Level 3 finish on 4003

[petersland]

A friend of mine purchased a 2011 "level 3" finish for a good price from MF recently.
Anyone heard of these?
The jetglo finish peels off revealing a reddish dye underneath which wipes off with a damp cloth.
Regardless of price, I'm pretty horrified that this was let out of the factory.
It's causing a bit of a stir here in Australia on a popular Bass forum, especially with the Ric wary folk.
This was purchased brand new and has NOT been refinished.
Cheers Pete

[Ashgray]

Similar problems are being discussed here

Ash

[petersland]

Thank you, no need for further input. We're talking about the same Bass.
Apart from quality issues, I'm concerned with bad publicity.
Cheers.

[cjj]

From everything I've ever heard, there is no such thing as a "Level 3" finish from the factory. What I've heard is that they only ship one level of instrument, all of them are the same and have passed the same inspections, etc. and RIC never ships "seconds" or other such slightly defective instruments.

Of course, that doesn't mean they are perfect, nobody is, and the occasional "bad" one slips through. But that is what the warranty is for...

[jdogric12]

But that is what the warranty is for...

Sometimes.

[petersland]

Without malice, my opinion is that MF sold these instruments at a reduced rate due to flaws, therefore they would have purchased these at a reduced rate meaning the factory would have known. Obviously I could be wrong.

[johnhall]

You are indeed wrong. We do not sell second quality instruments to our dealers.

Furthermore, we don't overspray instruments, as this one was obviously done. There's some controversy over the circumstances in that our records show that serial number as being a Mapleglo instrument which was shipped to Italy. However, the customer has what looks like a genuine carton that the instrument arrived in with handwritten notation which labels it Jetglo, but both the carton and the guitar also are missing the barcode labels, which would be the definitive documentation that we use both in production and shipping.

Also it's inexplicable why the color would wipe off, as what we use for Fireglo is an air-dry, oil-based mixture of both red and (hard to believe . . .) black material which is solvent impervious after drying about 15 minutes. The photos we've seen show no evidence of black and we've never found anything to wipe off the color coat short of sanding- which is what we do in a refinish.

It certainly is a mystery that we'll be following up on with Musicians Friend, but given that we've never seen another like this, I really doubt believe it left our factory like this. Also, there's no reason we can think of as to why MF would not have returned an instrument to us if it had the slightest indication of a problem, unless it was some kind of trade-in.

[cassius987]

Also it's inexplicable why the color would wipe off, as what we use for Fireglo is an air-dry, oil-based mixture of both red and (hard to believe . . .) black material which is solvent impervious after drying about 15 minutes. The photos we've seen show no evidence of black and we've never found anything to wipe off the color coat short of sanding- which is what we do in a refinish.

Exactly--I was wondering why no one was calling attention to this. Very weird.

[cjj]

Sounds like something very fishy is going on. Glad to hear RIC is following up on it. Hopefully we'll eventually hear the solution to this mystery...

[jdogric12]

some kind of trade-in.

this is where my money is

[blueflamerick]

So, some jerk bought a JG 4003 from Musician's Friend, then returned his poorly refinished 4003, possibly with switched jackplate? I wouldn't put that past some people.

[cjj]

And apparently made up some fake labels for the shipping box too...

[Kopfjaeger]

Yea, the red "finish" under the Jetglo is very odd! I think the first thought in the other thread was a re-finish over a Fireglo but that was quickly discounted. While I've never purchased an instrument from MF, it certainly seems they have more than their share of problem instruments. I remember one member who went through 3 different 2011 manufactured factory sealed cartons containing Jetglo 4003's. Each one of them had finish issues, cracked and flaking paint, at the tail piece. My only "big box" purchase was my 2011 Jetglo 4003 from American Musical Supply. Flawless right out of the box! Like it should be

Sepp

[jps]

I have had good dealing with AMS. I have only bought one thing from MF, a belt that prevents buckle rash, many years ago. Usually, I prefer the small, independent shops, like POTR, Rhoads Music, Bass Central, etc., or Sweetwater or RMC Audio for my pro gear.

[AlexM]

I just want to add.. (Seeing its my bass), I've not intended any malice towards Ric with this, my original post was actually trying to find out if I could get it spot fixed!

Regardless, John has taken time to talk to me about it and ill be happy to help him with what ever references I can supply.