4004Cii

jps · Post by **jps** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 3:34 pm

Toothpicks are a very common woodworkers trick for these kinds of situations. In my case with the older basses, to do the job right would require drilling out the holes and glueing dowels in the holes, then drilling new holes the correct size for the screws. Usually a refin would then be required; I am not planning on refinishing my basses so the toothpicks work just fine.

In Andy's case the only other solution would be larger screws, what else would RIC be able to do, they can't put the wood back. The toothpick, or maybe a better term would be wood splint, offers the simplest solution, especially given the non stress bearing nature of where they are needed.

Maybe RIC can send Andy a T-shirt or something to make it up to him.

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 4:25 pm

Amen!
Make Andy a happy customer.

wints · Post by **wints** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 4:37 pm

An unfortunate case. This is one of those minor mistakes that I,m sure leaves both parties feeling very frustrated to put it mildly. It,s just unfortunate that Andy is the case concerned here!! I,m surprised there aren,t any gold screws the same size as the original chrome ones. No one comes out of this happy it seems..I,d agree with Kenny that Ric has followed proper customer service policy through here. However, one can also see how one would not want to send their new bass back after waiting a year and a half for it.(which would be my choice if there are no gold screws available at the bigger size)...Toothpicks and new Rics...That,s a rhyme that ain,t fine....

jnbass · Post by **jnbass** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 4:42 pm

If ya don't like toothpicks you could always use 'elephant glue' (Elmer's for those in the US).

It is H2O soluble and will not affect the finish. Or hotmelt thermoplastic (this may affect the finish).

Either one worked for my F_nder jazz with overworked bridge cover screws.

Not a fix but a possible solution.

banta · Post by **banta** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 5:09 am

It sucks, but it's a minor problem. Go to a hardware store and purchase screws. Even if they have to order them, you'll suffer a lot less grief and only be out a few bucks.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 5:27 am

try this web site for screws ...

http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/middle_bass.htm

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 6:13 am

It's not a customer service issue, it's a quality control issue. The bass should never have left the factory in the condition it did.

I ran into the same thing with my 5 string. The bass I received direct from the factory had a number of finish flaws - buffed through to bare wood in a couple of places, a chip missing, paint on the fretboard, buffing compound all over the bass. Ric took it back, but in the process made it worse by overspraying it badly and buffing through the finish somewhere else, and to add insult to injury, must have replaced the bridge, since when the bass was returned two months later it was unplayable due to the bridge being out of spec (intonation holes in the wrong place). They sent me new saddles, but if I wanted the bridge replaced (which was what was required), I needed to send the bass back again (at my expense, again) for them to fix it.

After that experience, if I were Andy, I'd do what I could to fix it myself.

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 6:35 am

Just curious-has anyone here had a warrantied problem and sent their guitar back to the factory? How long was the total amount of time invested? When I received my new guitar and was filling out the warranty card, I thought to myself unless there were a blatant and nearly unfixable problem with the guitar that had been the fault of the factory, I don't think I'd like to send it off for an undeterminable amount of time unless I had a backup, or if my local luthier could remedy it in a week or two. I realize this is not taking advantage of the guarantee inherent in buying a ric, and even might void the warranty, but with a few exeptions my guitars are "daily drivers", and, again, without backups (in this case a 12 string), if the average turnaround time (which I don't know and am not implying) is months, I'd pass on that.

I think wrong colored-too big screws is not something I'd expect from a company with Rickenbacker's commitment to quality, as small a deal as that might seem to some. And telling someone to "stick a toothpick in it", would bum me out, if it were my brand new guitar. That's surprising.

I got my first ric in the early '70's, but really knew nothing about them until I visited this forum earlier this year. Quality is always emphasized, and I believe that to be true. But I, too can see where sending the guitar back would not seem a viable option.

bottom4 · Post by **bottom4** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 2:30 pm

Hey guys, I have to say that I used poor judgment in my last post.

Immediately after posting I thought I should have given this one a second thought – unfortunately at that point it was too late. Not to make excuses for myself – but I will anyway – I had just returned from a miserable week in Germany and I’ve been feeling pretty ****** since I got home and then I rec’d the e-mail… Anyway, after giving it some intelligent thought I immediately sent Mr. Hall an e-mail asking him if he could help out. If you remember from a previous post I made I said that JH and I had exchanged some info and everything he told me was on the level.

Well, I just rec’d another e-mail from Mr. Hall stating that he figured out what had happened and that he was sending me out the correct screws!

For a living I run a fairly large supply chain operation responsible for customer service, purchasing, planning and manufacturing and I know that regardless of the processes you have in place stuff happens. But you need to look at that stuff as opportunities and the key to your success is recovery. And as for as I’m concerned, Mr. Hall seized the opportunity and demonstrated the highest level of recovery – customer satisfaction. I’m not sure there are many CEO’s out there that would walk their warehouse comparing old and new sku’s trying to determine what went wrong on such a relatively small issue – but he did and I have to say THANK YOU to him!

Unfortunately these type posts and the reactions to them probably keep Mr. Hall from posting here and if that’s the case I deeply regret this and hope that he looks past this. Part of what makes this forum great is the chance to openly correspond with the owner of this great guitar company. My apologies to all![/size]

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 3:21 pm

Life goes on! Don't sweat it.

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 5:02 pm

I type faster than I think

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Wed Oct 29, 2003 1:35 am

Take it easy on yourself, Andy!
I didn't read anything wrong in your previous posts. You were just reflecting what had happened in an objective manner.

And kudos to Mr. Hall for his efforts to ensure customer satisfaction. I believe everyone here cherishes his inputs to the discussions and I sure hope he posts more.

lshaia · Post by **lshaia** » Wed Oct 29, 2003 4:15 am

I'd like to second Paul's opinion. I didn't read anything in Andy's post, or indeed in the entire Andy Saga, or in the responses, which I would consider to be unfounded or gratuitous criticism of Rickenbacker. In fact, in the year or so I've been here it seems to me that the huge majority of discussions like this have been presented in an objective manner; the "bashing" stuff is usually reserved either for Fender or the President, unfortunately.

The point is that, to me at least, the Forum and Peter's hard work would become diminished if we confined ourselves to happy thoughts and speculations about next year's color. I learn the most from reading about both the good and the not so good aspects of what we all clearly are enthusiastic about. My inflation adjusted two cents.

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Wed Oct 29, 2003 8:12 am

If posting our reaction to our experiences with Rickenbacker keeps Mr. Hall from posting, that is indeed a shame, but any time the customer feels let down by the product or service a company offers, it should be viewed as an opportunity to reevaluate how things are running and could be improved, rather than be looked at as something strictly negative.
As someone who uses and is interested in acquiring more of their guitars, I have a vested interest in Rickenbacker providing both assured quality in the product, and a customer service that offers solutions to problems that cause me the least amount of inconvenience, I don't think always painting a rosy picture while ignoring shortfalls is a positive approach.
I don't blame Andy one bit for being disappointed with not one, but two, failures in the chain, especially after waiting as long as he did for his guitar. That the problem is being resolved is good, but I don't think there need be any guilt over expressing disappointment that the guitar did not meet expectations, and that the initial attempt at rectifying it wasn't appropriate.

dave4004 · Post by **dave4004** » Wed Oct 29, 2003 8:40 am

I agree. I would rather hear that he had a problem and it was solved than not hear about it at all.

And I suspect John Hall would agree too. Business owners don't want unhappy customers, and they can't solve a legitimate problem unless they hear about it.