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I bought a Ric on sale from MF. A bit perplexed. Thoughts?

robbyray

robbyray

Sep 14, 2008
225
273
Oklahoma
#1
After years and years of wanting a Rickenbacker 4003 I decided that it was time to buy. I had been checking prices on eBay, Sam Ash, and Craigslist when I decided to look at MusiciansFriend's site. I tried the 'email for price' option and they sent me a price of $1799. I decided to call and see if I could get any further discounts and was shocked when I was quoted less than $1500 for a BRAND NEW Jetglo Ric 4003 shipped to my door. $1399, to be exact. I opted for overnight shipping which was an extra $35.

I received the bass today, as I had it shipped to my office. It arrived around 11am. Once I got caught up with my work I took a few minutes to unbox it.

Here are my first impressions:

It came single-boxed, which I thought was a bit odd. The shipping box arrived in good condition. Once I removed the case from the box I verified that the case wasn't damaged. It looked fine to me.

Opened the case and took a look at the bass. Seemed to be unplayed, there wasn't as much as a smudge on the hardware.

NrVwUo0.jpg

Here is a photo of the bass, sorry for the phone quality.



The finish looked nice... except for one small area under the bridge.

hHeR8aZ.jpg

Here is a photo of the finish imperfection.

I am not really sure what I should do. I called MF and left a message with the sales rep who assisted me yesterday. Sure, I paid for a brand new bass, but considering the price, would the small finish imperfection bug you? Nothing is perfect, and if this particular bass sets up, plays, and sounds great, what's a small finish flaw? Perhaps I could get a small partial refund. I will update again once I hear back from MF.

Thoughts?
 
#7
Rickenbacker will take it back and fix it for you, you pay shipping, if it's still under warranty. However, if they ship it back to you with any extra imperfections (as in ones that weren't there when you sent it in), you'll have to foot the bill for them to repair their shoddy QC work.

Happened to a friend's ric, was sent back for the same bubbling at the bridge (another Ruby, similar to mine) caused by imperfections in the bridge. The new finish was decently done, but the neck area where it meets the body was very poorly done. The case's foot also was knocked in at some point during this adventure. No dice with them owning up to their sloppy work without having to drop more money to have it sent back...



I like my Ric, my buddy likes his well enough, but I don't know about the company.
 
#10
deeptubes said:
It kind of looks like a dried water mark, perhaps from a final wipe down. Have you tried wiping it off?
Click to expand...

I tried with a bit of soft paper towel, but I will try again with some polish when I get home.

Thanks!

raventepes said:
I don't see any reason to send it back. It's so slight, it's barely noticable
Click to expand...

You are probably right. It's not THAT big of a deal. I just want to make sure that it won't develop into a bigger problem down the road.
 
#14
Looks like a great bass. You'll never notice any minor imperfections.

Nothing will ever be perfect. We're human. Flawed creatures attempting to make our ways through life. Defined as much by our failures as our triumphs.

Enjoy the bass
 
#15
Well, it would worry me as I have seen some RICs posted here that had some significant finish issues where the paint/finish was flaking off or coming off in chunks... and I'd be worried that this one might be showing evidence of that starting to happen.
IMHO, you paid for a new bass that should be as close to perfect as it can get.
You only have one year of warranty on the finish, so I would be looking at the manufacture date and seeing how much time you actually have under RIC's warranty period.
And, you shouldn't have to pay anyone to have it made right. Again, IMHO!
Fishheadjoe
 
#17
Was it some sort of special deal, or is that simply their price for a new 4003? If it's their price for a new Ric, it seems to me that you wouldn't be out of line wanting it to be in perfect, new condition. If it was discounted because of the blemish, that's a whole other story.

It's inevitable that whatever we play a lot will get worn and scratched, but that's no reason to accept a new bass that's already got a finish flaw on it.
 

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