Colour bleed on Midnight Blue 4003

godber · Post by **godber** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 4:26 pm

Oh dear...it's the tax...man, it's the tax maaa..aan. No need to mull for too long - it does have it's benefits (NHS).

I think that Ian has possibly gone past acceptance and that we should maybe think about leaving it here (i'm hedging my bets like a topiary judge). Lots of lessons learned and I hope it all works out OK for all. As Elvis Costello said, accidents can happen. Rickenbacker does not equal Microsoft and Ian has aired a democratic right (was that CPSA/PCS or Unison Ian?). The thing about these guitars is that I love the look of them, but dig the sound of them. Keep digging.

tomg · Post by **tomg** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 6:08 pm

"I feel for him but I am afraid that RIC has done nothing wrong."

Legally, I'm sure that's correct. However from a customer satisfaction perspective, it's completely wrong.

In the end, I guess it doesn't matter. The customer is screwed.

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 6:34 pm

Tom, not legally so much as contractually. But technically Ian was not a customer.

12stringbassist · Post by **12stringbassist** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:09 pm

Mark,

It was about 20 years of CPSA, then a few years in PCS!

I have accepted all along that the bass is not technically covered by the warranty (as I am out of USA) - not because I'm British, but because the warranty doesn't extend to here. Ric have a fully functional servicing network set up, but due to my personal purchasing circumstances I fell out of the loop. That's my hard luck.

However, while what happened really shouldn't have, I don't really want to say any more about it now...

headbanger · Post by **headbanger** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 5:53 am

"even though I am no longer active in this forum"

Again? Who or what has upset you this time?

billy_sacco · Post by **billy_sacco** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:18 am

I would say charge people a few bucks to fix it if it is not authorized. This is what many companies do and really this is no one else's fault but Ric. They probably did not do it on purpose but this is a manufacturer defect plain and simple.

delberthot · Post by **delberthot** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 6:51 am

I bought my MID 4003 2 months ago from a local guitar store. It has literally 3 hours of playing (my BB is my main bass) and it has already started bleeding. Not much but noticable.
The thing is that I don't know about the US but in the UK we have the "Sale of Goods Act" which basically means that this bass has a flaw in the manufacture. But - it is up to the original seller to remedy the problem, not the manufacturer.

I'm still waiting to hear back from the store that I bought it from but basically my rights as a consumer are to :
(a) Swap it for another one
(b) Have it refinished
(c) Get my money back

There are no other colours in production at present that I really like ( I prefer ones like montezuma, sea green, azureglo - the rarer ones!) so I am going to take it back to the store once the seller has acknowledged my email and get a refund.

It is a shame because it "shouted at me" from across the store and I just had to have it.

It doesn't make me think any less of the company - as Julian said, they would not have intentionally put a finish on one of their instruments if they knew that the colour would run within a few hours use. I still love my BB and will be on the look out for something else as soon as I have had my refund.

delberthot · Post by **delberthot** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 1:07 pm

An update to my previous post. Ian at the shop I bought my MID Rick from (Guitatguitar in Glasgow) has replied to my email saying that he will refund my money.

I am posting this because you just don't get this kind of customer service every day and I thought I'd let the Scottish Rickenbacker contingent know what good service I have had here, not just letting me return this bass for a full refund but overall.

s4001 · Post by **s4001** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 5:42 pm

Good for them. Glad to hear they treated you right.

johnniev8 · Post by **johnniev8** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 12:32 am

Hi, just found this forum, I thought I was on my own, I have the same colour bleed problem on my Midnight blue 2005 4003. It was bought in America last summer, brought here and I bought it from a 2nd guy. It was new and obviously unplayed as the frets were unmarked and the truss rod needed some tweaks. Within days of playing it the colour bleed started, I emailed Rickenbacker service who eventually admitted it was a 'known problem' and some guitars had been replaced under warranty, but guess what....yep my guitar hadn't been registered within the 7 day time frame and also I wasn't the original purchaser so no warranty!. I tried to push the point on selling substandard products but still got nowhere. I wrote the Rickenbackers CEO at Christmas and he didn't even bother to reply, I wrote again a couple of weeks ago asking if he would be polite enough to at least reply to my letter, as yet no reply. So what now, if I ever wanted to sell it no one would buy it because it looks ****, I've got a £100 copy that looks better!

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 5:59 am

Welcome to the forum Johnnie. I am sorry that your first post couldn't be made under happier circumstances. You will find that this is a very friendly place where Rick fanatics of all ages gather to share stories, pictures, and tech tips. I hope despite your current issue you will stay here and become part of the community.

The reality is that warranties only apply to the original owner. Also, warranties are structured to protect RIC distributor territories. Your warranty card probably says US/Canada. Unless you bought it in the US or Canada yourself, you are not protected by the warranty. UK buyers are covered by a different distributor and warranty.

studiotwosession · Post by **studiotwosession** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:30 am

Perhaps those who keep these basses as is, and let the finishes do what they will will, over time, be rewarded for owning a famous, in RIC circles at least, and valuable collectable. After all, there were supposedly people who returned or exchanged copies of the Yesterday and Today butcher cover LP. They would have done much better to just hang on to them. At the time I'm sure people just thought it was an ugly if not controversial album cover. All a valuable collectable needs is a good slang name. How 'bout the "bleeding" bass?

billy_sacco · Post by **billy_sacco** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 2:22 pm

Yeah I told my buddy to just start rubbing the binding all over with sweaty hands or something so he could have all blue binding. Hehe

bassduke49 · Post by **bassduke49** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 2:44 pm

And the name of this collectible Rick bass shall be:

"Blueblood"

And it was good.

studiotwosession · Post by **studiotwosession** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 4:48 pm

Well, guys love to talk about their axes. One of these, there's really a story behind it. Especially if, not only the finish is doing what it does, but there was some sort of convoluted distribution situation as well. Some guys had the same bass but they had their's refinished, but other's just kept their's and played 'em as they were, and the story continues to evolve.