Ric Warranty Cards

skeeterbuck · Post by **skeeterbuck** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 3:15 pm

Greg, It's rather common for the paint on the back of the vintage style TRC to stick to the finish in a few places.

When I get a new Rick , I always remove the TRC and put some zymol on the back of the TRC and the finish underneath. This way if its long time before I have to remove it again, I don't have to worry about the paint sticking.

When re-installing the TRC, I only tighten the screws just enough to keep it from vibrating. Helps to prevent it from cracking later.

ajish4 · Post by **ajish4** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 4:06 pm

"Gosh, I actually knew something relevant!"

LoL!

I'm STILL due!

soundmasterg · Post by **soundmasterg** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 11:03 am

Hey Charles, thanks for the tip! Now that it has stuck and cracked the paint already, I'll have to repair it somehow, but your info will help me in the future once I do fix it.

aceonbass · Post by **aceonbass** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 12:41 pm

Greg, I had a similar problem with the white paint coming off the bottom edges of a new plexi truss rod cover. I was in the process of sanding and polishing the sides and the paint just started flaking off. I almost panicked but decided to at least finish what I had started. When I was done, I masked off the sides of the truss rod cover, flipped it over and shot some flat white Krylon on the back. I gave it three coats till the consistency of the color matched. The fix is now undetectable.

jayt · Post by **jayt** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 10:09 am

Does Rickenbacker send you some sort of confirmation when they receive your warranty card, or do you need to call yourself to confirm? I'd hate to get a year down the road and find out they never received it.

soundmasterg · Post by **soundmasterg** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 1:44 pm

Dane, on mine, the paint just stuck right next to the nut as I pulled off the TRC for the first time. Its a little section maybe 1/8" wide and most of the width of the TRC.

aceonbass · Post by **aceonbass** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 1:52 pm

Oh, so it's not even on the bottom where the silkscreening is. I always just sand off the paint and polish the edges anyway, so the paint on the nut would be an non-issue. You could just sand the paint off the nut with some 250 grit and paint the end of the TRC with a brush if you want the paint there.

drathbun · Post by **drathbun** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 5:41 am

I've purchased two new Rics in the last year and a half. I've sent in the warranty card within 10 days for each of them. I have never received any confirmation they have been received.

If Ric doesn't trust the dates on the original receipt from the dealer and they never received my warranty card (how would I know to call and confirm?) are my new guitars under warranty?

soundmasterg · Post by **soundmasterg** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 10:28 am

Dane, the paint that came off the TRC is right behind the nut on the paint of the guitar, not actually on the nut. Essentially it is the area on the TRC between the two screws that came off and is sticking to the guitar. If I take it off the guitar, then there is a blank spot on the back of the TRC where there is no paint. I left it on because I'm not going to fix it right now, and with the TRC in place, you can see a slight crack in the paint as it doesn't quite match up correctly to hide the crack.

Initially when I brought it up, I was assuming that it happened because RIC put the TRC on before the glue holding the nut on was completely dry, and that the glue holding the nut on had spread from where it should be, and I wanted to point out a possible QC problem for RIC. Now I'm thinking it is just an issue with the paint on the back of the TRC not sticking very well to the TRC, or not being completly dry when they stuck it on the guitar.

I'll fix it eventually, one way or another.

mrtidy · Post by **mrtidy** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 4:19 pm

If Rickenbaker doesn't get the card, you have no warranty. (Customer service told me this a couple of years ago).

mfb · Post by **mfb** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 8:40 pm

A fat lot of good it will do you, but I guess you could always blame the post if Rickenbacker doesn't get the card and doesn't confirm receipt of it.

Hmmmm ... is it any wonder post office workers sometimes go around the bend ...

Funny things, warranties.

skeeterbuck · Post by **skeeterbuck** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 2:28 am

I know that I'm probably going to regret saying this, but RIC's warranty policy IMHO is rather lame. When I buy a new Rick, I make sure that everything is right with the finish and I can get the guitar setup to play properly. I know after that that I will take good care of the guitar to hopefully prevent and warranty issues form arising. I have bought two Ricks that by the time I received them, the warranty was over two years old, so the finish warranty had already expired. I figure, if the finish was defective, it would have shown up by now.
The 5 years/ 1 year finish warranty is kind of mis-leading as that it starts from the guitar's completion at the factory. Unless I'm mistaken, I have never heard of anybody taking possession of their Rick the same day that the warranty starts. If you order a Rick, by the time it's shipped to your dealer and they in turn ship it to you, it could be up to 2 weeks gone off of the warranty before you even take possession and that's a best case scenario.

I buy Ricks because I love the looks and their tone, not for the warranty,

squirebass · Post by **squirebass** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 3:53 am

I've purchased several new Rickenbackers over the years, and I guess my BURG 660/12 is about to go out of warranty, but I've never had any need to use it(the warranty, not the guitar). Never had a problem with any of them, knock wood, and I've purchased five of them new. Upgrading their warranty, which if I understand correctly would greatly increase their potential liability and cost of doing business, would not be worth it to me. I buy them for their looks and tone, but also because they are "cool" and they have a reputation for high quality craftsmanship. I never worried that they would be anything less...

johnhall · Post by **johnhall** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 5:36 am

Skeeterbuck, I find your statement lame, because if you had bothered to ask, you'd find out that the begin date for warranty purpose is actually set 6 weeks ahead to cover this contingency.

Given that virtually every instrument is shipped the day it's completed (at least domestically) and transportation rarely exceeds a week, there's a nice grace period there.

skeeterbuck · Post by **skeeterbuck** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 11:05 am

John Hall I was unaware of that fact and I stand corrected. Before now, I have never heard this stated before.

I'll remember next time to email you first to get my facts straight.

Now... in hindsight I would say that the RIC warranty is slightly more that 5 years/ 1 year finish.

Eating "Humble Pie" is easier when you learn something new.