Interesting thing!

teddy_boy · Post by **teddy_boy** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 11:43 pm

After all my old equipment was destroyed when our practice place burnt down last autumn, I have aquired 3 new guitars in a very short while. A Ric 620MB, a Gibson Les Paul Standard and a Fender American Vintage '62 reissue.

All great guitars but the funny thing is that although being expensive and high-end guitars, the Gibby and the Fender were unplayable from the box. Their nuts were terrible, intonation was off and the Fender's neck was slightly bowed. Then again the Ric was playable and rockin' hard straight out of the box. Incredible!

Why can't Gibson and Fender do this too? Also the quality of the finish on the Rickenbacker is far superior to that of the other two! Go Rickenbacker!!!

loendmaestro · Post by **loendmaestro** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 1:56 am

I bought a Gibson Thunderbird direct from the Gibson factory & I had the same problem. It was missing 2 screws from the pickguard, had an awful shielding problem, & the nut was cut so badly the A string was virtually unplayable. Cost me an additional $200 to get it up to speed. Although I love the bass now, that's pretty pathetic quality control.

Out of the 3 Ricks I have, I only purchased one new...it showed up perfectly playable (& in tune even!) right off of the UPS truck!

Sorry about your gear loss Thomas...

longhouse · Post by **longhouse** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 3:43 am

I bought a Gibson J100X last year. Seems a 4 figure guitar would be playable out of the box -but it was NOT. It's been adjusted, filed, tweaked, and screamed at and is still not quite right. Ack!

Same thing with my Gretsch... watching the luthier/tech file the frets on my brand-new guitar was disappointing.

Time to hug my 1997.

teddy_boy · Post by **teddy_boy** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 4:16 am

Chris- Yep, really sad! A car paint-shop below us had an electrical malfunction in their drying oven and the whole place was up in flames in one instant. Lost our studio and all our gear. Really sad. I'll have to post some pictures of a really funny looking 360... not mine but the only burnt Ric there.

I'm glad that out of the 3 famous and prestigious companies at least Rickenbacker gives it's players decent guitars from the factory. I heard preparing the nut is the most time consuming part of the assembly and that's why they are usually not very well filed etc. on Fenders and Gibsons. Owners seem to accept this fact without hesitation. I think expensive guitars should all be finished so one can play them without seeing a guitar tech first. I'm glad Rickenbacker are still doing things right. Does anybody know how much time they spend on the nut at Rickenbacker?

Cheers,

Tom

red_rob · Post by **red_rob** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 1:31 am

My Rics are both second hand and were fine after tweaks. My Gretsch was brand new and it was absolutely faultless. Swings and roundabouts.

ojobob2 · Post by **ojobob2** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 12:51 pm

the nut on my new 4003 was AWFUL. it was wayyyy high and the slots were not cut to accept anything other than the peculiar stock guage strings, which is far enough but still not a good idea IMHO. the bridge saddles were also very roughly slotted. My cheapo fender bass was fine one both these points. go figure!

sinclairs · Post by **sinclairs** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 3:54 pm

I recently received my 360-12FG brand new as a gift from my wife and I love it. HOWEVER, it has unevenly spaced saddle slots, the truss rod was entirely out of adjustment, and the woods on the three piece neck are not smoothly sanded and feel uneven (the walnut strip feels swollen on the back of the neck - but not on the heel or headstock??).

Rickenbacker guitars are a thing of beauty but I am disappointed that mine needs a visit to a tech or back to Ric for warranty work.

Rod

lawton · Post by **lawton** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 4:38 pm

My Montana Gibson J-160E -- bought new -- was outstanding "out of the box," as was my FMIC Gretsch 6128T (Duo Jet with Filtertrons). While I've had five Ricks I've never owned a "new" one (the 2003 325C58 acquired in the GC blowout doesn't count for me as "new," since it had some shop wear and had obviously been handled a bit). I think it's really hard to live hard-and-fast by these sorts of QC generalizations. My only "new" Gibsons (the J-160e and an SG Standard) were as good as anything.

oreca · Post by **oreca** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 4:52 am

You lucky b......

I remember seeing auctions for those C58's on eBay at like $900, I'm still kicking myself for not jumping on one and taking the money from my line of credit.