New 4003 MID is here!

[colin]

I have a 2010 4003 FG and I love it! I had wanted a Ric for years and it was everything I had hoped for: great sound, great look, great to play. Imagine my surprise when my wife told me I could get a second 4003, one from the Musician's Friend MID sale! I dithered and missed the first run, but yesterday evening, after much anticipation and tracking, a MID from a later run finally arrived! S/N 11-44442. Just in time for an early Christmas present!

My first impression when I opened the case: gorgeous! The deep purplish-blue finish is stunning, and seems to change hue depending on the lighting. I noticed the action was surprisingly high. No big deal, I thought. I figured I would be tweaking and twiddling this weekend, getting things set up just the way I like. In fact, I rather enjoy doing this sort of thing.

E string height, as received.

Then I removed my new 4003 MID from the case. The neck is a little different, more of a D-shape than my 2010 4003FG. As I admired my new instrument, the volume knob fell off in my lap. No big deal, I thought. My small screwdriver was within arm's reach, so in an instant I replaced the knob and tightened the set screw. Perfect!

Then, the moment of truth! I plugged the beauty into my Eden for the first time. Neck pickup selected, everything cranked. What a tone! I flicked back to the bridge pickup, and: mud. Oh, dial the tone up... still mud. The tone pot was doing nothing. It wasn't a loose knob again; the travel was limited and the cap bypass worked fine. No big deal, I thought. The pot wires must have come loose. I'm handy with a soldering iron, so that will be a quick fix this weekend when I'm setting up.

Time to tune up! The A tuner wasn't as smooth to turn as the others, and definitely stiffer than my other 4003. No big deal, I thought. I will probably work in, and besides, it's not as thought one turns the tuners THAT often. Quickly check the truss rods: wow! This neck has a lot more relief than my Fender Jazz! No big deal, I thought. I'll take care of that when I do my setup this weekend. I guess that might explain the crazy high action. But why would it leave the factory like that?

So then I put my two 4003s side by side and admired them. I even took photos with all the pride of a new dad! Gorgeous! Rickenbacker's reputation is well-deserved.

My 2010 (first week of!) 4003 FG and my 2011 MID

And then I noticed the bridge. The saddle grooves grooves were not centered and the strings don't pass over the pole pieces on the neck pickup. That didn't seem quite right. Even the strings were all shifted along the fretboard in the direction of the G. A quick check of my 2010 4003 confirmed that the grooves should be in the middle of the saddle. Plus the grooves on the heavier strings don't seem deep enough to hold the strings true, at least not compared to the 2010. Hmmm. No big deal, I thought. On RRF I've seen a few people have had trouble with the saddles, and Rickenbacker has sent them replacements. It's an easy fix. No big deal. Wait. I seem to have said "no big deal" a lot in the past fifteen minutes.

The notches in the saddles are off to one side.

The saddle grooves are so shallow they barely hold the heavier strings in place.

The strings are not centered over the pole pieces or on the fret board (biased towards the G string) because of the bridge saddles.

Finally I noticed the tail piece. It wasn't flush with the body. Could this be the infamous tail piece lift? In a brand new 4003?? In any case, something wasn't right; there is definitely some kind of defect in the tail piece.

The end of the tail piece is not flush with the body.

At this point I was so upset that I put the bass back in its case and went to bed.

I am utterly astonished by the number of defects this instrument came with. Where was Quality Control at Rickenbacker that day? It seems the biggest problem is the bridge and tailpiece assembly, but I now have concerns about the neck, since the action is so high despite the bridge being set fairly low. Maybe a truss rod adjustment will fix that.

So now I'd like to ask you, my kind RRF friends and fellow Ric lovers: what should I do? Contact Musician's Friend about a return? If so, I doubt I'll ever have my MID. Or maybe the Ric Factory? Or should I suck it up and replace the bridge with a Hipshot and hope everything else will just be minor tweaks? John Hall, if you're reading this thread, I'd love to hear your thoughts especially.

As for my new 2011 4003 MID, it's back in its case with the lid closed. I've played all of two dozen notes on it. For now, just to look at it makes me sad.

[winston]

My advice is............contact Rickenbacker direct and ask them to repair the bass under warranty.

[johnallg]

I'm with Brian. Let RIC address the issues. I did PM you about the tailpiece and saddles.

And please, people, don't let this thread turn into the usual fiasco and get locked or removed.

[rickenbrother]

My advice is............contact Rickenbacker direct and ask them to repair the bass under warranty.

Exactly right. Complaining about it here doesn't fix anything.

[johnallg]

I see him relating his experience and findings, and asking for advice. He is a new member, and sounds let down after much anticipation.

[jingle_jangle]

I'd send it back to MF and have them send you a new one. I had issues with a sale Gretsch a few years back and they replaced it quickly without a whimper.

[cassius987]

For some reason I've heard of a lot of this associated with MF MID Blue Rics lately... not sure why...

Obviously your FG worked out for you, and it's hard to say exactly why this one didn't.

I'd send it back to MF and have them send you a new one. I had issues with a sale Gretsch a few years back and they replaced it quickly without a whimper.

I think most people with issues from the Ric sale did this and were happy afterward. Some even traded up to the... ahem... better finishes. (Just kidding!)

[Tarrbot]

He's in Halifax, NS.

I'm not sure how RIC does warranty work outside of the US...

[ajish4]

Don't quote me on this, but I THOUGHT I heard something about the batch of MID BLUE from a major internet seller being CUSTOMER RETURNS?

Just out of curiosity, what is the date on that bass? Is it a 2010?

I'm not making any excuses for anyone, and I can understand you frustration, but try what has has been mentioned.
CALL Ric customer service, don't just email.

You will get all the answer's you need. But as Paul mentioned, you might want to consider a return and ask them to replace it.

[johnallg]

Tony, 44th week of 2011, so it is a fresh one. S/N 11-44442

[colin]

Don't quote me on this, but I THOUGHT I heard something ...

I appreciate the input, Tony, but I'd like to keep this thread objective and factual, please.

[marcinkus]

IMO: the tailpiece is fine, no "tail lift" noticeable and the saddles can be replaced. I can understand you are annoyed, but I think the bass has no real defects as the truss rods are there to be adjusted. The only real strange thing is the (muddy?) bridge pickup. Could be a defective pot.
However, if the bass has not structural defects (neck warping, finish issues) I wouldn't send it back.

[ajish4]

Tony, 44th week of 2011, so it is a fresh one. S/N 11-44442

Ah, ok. Thanks John. I vaguely remember something a 2010 batch of MID's. I missed that bit of info. My bad.

Back to the topic at hand then.

[bluewhale]

Although the saddle grooves are off center, as stated, it looks to me like that's not enough to account for the strings being so far off center relative to the neck.

Could the tailpiece itself be out of alignment?

It's something you might check if you're going to have repairs made.

[colin]

I see him relating his experience and findings, and asking for advice. He is a new member, and sounds let down after much anticipation.

This is exactly right. I'm not angry or complaining, I'm just trying to illustrate clearly some problems I encountered my new purchase in the context of two possible scenarios: (i) this was a one-off lemon (and that could happen anywhere), or (ii) there is/was a production problem (and that could happen anywhere too). I even included my serial number to help track down such a problem if it has taken place. There is a lot of experience in this forum, and so I presented the information as clearly as possible to solicit interesting and objective comments. After all, it's clearly a subject we're all very interested in.

I'm looking forward to reading what the more experienced people here think about what to do, and so far it looks like "contact Rickenbacker" is winning.

At least I still have my beloved 4003FG