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My Rickenbacker Customer Service Experience
- Thread starter Bubba Ghanoosh
- Start date
There will always be flaws in instruments. What separates Ric is the fact that their flaws are consistent. This bubbling has been happening for years and they have yet to solve it. There isn't another manufacturer in this price range that has had similar problems consistently.
If the powers that be at RIC spent as much time fixing their recurring issues as they do defending their products, these thing may not happen as often...
Fishheadjoe
Sometimes, I hate it when I'm right.
Sepp
I am with everyone that they should fix the problem now instead after the fact. I think the paint they use is Polyester which I have used and it is a tricking thing. If the wood moves or the paint is disturbed it can come loose from the wood and cause a bubble. No excuse just what I have seen happen. For the person that had it around the bridge that was probably do to them screwing the bridge in and it lifted the paint. If it is a blister that is the paint it self releasing vapors from below and the top of the paint has dried trapping them in. This is just my 2 cents but I love those basses and if it happened to me and they fixed it I cannot see a real issue unless the fix or the replacement did not sound the same as before.
It looks like they took my hardware off the old body then took a new, completed body (sans hardware) off the line and put my hardware on it.
The bass I sent off to them still had the "Vintage Tone" sticker on the pickguard, untouched. The one I got back had the sticker peeled back to access the screw under it. Plus, the serial number is the same.
It's definitely a new body; the fingerboard has different, darker wood grain than the one I sent out.
Thats kinda BS to me , they should have sent a WHOLE new bass.
Did you have to pay shipping?
Honestly I have been following them since 2007 and this is one of the few times "bubbling" on a new instrument has ever come to my attention... and the only other one I can remember is the MF thread.
If you're going to make claims like this maybe you should start documenting them or linking. I think RIC has had systematic issues in the past because I was able to see them documented well enough to believe it. This "bubbling" stuff so far is not one of them.
I don't mean to imply you are lying or even wrong about this, just that from my perspective the claim you are making is not accurate; I am open to being corrected on it, but I'm also against people making big statements without a lot of backup.
It's a UV-cured polyester. It may have its issues but I feel like it is such an improvement over the previous conversion varnish.
I have gotten service from them a couple of times and I paid shipping to them, and they paid it for the trip back, so I was out just under $30 each time.
The paint bubbling happened on my 09', various Ric's I've encountered since then, and it's documented thoroughly in the sale thread. How many times do you have to hear about it for it to be considered a consistent problem? Is there a certain number that needs to be hit?
Honestly, i don't care whether you believe or don't and since we are both dealing with anecdotal evidence, I'm not really worried about proving my case as I don't really have a case; I have an opinion based on experience (as do you).
Fantastic to hear this!! Hopefully this will quell the negative RIC posts for a while. Nah, the anti Rickenbacker crowd won't let good news about RIC stand in their way of a good ole Rickenbacker bashing.
Sepp
I'm glad RIC took good care of Bubba Ghanoosh, but you're right - the anti-Ric trolls will keep up their same old sandbox shennanigans, & are not going to pass up a chance to drag the RIC name through the mud again.
How pitiful...
:scowl:
My ric has 4 more months under warranty so i am going to keep an eye on the paint. Mine is mapleglo though , havent heard of issues with them.
Yep. For the record "How many times I've heard about it" = 2, at least that I can actually remember, and that's not enough for me to consider this an epidemic.
I don't feel like this kind of back-and-forth happens when you see a positive report post like this about other brands--people usually just chime in with the standard "Good for you, glad you're happy!" I really feel there is way too much sentiment about RIC on here for some people to leave things alone. You could argue that about me or a bunch of other folks on different "sides". But I also think it's a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy to anticipate the bashers...
Well mine did get green mold growing on it (looked like little green streaks in a couple places) because it was shipped with an SKB case that didn't include anti-fungal agents like they normally have. They are no longer allowed to do that as of a couple of years ago, but I also haven't heard any reports since then so maybe they put something back in the cases. Anyways all that needed to be done was a decent buffing and waxing; it was a bizarre one-time incident.
Contact Pick of the Ricks, or other big dealers.
They will inspect and set up your new bass before it's shipped to you.
And they offer good pricing to boot.
That said, I bought mine from Musician's Friend (March 2010), and it was perfect.
Every Ric I've seen in a music store hasn't had the issues identified on this Forum. Mine is flawless as well.
Like ANY bass you buy: If you want to make sure it's flawless, check it out in person first.
Unfortunately im based in the UK. I don't gel with the RIC neck, but my gawwwwd do I love how they look and sound.
I think the UK has some very reputable dealers from what I hear. The best way to find out would be look for RIC fans in the UK on either the RIC forum or RRF (a private fan-driven forum) as I'm sure they will be able to help you.
How do you purchase any bass knowing it will be "flawless"? You check it out first if you can, or at least make sure you've got a return policy protecting your purchase if you have to buy something sight unseen. When I want to check out a Ric I go to my local dealer which is Wildwood in Louisville, CO, but all of the ones I own I actually bought sight unseen.
Ric necks vary a lot especially in terms of profile--they are slimmer lately than they used to be, verging on 1970s skinny but not quite there.
How do you purchase any bass knowing it will be "flawless"? You check it out first if you can, or at least make sure you've got a return policy protecting your purchase if you have to buy something sight unseen. When I want to check out a Ric I go to my local dealer which is Wildwood in Louisville, CO, but all of the ones I own I actually bought sight unseen.
Ric necks vary a lot especially in terms of profile--they are slimmer lately than they used to be, verging on 1970s skinny but not quite there.
I've read so many good things about POTR, I just hate waiting for an order. But after having to wait for repairs, waiting for an order doesn't seem so bad.
What sucks is, the store I got mine from had two of them. I compared them and chose the one I felt was the better one. But I guess you can get caught up in the excitement of buying a new bass and may not notice something as subtle as this.
Anyway, I got my replacement (which I'm keeping my eye on).
Some might not know that RIC doesn't make or sell the case, they supply one to the dealer free with each instrument purchase. The only reason YOUR bass had mold on it was because YOU chose to keep it in your FREE case. I wish these forum people would stop complaining about things RIC has no control over.
I bought six Rics during the "moldy case" period and only one of my guitars gets a white haze once in a while. I got six bad pickups because of a cold solder joint and fixed them all myself.
That wasn't RICS fault either, the government made them start using a different kind of solder. I made sure to send in my warranty cards within the time limit but of the six, they only had five registered. That means they did register 83% which is a "B" in my book and B's are pretty good! I love my RICS, they are all finished in CV and are quite awesome.
Dwight--I wasn't complaining or blaming RIC, just passing the knowledge on so people could be aware of the possibility if they got a similar case. You are hilarious buddy.
Like I said this was EXTREMELY easy to fix and only happened once. If anything I was hoping to reassure anyone who was scared of this "issue" that they could easily take care of it with a little buff and wax.
Like I said this was EXTREMELY easy to fix and only happened once. If anything I was hoping to reassure anyone who was scared of this "issue" that they could easily take care of it with a little buff and wax.
