to go.

That aside... John actually runs an English Polo club, doesn't he? I'd love to see what the opinions of him are from his teammates/players.

He - his family - owns a bank, too.

 

[BlueTalon]

But only if you speak un-truths

That made me laugh.

 

[Doombuggy68]

A lot of you are just piling on lol I’m not taking up for the Hall family, I had warranty issues and phone calls with JH that were less than pleasant and prob know more personal information and dirt on them than most on this forum from talking to Ex employees but I feel for JH and his family with the rise of social media and the current climate of the last 6 years. some people are having opinion and entitlement issues. I’m not sure what has happened to the human race but it’s become infantile and revolving backwards. Any popular person would be wise not to read anything about themselves on the internet. It’s not a healthy environment. I’ve been banned from FB and it has that right as a private company, wether I like it or not. Some of you don’t understand this isn’t Walmart or Amazon world where you are always right and you get free shipping lol

 

[Gunga Din]

A lot of you are just piling on lol I’m not taking up for the Hall family, I had warranty issues and phone calls with JH that were less than pleasant and prob know more personal information and dirt on them than most on this forum from talking to Ex employees but I feel for JH and his family with the rise of social media and the current climate of the last 6 years. some people are having opinion and entitlement issues. I’m not sure what has happened to the human race but it’s become infantile and revolving backwards. Any popular person would be wise not to read anything about themselves on the internet. It’s not a healthy environment. I’ve been banned from FB and it has that right as a private company, wether I like it or not. Some of you don’t understand this isn’t Walmart or Amazon world where you are always right and you get free shipping lol

I expect to have my concerns heeded and then addressed politely and with resolution when dealing with a service provider or a company whose products I have bought new. Dealing with John Hall was not a nice experience when it came to concerns about RIC products. As with Amazon, I'd expect satisfaction when dealing with RIC. With JH snooping around and intervening, one could forget all that.

 

[user362432]

I am blessed never to talk to any of them (Ric people)
Who cares?
They have product with $500 value, artificially selling for 4 times and more of the real value.
I have my Purple heart medal for Social Media deletes and blocks.
I am equal opportunity offender, when it comes of dealing with others. But, I never went to "their" forum. What for? I am boycotting them for more than 40+ years.
I am enjoying confirmation I was right then, and I am right - now. Just forget about them. Not worth troubles.

 

[Searay]

Imagine what it is like to take calls and read complaint posts forty hours a week. It's an American Company, that uses domestic sourcing wherever practical, with a good competitive product, with significant investments into manufacturing. Maybe bash Cort for labor issues or other Pacific rim products that were moved out of US to cost reduce a decent design into a collective piece of junk.

 

[sleddogn]

i'm all for them doing their thing, they just shouldn't be JERKS about it....

 

[trickyric]

Imagine what it is like to take calls and read complaint posts forty hours a week. It's an American Company, that uses domestic sourcing wherever practical, with a good competitive product, with significant investments into manufacturing. Maybe bash Cort for labor issues or other Pacific rim products that were moved out of US to cost reduce a decent design into a collective piece of junk.

I applaud them for keeping it domestic.. however their customer service is legendary for being terrible... that is a "them" problem

 

[truand85]

Imagine what it is like to take calls and read complaint posts forty hours a week. It's an American Company, that uses domestic sourcing wherever practical, with a good competitive product, with significant investments into manufacturing. Maybe bash Cort for labor issues or other Pacific rim products that were moved out of US to cost reduce a decent design into a collective piece of junk.

Imagine that, 40h a week paid customer service, the horror...

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Rics reputation for abysmal customer service is richly deserved and exhaustively documented here on TB. They had a pretty serious peeling finish issue for 10+ years that they ignored, with a worthless finish warranty that required the blameless buyer to eat the cost of one-way shipping to CA for ANY warranty repairs. If you bought a brand new car, and the paint started peeling off the hood, Your reaction to being told YOU had to pay to ship the car to CA to get it repaired would be…. what exactly? This kind of contempt for a famously loyal customer base was what pissed off a lot of people, which seems an entirely reasonable response. AFAIK, that crap 1 year warranty policy is still in effect, and starts on date of manufacture, not sale, so nobody actually gets a one year warranty. Ric certainly isn’t the only American company that has lousy CS, but there’s no point in pretending this kind of corporate behavior is OK. The vast majority of Ric basses are well made and well finished, but if you get a lemon, you are effectively on your own unless you bought it from a reputable vendor like Wildwood. It’s important for buyers to have their eyes open when spending an average $1800-2000 on any bass, which puts in in the boutique range. Given their track record, Buyer Beware is a rational response when dealing with Ric.

 

[bon viesta]

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.

 

[swamp2]

Buying from Wildwood is indeed a safe route. They are great, I have 2 4003's purchased from them, both were perfect upon receipt and setup per my request. I've only had 1 interaction with Rick CS - had to contact them to get the "free" treble bezels for my AC, they sent them out the day I emailed a copy of the sales receipt. So although there's a lot of horror stories I haven't experienced any personally, and it hasn't impacted my ability to appreciate and enjoy a couple wonderful, unique and iconic instruments.