Yes, after multiple attempts at being "fixed" and refinished at the factory. All pics immediately out of the factory shipping box, never touched.
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WHAT??? Rickenbacker 4003S!?
- Thread starter PubliclyViewable
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Yes, after multiple attempts at being "fixed" and refinished at the factory. All pics immediately out of the factory shipping box, never touched.
Hello,there. I played a sampling of 3 4003's last year at Apple Music. The main differences i noted in the standard all maple model and the Walnut were the weight and the feel. I plugged all of them into an amp,they all had the factory strings on,and i really didn't hear THAT much difference in the sound to be honest. Also,i own 3 4004's which vary from all maple (Laredo) maple/walnut sandwich (Cii),and a walnut body/maple fretboard 4004c. They all have a pretty similar sound,inasmuch as is possible with completely different strings on each....
Hope that helps....
Ggoat,
If I had paid that kind of coin, and got that kind of crappy CS, I'd be pretty irate too. Based on the threads I've read on TB, and simple word of mouth, your experience with Rick CS is not uncommon, but also not universal. As it stands, it seems like most people are getting well-built and finished instruments, but if you get a lemon, you are effectively screwed. Maybe there are people out there with better CS experiences to report, if so let's here from you in the interest of a balanced evaluation. I hope we can discuss this without any flaming or personal attacks (fingers crossed).
If I had paid that kind of coin, and got that kind of crappy CS, I'd be pretty irate too. Based on the threads I've read on TB, and simple word of mouth, your experience with Rick CS is not uncommon, but also not universal. As it stands, it seems like most people are getting well-built and finished instruments, but if you get a lemon, you are effectively screwed. Maybe there are people out there with better CS experiences to report, if so let's here from you in the interest of a balanced evaluation. I hope we can discuss this without any flaming or personal attacks (fingers crossed).
You would think they would want to avoid any bad PR by sending out a few screws that MIGHT cost them 50 cents. Just a thought...
...and, you have to realize that alot of Rickenbacker fans are also Rick apologists, such as the guy on this thread that bought the NAMM bass with a glaring finish flaw that "doesn't bother him." So, people like that accept what Rick puts out (crooked pickups, offset bridges, finish problems, etc.) because it's "good enough." They simply don't see the flaws or don't care enough about them. That's been shown and proven over and over on this forum, the Rickenbacker official ghost town, and over at RRF.
Ben Hall promised me himself that he would PERSONALLY handle my bass and make sure it was PERFECT when it was shipped out. Well, you saw the pictures of what I got.
I have no doubt that when they shipped it, each time, that Rickenbacker thought that it was "perfect."
As long as people accept such quality, things will never change there. They don't have to.
...and, you have to realize that alot of Rickenbacker fans are also Rick apologists, such as the guy on this thread that bought the NAMM bass with a glaring finish flaw that "doesn't bother him." So, people like that accept what Rick puts out (crooked pickups, offset bridges, finish problems, etc.) because it's "good enough." They simply don't see the flaws or don't care enough about them. That's been shown and proven over and over on this forum, the Rickenbacker official ghost town, and over at RRF.
Ben Hall promised me himself that he would PERSONALLY handle my bass and make sure it was PERFECT when it was shipped out. Well, you saw the pictures of what I got.
I have no doubt that when they shipped it, each time, that Rickenbacker thought that it was "perfect."
As long as people accept such quality, things will never change there. They don't have to.
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Ggoat,
It looks like the mute screw on one of the basses is bent, almost like it got clocked hard at some point. Is that the way it came? I wonder if it got whacked at some point, which also could have cracked the paint. Was that ever adressed by Rick CS?
It looks like the mute screw on one of the basses is bent, almost like it got clocked hard at some point. Is that the way it came? I wonder if it got whacked at some point, which also could have cracked the paint. Was that ever adressed by Rick CS?
No, that wasn't ever addressed. It came like that...all those pics were taken immediately opening the case; after the pics were taken it was closed back up, double boxed and returned.
Truthfully I'm not sure if it is still like that; I have to check. I requested the tailpiece be changed due to the horrible grinding down of the corners and if you notice on the pics they tried to use some sort of glue to attach the "gasket" to the tailpiece and there was residue all over the chrome. You can see it bubbling in the pics on the tailpiece. The tailpiece currently on the bass doesn't have any glue residue, and it doesn't have as badly ground down edges (but they still are somewhat). I'll have to check the mute screws; I'm assuming they probably used the same part for that. They DID change the nameplate out, because they applied it before the paint was fully cured and when I removed it to check the suspected painted over trussrods (my suspicions were correct) part of the white came off the back of the nameplate and stuck to the green underneath. They also cracked the original nameplate by tightening it too tight. So, at least they changed that out...
Truthfully I'm not sure if it is still like that; I have to check. I requested the tailpiece be changed due to the horrible grinding down of the corners and if you notice on the pics they tried to use some sort of glue to attach the "gasket" to the tailpiece and there was residue all over the chrome. You can see it bubbling in the pics on the tailpiece. The tailpiece currently on the bass doesn't have any glue residue, and it doesn't have as badly ground down edges (but they still are somewhat). I'll have to check the mute screws; I'm assuming they probably used the same part for that. They DID change the nameplate out, because they applied it before the paint was fully cured and when I removed it to check the suspected painted over trussrods (my suspicions were correct) part of the white came off the back of the nameplate and stuck to the green underneath. They also cracked the original nameplate by tightening it too tight. So, at least they changed that out...
Ggoat, that is still a beautiful Ric you got there, and I'm sure you have gone to pain staking measures to demonstrate all of its flaws, real and/or perceived. I actually don't think I've ever heard you mention anything about its sound or playability. Hey, that's cool, different people obsess over different things. For some folks, a tiny factory blemish here and there doesn't drive them up the wall because I believe most people here don't stock their own amateur musical instrument museums...they are players.
I'm not saying the flaws found on your particular Ric are small or that the company's response to you was in any way appropriate. We have all heard the Ric horror stories, sadly yours is one of many. Conversely, there are many people who receive perfectly fine, functional and cosmetically decent Ric instruments from the factory. Does Ric have some work to do with their QC? Maybe so, I have only owned a 4003 in the past which was a great bass as well as most of the other Rics ive played from various eras throughout the past 13 or so years as a bass player.
Tom Gallo received a great looking bass that he is happy with. He detailed his experience with the new bass in his review which was mostly positive. You have never even touched this bass or physically seen it in person. Why do you continually feel the need to point him out in your comments? Why do you feel the need to reiterate your Ric nightmare in this thread over and over again?
This thread was intended for the discussion of the new 4003s series....thank you for your service.
I'm not saying the flaws found on your particular Ric are small or that the company's response to you was in any way appropriate. We have all heard the Ric horror stories, sadly yours is one of many. Conversely, there are many people who receive perfectly fine, functional and cosmetically decent Ric instruments from the factory. Does Ric have some work to do with their QC? Maybe so, I have only owned a 4003 in the past which was a great bass as well as most of the other Rics ive played from various eras throughout the past 13 or so years as a bass player.
Tom Gallo received a great looking bass that he is happy with. He detailed his experience with the new bass in his review which was mostly positive. You have never even touched this bass or physically seen it in person. Why do you continually feel the need to point him out in your comments? Why do you feel the need to reiterate your Ric nightmare in this thread over and over again?
This thread was intended for the discussion of the new 4003s series....thank you for your service.
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Jeez... I know lots of folks kind of see you as "a dog with a bone;" as per your posts... but, those ARE some pretty horrendous flaws.
Kidding, of course.But that finish flaw above (on a NAMM bass, no less) is INEXCUSABLE.
I admit that it didn't bug me at first, but I am a little irritated about it. But what am I gonna do?
The why in the blue hell are you posting in a Rick thread?
Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.
I've bought all of the following Rick instruments new:
JetGlo 4003
Blue Boy 4003
*Two* Blue Boy 4004L
JetGlo 620/6
Reissue 4003s
We all know about the issues with the Blue Boys turning into Green Boys, but aside from that, the only one that had any flaws was the new 4003s. The rest of the instruments had no finish issues, no hardware issues, no plastic issues, etc.
Granted, this is a small example. But if Rickenbacker's quality issues were that severe, I'd have run into a bad one.
You can have Rickenbacker refinish it, but it will cost almost $100 just to ship it to them, then for months you'll worry if they will take the time to do it right. Even before I returned mine to them the first time, I verified with them that I didn't want the truss rods painted over or any stripped screwheads. I also told them I wanted the nut removed before repainting. I was promised by the highest up in charge that these things would happen, but as the pics show, they didn't. They seem to cut corners on a refinish no matter what reassurances you will get. Then, you have to pay again to send it back another time if it's not right. I'm assuming they went out of their way to fix mine properly the last time just because it was a very expensive and rare bass and they had to do something to please me since they wouldn't match the color. With a regular production model, I wouldn't expect them to go to such great lengths in the end to make sure the bass was refinished properly with all details gone over as if the bass was never refinished in the first place...which in fact was my request each time I returned it.
If it were me, I would just return it to the dealer. It's not like a Fireglo 4003S isn't going to be readily available. Why accept a flawed instrument? If I had to do it again I would probably save myself the aggravation honestly.
While I agree it's unacceptable, it is a really small issue and the bass plays and sounds nice. Plus there is no guarantee that getting another one in who knows how long will not have worse issues.
Hey, I've accepted a bunch of my others with flaws, and they have quite a few. Some of them ARE perfect, but that is vastly NOT the norm. It all depends on how detail oriented you are and how much you let it bother you. My 1990 4003 (one of my best Ricks) has the bridge pickup horribly crooked but it never really bothered me back then because I figured that's the best they can build them; I admit I care more now. I've had two Jetglos with the finish lifting at the bridge (and several more that I returned), another '98 Jetglo lifting at the body/neck joint. Some of my late 90's Ricks' finishes have shrunken so much they look like they need 3 more coats of clear. Nearly ALL of my Ricks have horrible attention to detail at the heel of the neck parallel to the neck pickup; my bluebursts are the worst offenders. My blueboys haven't turned green, but one has the finish lifting at the neck/body joint; it was like that new but I waited forever to get it from Mike Parks so I kept it. My 5 string 4003 has big bubbles of clear on the ends of the frets that catch your fingers; a few of the bubbles have cracked off. I have a 1999 curly maple Fireglo that was kept as a museum piece in it's plastic case since new and the case outgassed and turned the finish to a sticky mess. My SeaGreen COTY 4003 has a tiny bubble forming in the finish at the tailpiece but it hasn't lifted; it pisses me off greatly. My 4003W has a noticable line/ridge that is easily felt where the fretboard joins the neck. My 1986 lefty 4003V63 is splitting apart on the back where the neck joins the body sides. My 1990 4003 referenced above has the finish checking all over the body, but it looks kinda neat like that. Some of the poured inlays on that bass were cracked when new...but I was so excited when I bought it from Victor Litz Music back then (for $675!) that I didn't care.
But...I kept almost all of those basses because of various reasons...playability and tone being paramount. If you love how your bass plays and sounds and you don't let the flaws bother you, then keep it. And I fully agree that as you start to look at them more closely the chances of getting one without some sort of issue becomes rarer and rarer. As I stated before, if Rick sent a bass with a finish flaw like that to the most popular music get-together of the year, then you know for damn sure the run-of-the-mill ones they produce aren't going to be any better.
But...I kept almost all of those basses because of various reasons...playability and tone being paramount. If you love how your bass plays and sounds and you don't let the flaws bother you, then keep it. And I fully agree that as you start to look at them more closely the chances of getting one without some sort of issue becomes rarer and rarer. As I stated before, if Rick sent a bass with a finish flaw like that to the most popular music get-together of the year, then you know for damn sure the run-of-the-mill ones they produce aren't going to be any better.
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It's not tail lift, the tail often is not cast perfectly flat, and the body is often not flat as well.
Usually it seems to be more a case of the body taking a slight gradient under the sander.
The cracked paint is most likely from improper or over-tightening of the bridge screws.
I know, I did just this to one of mine after removing the bridge and tightening it down again a little too much in the wrong places first.
One has to careful to do it properly, and the new UV cred clear seems to be more fragile than the older finishes.
Caveat: The time I did it was on an '81, so none are immune!
It appears that at times some of the factory workers are in a bit of a hurry.
Just sharing my experience. I had a RIC with finish and setup flaws just like the one above. I sent it back to the company, at my own expense of course, to have it fixed, and it came back with different flaws. When I detailed those and asked for those to be fixed, I was told that "executive management" had determined that my brand new bass was no longer under warranty.
Anyone considering a Ric really should be aware of this. They are very unique instruments, but QC is marginal and CS is.....well......let's just say subpar.
Perhaps sending a less-than-perfect example for display at NAMM is simply a classic example of "managing expectations."
I think the message here is: CAREFULLY CHECK YOUR NEW INSTRUMENT before walking out of the store with it!
