Should I return this Rickenbacker??

[moshibass]

UPDATE

After a bit of phone tag, I got in touch with my Sweetwater sales representative today. He was happy to help, and had me transferred to the technical support department. Here's how things went down:

I was a little surprised because at first the tech seemed to act like he didn't see anything wrong. Maybe he was a bit defensive because I had mentioned how this should have been covered by the 55 point inspection? He made a lot of attempts to make it seem like there wasn't a problem. Honestly I'm really not someone who likes to argue but I really stood my ground on this one and insisted that it was a substantial defect. I'll spare the details, but the highlight for me was when he told me that it was within the specifications given to them by Rickenbacker.

At a certain point he shifted gears and became way less defensive and offered either a return or a 10 percent refund. As I mentioned before in this thread, I've been leaning toward opting to keeping the bass for a partial refund. I expected them to offer 10 percent because that's how much they usually mark down instruments they list with cosmetic flaws. I asked for 15 percent and he agreed.

So the refund was $299.99 + $19.87(tax) and the final cost I've ended up paying for the bass is $1700 + $112.64(tax)

 

[grrg63]

 

[Gregc57]

Nicely done. Enjoy your new bass!

 

[PrairieThunder13]

I would say keep it if you like the sound and feel. You will not find a ric with a flawless finish in my experience - i own a number, play them almost exclusively (and have for many years), have owned a number more, and have played a good number more than that... Even if you do find a "flawless" one, you will undoubtedly make more finish flaws, so i would be so bold as to say ignore the finish completely. One thing is that each instrument that they produce is different, even if they are CNC milled now. If the rest of it is right, it is right. You might not like your next one as much. You don't play the finish, nor can you hear it. That little gouge in the binding on the front edge is a taste of what little hand craftsmanship still exists at the factory, where they do still hand-scrape binding. There also looks to be a little streak of the fingerboard wood on it leftover from the scraping. It's cool!

Just as an aside, that neck binding is true binding and that issue on the viewed side looks like it might just be glue bleed to me. They haven't had that in any grand sense since approximately 1973. Interesting! If that is what i think it is, your bass may someday develop the cool "glueglo" aesthetic, though with the new non-yellowing lacquer formulation, i'm not sure if it would be as obvious. That could also potentially be some chipout from the routing of that channel that just got filled with glue as they were binding it.


All this is just opinion and i dont want to come across as offensive to anyone - i just want to make sure you dont give up something good with an aesthetic anomaly for something that might be less good (or even no good, because those exist, too!) that might look more as you expect it to.

 

[PrairieThunder13]

I would say keep it if you like the sound and feel. You will not find a ric with a flawless finish in my experience - i own a number, play them almost exclusively (and have for many years), have owned a number more, and have played a good number more than that... Even if you do find a "flawless" one, you will undoubtedly make more finish flaws, so i would be so bold as to say ignore the finish completely. One thing is that each instrument that they produce is different, even if they are CNC milled now. If the rest of it is right, it is right. You might not like your next one as much. You don't play the finish, nor can you hear it. That little gouge in the binding on the front edge is a taste of what little hand craftsmanship still exists at the factory, where they do still hand-scrape binding. There also looks to be a little streak of the fingerboard wood on it leftover from the scraping. It's cool!

Just as an aside, that neck binding is true binding and that issue on the viewed side looks like it might just be glue bleed to me. They haven't had that in any grand sense since approximately 1973. Interesting! If that is what i think it is, your bass may someday develop the cool "glueglo" aesthetic, though with the new non-yellowing lacquer formulation, i'm not sure if it would be as obvious. That could also potentially be some chipout from the routing of that channel that just got filled with glue as they were binding it.


All this is just opinion and i dont want to come across as offensive to anyone - i just want to make sure you dont give up something good with an aesthetic anomaly for something that might be less good (or even no good, because those exist, too!) that might look more as you expect it to.

I see you took the refund, good choice!

 

[Bassclef46]

UPDATE

After a bit of phone tag, I got in touch with my Sweetwater sales representative today. He was happy to help, and had me transferred to the technical support department. Here's how things went down:

I was a little surprised because at first the tech seemed to act like he didn't see anything wrong. Maybe he was a bit defensive because I had mentioned how this should have been covered by the 55 point inspection? He made a lot of attempts to make it seem like there wasn't a problem. Honestly I'm really not someone who likes to argue but I really stood my ground on this one and insisted that it was a substantial defect. I'll spare the details, but the highlight for me was when he told me that it was within the specifications given to them by Rickenbacker.

At a certain point he shifted gears and became way less defensive and offered either a return or a 10 percent refund. As I mentioned before in this thread, I've been leaning toward opting to keeping the bass for a partial refund. I expected them to offer 10 percent because that's how much they usually mark down instruments they list with cosmetic flaws. I asked for 15 percent and he agreed.

So the refund was $299.99 + $19.87(tax) and the final cost I've ended up paying for the bass is $1700 + $112.64(tax)

i dont think that is a win at all. you paid $50 less for a defective bass than i did for a perfect bass. And the tech arguing and claiming it was within reason would have lit me up to no end. I would not be happy at all. But thats me

 

[Gregc57]

Enjoy the bass. Life is short. Do not worry about anyone else's deal. I wouldn't call your bass defective if it plays and sounds nice. Your 1st 'ding' will be make that binding imperfection look like nothing. The thing is to 'play'.
my .02

 

[Gilmourisgod]

If that's "within spec given by Rickenbacker", then the QC problems at Ric are actually worse than I thought. That's a Factory Second by any reasonable measure. The Sweetwater guy may have been just blowing smoke to see if you'd back down, who knows, doesn't instill much trust in Sweetwater. If you are happy with the discount, and can live with the blem, it's all good. In the end its the Ric TONE people love, and it should be a ClankMaster. If you ever find yourself with two amps kicking around, the Ric-O-Sound is worth a try. That was a PITA lugging two led-sled rigs around back in the day (tried it, got old fast), but with lightweight Class D amps and Neodynium speakers, it's worth a try. Run one with a little overdrive hair on the bridge pup and a fat bass tone on the neck pup = EPIC. Check out the Tubeamplogy Treble Bezel too, the plastic bridge pup cover does nothing but get in the way of a nice sweet spot, and the Bezel fills in all those sharp edges. I got the chromed "cove" model, which has a thumb depression for fingerstyle, but they have a "classic" one with a thumbrest too.

 

[Jeff Scott]

If you're intent on sending it back, to avoid jumping from the frying pan into the fire[glo]...

Nice play on Rick history there!

 

[Jeff Scott]

@deluxe
That’s called “ gap tooth” bridge, and considered highly desirable by Vintage Ric owners. If you put that up on EBay, you could get bocu bucks for it, but the bass will be worth less without it. Same with the “green” pup, collectors love that, don’t paint it! If you replace the bridge or pup, throw them in the case or other safe place in case you ever decide to sell it. The new V2 bridge is $190, the Hipshot $150, or just get a virtually identical Allparts copy for around $60.

Yup…
View attachment 4334662

Yup, again!

 

[StereoPlayer]

Yup, again!

View attachment 4335862

Yup+1

 

[electracoyote]

Nice play on Rick history there!

Good catch! I totally missed it.

Fireglo FTW. You sir are on fire(glo)!

 

[Jeff Scott]

Here is the aforementioned Frying Pan (the first one!).

 

[WillyW]

UPDATE

After a bit of phone tag, I got in touch with my Sweetwater sales representative today. He was happy to help, and had me transferred to the technical support department. Here's how things went down:

I was a little surprised because at first the tech seemed to act like he didn't see anything wrong. Maybe he was a bit defensive because I had mentioned how this should have been covered by the 55 point inspection? He made a lot of attempts to make it seem like there wasn't a problem. Honestly I'm really not someone who likes to argue but I really stood my ground on this one and insisted that it was a substantial defect. I'll spare the details, but the highlight for me was when he told me that it was within the specifications given to them by Rickenbacker.

At a certain point he shifted gears and became way less defensive and offered either a return or a 10 percent refund. As I mentioned before in this thread, I've been leaning toward opting to keeping the bass for a partial refund. I expected them to offer 10 percent because that's how much they usually mark down instruments they list with cosmetic flaws. I asked for 15 percent and he agreed.

So the refund was $299.99 + $19.87(tax) and the final cost I've ended up paying for the bass is $1700 + $112.64(tax)

Now lean it against your amp in a house full of toddlers so you can get your first real ding in it!

 

[moshibass]

Now lean it against your amp in a house full of toddlers so you can get your first real ding in it!

Ha! I have a 1 year old son who just started walking, so these days instruments are in their cases when I'm not using them

 

[Ivan Johnston]

I ended up on this thread after searching for “Rickenbacker quality control”. I’ve always wanted one and recently decided to call around to find one. So, it turns out that you can’t just go out and buy one, you have to put a down payment and wait. I’ve been told that it could be up to a year and possibly more. A good friend of mine is friends with someone who manages a large music store so I asked if I could get some insight into getting a hold of a Jetglo. The message came back to go buy used and not without physically checking the instrument beforehand. According to this manager, Ric’s quality control has taken a dive along with their warranty. He said that many warranty claims were considered to be the customers fault by Ric and you’ll end up with a battle trying to make it right. The worst example is one that just about “unplayable” that now sits as “ornament in the wall”. This sounds pretty serious for what is supposed to be a premium instrument.
I know that I could buy used but there’s nothing like a shiny brand new guitar.

Does anyone have anything to add to this?

 

[Gothic]

I ended up on this thread after searching for “Rickenbacker quality control”. I’ve always wanted one and recently decided to call around to find one. So, it turns out that you can’t just go out and buy one, you have to put a down payment and wait. I’ve been told that it could be up to a year and possibly more. A good friend of mine is friends with someone who manages a large music store so I asked if I could get some insight into getting a hold of a Jetglo. The message came back to go buy used and not without physically checking the instrument beforehand. According to this manager, Ric’s quality control has taken a dive along with their warranty. He said that many warranty claims were considered to be the customers fault by Ric and you’ll end up with a battle trying to make it right. The worst example is one that just about “unplayable” that now sits as “ornament in the wall”. This sounds pretty serious for what is supposed to be a premium instrument.
I know that I could buy used but there’s nothing like a shiny brand new guitar.

Does anyone have anything to add to this?

I see two options, if I were in your shoes. I'd either post a wanted ad and buy only from a trusted, active member in here, or I'd talk with a luthier about something custom. I'm not talking about copying the same thing exactly but at least its basic qualities.
Last thing I'd do would be to make a down payment on a bass that I MIGHT get in a year and it MIGHT be well built. But it could also take more and could be a piece of excrement that the company will try to weasel their way out of fixing or replacing it.

I can understand the appeal and I'd LOVE a Ric but I wouldn't trust them enough to spend that much money AND wait so long for one. Hell, I wouldn't trust them if there were several readily available.

 

[60bass]

If that's "within spec given by Rickenbacker", then the QC problems at Ric are actually worse than I thought. That's a Factory Second by any reasonable measure. The Sweetwater guy may have been just blowing smoke to see if you'd back down, who knows, doesn't instill much trust in Sweetwater. If you are happy with the discount, and can live with the blem, it's all good. In the end its the Ric TONE people love, and it should be a ClankMaster. If you ever find yourself with two amps kicking around, the Ric-O-Sound is worth a try. That was a PITA lugging two led-sled rigs around back in the day (tried it, got old fast), but with lightweight Class D amps and Neodynium speakers, it's worth a try. Run one with a little overdrive hair on the bridge pup and a fat bass tone on the neck pup = EPIC. Check out the Tubeamplogy Treble Bezel too, the plastic bridge pup cover does nothing but get in the way of a nice sweet spot, and the Bezel fills in all those sharp edges. I got the chromed "cove" model, which has a thumb depression for fingerstyle, but they have a "classic" one with a thumbrest too.
View attachment 4335390

Speaking of "within spec given by Ric". That black bass is a real beauty but to my eyes the string alignment is a bit off. E string looks too close to the edge and the G string looks too far from the edge. Otherwise a killer looking RIC.

 

[moshibass]

I ended up on this thread after searching for “Rickenbacker quality control”. I’ve always wanted one and recently decided to call around to find one. So, it turns out that you can’t just go out and buy one, you have to put a down payment and wait. I’ve been told that it could be up to a year and possibly more. A good friend of mine is friends with someone who manages a large music store so I asked if I could get some insight into getting a hold of a Jetglo. The message came back to go buy used and not without physically checking the instrument beforehand. According to this manager, Ric’s quality control has taken a dive along with their warranty. He said that many warranty claims were considered to be the customers fault by Ric and you’ll end up with a battle trying to make it right. The worst example is one that just about “unplayable” that now sits as “ornament in the wall”. This sounds pretty serious for what is supposed to be a premium instrument.
I know that I could buy used but there’s nothing like a shiny brand new guitar.

Does anyone have anything to add to this?

For what it's worth, I was able to preorder mine from Sweetwater with zero down. Also, they did offer to pay for shipping if I wanted to return it due to the defect, and I could have kept it until another arrived. Overall, it WAS pretty risk free ordering from them.

As for the bass itself, while mine has the cosmetic flaw, the playability isn't affected. The 4003 is honestly a fantastic instrument. I have a few other basses, but the Ric really brings something new to the table in terms of unique tone.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Speaking of "within spec given by Ric". That black bass is a real beauty but to my eyes the string alignment is a bit off. E string looks too close to the edge and the G string looks too far from the edge. Otherwise a killer looking RIC.

Heh, I built the bass from scratch (it's a clone build I did about 5 years ago), so anything's possible, but I assure you the string spacing is aligned in person. That's just a crappy iPhone photo taken at a slight angle to left and above, so some parallax. I am legendarily inept with a camera. The "soft focus" effect is the result of my greasy fingerprint on the lens, apparently.