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Rickenbacker..... i just don't understand the hype.
- Thread starter BAG
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I don't think anyone's missed that point. What sucks how much diff between what Aussies are stuck with having to pay versus US stateside... it seems criminal.
Yeah, don't agree with that at all. I think my 4003s sounds good in my bedroom, during practice, during gigs, low volume, medium.
I just need my wife to lift the moratorium on connecting both 15's and turning the volume past .5 while practicing at home......
also surprising how many people have no idea about import duty & shipping costs
If you don't like it, that's cool. They're not for everyone. They're not woth 2600 USD. Not knowing anything about cost of living where you're at, I can only go with our prices, and for 2600 dollars US, the finish problems, ergonomic issues, and esoteric nature of the bass makes it a poor value. @ 1400 it's a little easier to swallow.
At the end of the day though, it's just not for you. That's cool.
At the end of the day though, it's just not for you. That's cool.
I don't doubt it's a factor, but I bet I could undercut those numbers still paying off-the-shelf prices from somebody like Wildwood and taking the thing to the post office for him.
She must submit! The power of John Hall compels her
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To those that think this thread is trolling or say if you don't like it just play what you do like and move on and save some typing, who have nothing to contribute to the discussion, practice what you preach. This is a forum for discussion. So what this topic always resurfaces and is very polarized: it makes for nice discussion.
Now that that's out of the way, I have tried a ric at a music store several times.
The first time I was unimpressed with pretty much everything same as the OP. Cheap pickguard, bad finish details that were just sloppy, poor design.
The second time I was more impressed. In a music store setting you can't put it through its paces though.
I still wouldn't buy one but I have a respect for those who have used them to make iconic music.
Rickenbacker is an old school company that mostly tries to keep their design and way of doing it intact IMO. That is part of their attraction to people. It's like getting a 60's 'vette brand new. Some technology is outdated by today's standards but tons of vibe.
I've probably repeated a lot of what's been said but I could only Wade through 2 pages.
Now that that's out of the way, I have tried a ric at a music store several times.
The first time I was unimpressed with pretty much everything same as the OP. Cheap pickguard, bad finish details that were just sloppy, poor design.
The second time I was more impressed. In a music store setting you can't put it through its paces though.
I still wouldn't buy one but I have a respect for those who have used them to make iconic music.
Rickenbacker is an old school company that mostly tries to keep their design and way of doing it intact IMO. That is part of their attraction to people. It's like getting a 60's 'vette brand new. Some technology is outdated by today's standards but tons of vibe.
I've probably repeated a lot of what's been said but I could only Wade through 2 pages.
my first bass instrument was a ric. i didn't know enough at the time to 'judge' it compared to other brands. i got onto the fretless thing and had no use for it. if ric offered fretlesses the way some others do = i'd be looking at them regularly for a 'winner' (for me).
my sense of BAG 's OP: "i'm on TB, i had this experience, these are my thoughts, what are your thoughts?" what's unusual about that? also: just because previous threads (over the years) may be the same or similar, what's unusual about a member wanting to 'update' issues to make them current/contemporaneous?
TB evolves or devolves as opinions change. why? maybe because of threads like this one. thanks, OP! what i really like about TB is how funny it can be = suckering to the 'either/or', the black/white, the ones and zeros that make the forum possible in the first place. a very strong case for nurture if you're still following that debate.
my sense of BAG 's OP: "i'm on TB, i had this experience, these are my thoughts, what are your thoughts?" what's unusual about that? also: just because previous threads (over the years) may be the same or similar, what's unusual about a member wanting to 'update' issues to make them current/contemporaneous?
TB evolves or devolves as opinions change. why? maybe because of threads like this one. thanks, OP! what i really like about TB is how funny it can be = suckering to the 'either/or', the black/white, the ones and zeros that make the forum possible in the first place. a very strong case for nurture if you're still following that debate.
The word hype has a fairly negative connotation. I think it's fair game to address the point of view it expresses.
Sure, but that's not how it works. The distributor gets their cut, and everyone else in the supply chain.
Right, I get that, they get their cut when I buy one domestically. This guy's getting screwed at one end because somewhere in there someone has to print two extra pieces of paper.
Yep, the OP simply provided his opinion based on his limited experience with a RIC, no problem with that at all. What's unfortunate is having only a single sample or two to try and as most all of us know, each RIC has a distinctive feel and for best choice results a number of them may have to be gone through to find the one that flips the switch to buy.
He's said in interviews that he didn't like the 4001 pickups, so I assume he changed them out pretty quickly.
maybe as far back as Hawkwind:
I know this has been said but It's sad that on a higher priced instrument approaching boutique price instrument this is true.
BTW, I should add rics look awesome and can sound awesome.
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It doesnt just work that way. You have much bigger shipping cost, import tariff, brokerage. Ontop of that they have a smaller instrument market, so you can surely bet the stores are working on a higher markup, rather than making the likely cost plus 150-200 the US stores do.
Lemmy discusses changing out his 4001 pickups in the Bass Player interview linked earlier in this thread:
What made you gravitate toward the Rickenbacker as your main instrument?
The shape. I'm all for the image—always. If you get one that looks good, you can always mess with the pickups if it sounds bad. I would get Rickenbacker basses and change the pickups. I put a Gibson Thunderbird pickup in my first one, and that sounded like a shaging bulldozer. The new Rickenbacker pickups are much better.
I didn't say the exchange rate accounted for the higher price, only that the bass was absurdly overpriced even when accounting for the currency exchange rate.
As for blaming the prices solely on shipping and import taxes, the article I linked earlier explained that such "reasoning" is used as an excuse for price gouging, and that Aussies are fed up.
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