While recovering from "the crud" I've been battling for two weeks, I decided on some winter cleaning and maintenance yesterday. I was a bit horrified to find paint damage to my JG 2011 4003. I'm almost positive it was not there two weeks ago since I'm sure i wiped down the bass before taking it to practice.
I attempted to take fotos but they did not turn out so great. I was applying some Zymol to the finish near the tail piece when I noticed what I thought was either stains or hair at the edge of the tail piece on both the D (former E) and the G side of the tail piece. I rubbed the Zymol into the "stain and as I made a pass over it to remove it, a chunk of paint in the shape of a triangle lifted off the bass. To my horror, I found these were not stains but serrated cracks in the finish. The look like someone clamped down on a piece of glass and the glass fractured along the clamp outline. I have not tightened the tailpiece recently and in thinking about it, I don't think I've ever had this tail piece off the bass.
The damage does not really bother me since I have no intention of getting rid of it but the damage has me concerned about further flaking and how it was caused in the first place. Thoughts or ideas??
Sepp
Last edited by Kopfjaeger on Thu Jan 03, 2013 1:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Your best bet here is to call RIC customer service and send the photos and description to them. For me to venture a guess at this point from photographs would probably do both you and RIC a disservice.
Thanks. Like I said I have no intention of letting this bass leave my herd. It's one of my favorites. To know why and how it happened is important, though. My email was just sent to RIC. I'll keep everyone posted.
Hello Sepp, The exact same thing happened to my 2011 JG4003.It was sent back to RIC as it was still under warranty.Finish warranty is one year. They told me it was caused by some rough bits on the tailpiece casting. They decided to replace the bass (the wood parts)and transplanted all the other stuff (pickups,tuners,pickguard,TRC,jackplate,etc).I was happy with this, and they sent it back to me promptly.I spoke to Brendon at RIC customer service and he said it was now perfect. When I got it back and opened the case,my heart stopped for a second. There was a chunk of paint missing on the top, right on the edge of the bass. Anyway, this has been dicussed in a previous post by me. I fixed it myself .I don't want anyone screwing around with my bass anymore. But I digress, it sure sounds like the same problem.Paul's advice is correct. Good luck,sir. Roger. P.S. They did put a new tailpiece on also!
Damn! Thanks for jogging my memory. i do remember your post and the verdict on the paint. I do love this bass and I'd hate to chance another replacement for it. I'd pull the tailpiece off and smooth the edges myself and perform a chip repair if I had to since I can't see myself parting with this bass. However all things do come to an end and at some point in time, I will not be her owner. She is really nothing special to anyone else but myself so she will never have a huge price tag associated with her. A shoddy repair will damage her potential.
I've contacted RIC. If I don't get an email back in a few days, I'll call them and mull my options.
Wow, just heard back from RIC. The Customer Service rep thinks my strings are to blame for the finish issue I'm having.
I really don't know how to reply to that except by bringing up a possible tailpiece flaw. I've had these strings on it for quite sometime.
I'm pretty floored right now.
Like I said, not that I'd want to swap bodies out or anything but I think to blame the strings was a pretty lame route to take. Especially since at least one other forumite has had the exact same issue on a bass of very similar vintage.
Depending on how you decide to continue with this, you might consider pulling the tailpiece and looking for roughness. Pictures to CS if you find the edges rough would be a good counter to his response. If the solution from them at that point is to replace the body, you could consider leaving it, or maybe Paul could chime in with other options.
Yup, I was thinking of doing exactly what you suggested. If the tail piece is rough then maybe they'll replace it. I'm leaning very heavily toward not sending the bass back for a swap, if that becomes an option. It plays so well that I'd miss her. I was reading up on the nail polish trick and since the damage is confined to a small area just outside the tail piece, I think it would be hard to notice the fix. Of course if there is a better option for me to try, I'd love to hear from Paul.
I'm very curious to see what the other 2011 JG serial number is that had the same issue. If they are very close in in numbers or rack mates, that may help me as well.
My early '90s V63 had most of the finish chipped off along both edges of the bridge. It was only about 1-2 mm wide, and since it was MG I did nothing about it. I always assumed it was caused by overtightening the bridge screws. Another reason to do the washer/shim mod.
Geez just read this post. I too have a 2011 4003 Jetglo. Just went downstairs after reading this to examine mine. Yep got a slight(only one for now) hairline crack on the g side of the bridge. It's on about a 45 degree angle very minor and only about 3-4 mm in length. It starts from the bridge at roughly where the mute screw is. Hmmmmm. Think my warranty is over. Not to concerned though but I will be keeping an eye on this area in the future.
Yup, like triangular "sharks tooth" cracking pattern emanating from under the tail piece. I need to pull off my tail piece and take a close look at it. RIC has not responded back to my inquire about possible tail piece issues being the cause.
Update. RIC got back to me. if I remove the tail piece and find the underside of the casting is rough, I can send it back to them and they will smooth it for me. As for the paint damage, I'm S.O.L. Fixing that is all on me.
OK, I'm not upset, I'm really not. The cracking is not too noticeable and If I were to attempt a fix with nail polish, I'm confidant I could do a better than average job. Especially since the damage is mostly obscured by the tail piece.
I can't say why the paint cracked now and not 1.5 years ago when I purchased the bass. I did go one size larger diameter on the E string but I have balanced tension strings on her which should have less tension than the stock strings. No I have not done the math, nor do I intend to.
I'm not posting this issue on TB or any other forum because I know the sh*t storm it would create. I'm a huge fan or Rickenbacker basses, I won't be the cause of a negative rant there.
I don't really expect a lot of customer service from anyone, it just how I am but recently I purchased a 2-12 cabinet from a cottage industry company. The carpet covering had been sliced and repaired and the strap handle gave way the first time I used it. The company owner sent a pre paid return shipping label to me and shipped me out a new cab. As a bonus and for my inconvenience, he installed a 4/8 Ohm switch to make my cab a bit more flexible. That's a $100. option FREE! I was shocked and amazed that I, the customer, was respected and valued by the company. Now that is great customer service!!
In the grand scheme of things, I've only purchased 2 brand new RIC instruments. My other 6 RIC basses were all purchased used so I have not helped in RIC's profits as much as others here on the list. i do think I'm a good ambassador for the brand both here and on the other forum. All things considered this experience has made me feel "lees than" and that's unfortunate for all parties involved.
I won't be sending my tailpiece back regardless. I'm perfectly capable of smoothing it if it is indeed rough. I also can't keep this bass out of service for an extended time since I use it constantly.
If anyone at RIC would like to speak to me about this issue I'd love the opportunity to talk this through. PM me a time where I can call.
I have the same issue with my 2011 Jetglo. In exactly the same place!!!
It's nothing to do with the strings at all. Just bad QC from RIC. I've checked the paint finish all over the bass, and it's also starting to 'crack' at the neck/body joint.
On the back of the body, I can see through the paint and see where the body and neck is glued together. I see 'ridges' in the paint.
Maybe that's a 'string issue' too???
I will be keeping the bass as the neck is ultra thin, and a joy to play. Plus as I am in the UK, the warranty doesn't really apply. The shop I bought it from and Rosetti are not interested anyway.
This is my second 4003 with severe finish 'issues'. I previously had a 2004 Montezuma Brown (which was an absolute turkey even after multiple setups).
I won't be buying a 3rd RIC. I don't want to pay £1800 and end up with an instrument that has problems after 6 months.
I have a 2010 4003MD I bought new during the big Musician's Friend sale a year and a half ago. The paint was already cracked like that around the tailpiece, but the bass was over a year old when I got it, so no warranty on the finish. This issue was definitely caused by some sharp edges along the sides of the TP. I put on a C64 tailpiece for awhile, which started to lift. I took it off, then smoothed the edges and any casting flash on it as well as massaged a lot of the sharper corners, and edges, to make it more resemble the early cast tailpieces (and added two more countersunk screw holes at the rear). All this was followed by new plating. While most of what I did wasn't necessary, whomever casts these needs to do a little bit more prep work before they plate them. A few years back the price of these doubled in response to HipShots Rick bass replacement bridge, and for that I expected better QC before plating. I had a similar finish experience after laying out patterns for routing my 2010 4004MID for modifications. Everywhere I scored the paint with an X-acto, the paint flaked and began to peel. I knew as soon as I started these mods, my finish warranty was done, but the finish shouldn't have done that. It subsequently started peeling off in SHEETS! Subsequent calls to Kenny when he was still at RIC resulted in....nothing. The bass has since been refinished at my expense. I and my luthier later determined that the paint wasn't sticking to the wood very well because whatever it was prepared with was too smooth. All my RIC basses have modified and replated C64 tailpieces on them now with the two extra screws, and I use Rotosound Swing Bass 66 strings.
