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Rickenbacker finish issue (Resolved by RIC)

#423
GIBrat51 said:
The whole idea of UV curing is that it is supposed to take only a few minutes - if that long. If you watch the Rick factory tour video, that's the impression they give. But, who knows? Might just take a little longer to do it right, than they think it does..?:rolleyes:
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It takes 60 seconds, give or take a few. It goes from fluid to stone-hard. Like nothing else I've worked with. The answer to every manufacturer's prayers. And it looks great.

Poly takes a few weeks to set up nicely. Nitro takes 6 weeks minimum to cure, and frankly if I'm shooting nitro without urgency I've let it cure for several months. End result - totally worth it.

Taylor guitars uses the same UV finish as Rickenbacker. They don't have this lifting issue. My personal suspicion, speaking as a guy who did finish for a few years, is that the finish on the Rics having the lift issue may have simply been a bit too thin. Combine that with a guy torquing down a bridge with a power screwdriver and you're asking for trouble.

OP, glad you got this resolved and didn't have to try my repair suggestion.
 
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#425
Great you got results in the end.
I must admit though i've been recently GAS'ing over a Ric after playing a 4003s. This thread has made me really question whether i want to shell out that kind of dough with these kind of issues. Really don't want to throw serious money at it to find i've got a dodgy paint job and that my warrantly expired before it even left the shop :eek:
 
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#426
boristhespider7 said:
Great you got results in the end.
I must admit though i've been recently GAS'ing over a Ric after playing a 4003s. This thread has made me really question whether i want to shell out that kind of dough with these kind of issues. Really don't want to throw serious money at it to find i've got a dodgy paint job and that my warrantly expired before it even left the shop :eek:
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I don't blame you one bit to be perfectly honest. I still love mine, and if I was so inclined I might get another in the future, but I 100% understand where you're coming from. I'm just a RIC guy at heart, I love the basses flaws and all.
 
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#427
12stringbassist said:
Hope all goes well for you.

I have had email correspondence with John Hall for having the utter temerity to ask for advice about a finish issue. Midnight blue finish with the paint bleeding into the binding. I did state from the start that my bass was out of the warranty territory and that completely became the issue for him.
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I have one of those haha. I bought it new in 2005 and I'm amazed at how little I cared about that particular issue at the time. It was my first expensive bass and I guess my standards were not very high. A guy I knew thought it was overspray, rather than bleed through, and said it would be a badge of honor to wear through it. That was a cool enough justification for me haha, so I never had the pleasure of discussing the matter with our beloved Mr. Hall.
 
#428
Jeff Scott said:
Just a guess here, but perhaps the issue is that the solid colors don't let enough UV light to penetrate deep enough to allow the "underside" to cure properly. With a clear or translucent finish this is not a problem. Let me know if my thinking is making any real sense, thanks.
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Why hasn't anyone thought of this yet, seems like a good theory.
 
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#429
Jeff Scott said:
Just a guess here, but perhaps the issue is that the solid colors don't let enough UV light to penetrate deep enough to allow the "underside" to cure properly. With a clear or translucent finish this is not a problem. Let me know if my thinking is making any real sense, thanks.
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I'd be really interested to know whether anyone's had any finish issues with the mapleglo's (clear finish)? I'm sure i've seen a photo somewhere of one with some crazy cracking over it
 
#431
My Sept 2014 4003 in MapleGlo is starting to show finish lifting, so the problem is not limited to solid colors. I'm 6 months out of the warranty.
IMG_0153.JPG
 
#433
Yeah, I'm bummed. I bought the bass brand new in person from a Sam Ash store this past January, not realizing it was manufactured more than a year before. I sent the warranty card out right away, even though the bass was out of the warranty. I love the bass, it plays and sounds amazing. I may have to live with the finish issue. But, I'm going to reach out to Rickenbacker on Monday.
 
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#434
Yeah, 2011 was a bad year for jetglo finishes. It seems it's a reoccurring thing but 2011 was a bad year. My 1990 has a little of that but it's like a pinhead, very small. The chances of Ric doing anything to remedy the situation are non existent. They're known for their less than stellar customer service.
 
#436
Go Wolf! Your persistence and level headedness prevailed! That looks great, Jetglo will.always be "the" Ric finish for me. Any balanced future TB discussion of Ric CS has to include reference to your ultimately positive experience. Let's hope its a sign of a new attitude at Ric. It still sucks that you had to shell out an extra $120 to get what you paid for in the first place, but Ric isn't the only company with a crappy warranty policy. You must be psyched to put this behind you and get back to playing!
 
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#437
Gilmourisgod said:
Go Wolf! Your persistence and level headedness prevailed! That looks great, Jetglo will.always be "the" Ric finish for me. Any balanced future discussion of Ric CS has to include referenc to your ultimately positive experience. Let's hope its a sign of a new attitude at Ric. It still sucks that you had to shell out an extra $120 to get what you paid for in the first place, but Ric isn't the only company with a crappy warranty policy. You must be psyched to put this behind you and get back to playing!
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A new attitude would better be demonstrated by fixing the root problem of this prevelant and ongoing issue......
 
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#438
Guy
I agree, they obviously have an ongoing finish problem they have tried to stonewall through, but I guess you have to applaud the small victories when that's all there is. Wolf played it right and ignored some of the more incendiary advice (including mine) , which reminds us that being a bull in a china shop rarely works. The new VOC regulations threw the entire industry for a loop, as fifty years of finish experience became irrelevant , particularly in California. Ric was an early adopter of the UV finish, so you'd think they would have worked out the bugs by now.
 
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#439
Gilmourisgod said:
Guy
I agree, they obviously have an ongoing finish problem they have tried to stonewall through, but I guess you have to applaud the small victories when that's all there is. Wolf played it right and ignored some of the more incendiary advice (including mine) , which reminds us that being a bull in a china shop rarely works. The new VOC regulations threw the entire industry for a loop, as fifty years of finish experience became irrelevant , particularly in California. Ric was an early adopter of the UV finish, so you'd think they would have worked out the bugs by now.
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I had the exact same issue three years ago. Same runaround on the warranty card, same out of pocket expenses. Ric did fix it, but treated it like they were doing me a favor. Nothing has changed.
 

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