2014 Color of the Year is...

[godber]

I'm curious if anyone here has bought a Ric in Europe and had it shipped to the US. I imagine the retail price is higher .... and then there's the shipping.
Anyone have a tale to tell?

It would cost you big time.
Say the bass retails for 1900 Euro, which is $2543 today.
Add to that shipping, taxes, you would end up well over $3000.
I think you could have a standard 4003 and have it refinished in white for less

Edit: these would be 400 above normal retail price, you could probably have 2 4003's and have them refinished in white for what it would cost to import one from Deutschland.

Wim, we pay tax to import US products to Europe, but I think that US products don't get taxed again returning to the US.

[godber]

Massive positive reaction to this bass (white on white with chrome) I love to see white in the 300 series.

+1. We've been banging on for ages haven't we Scott!

The bass looks fab.

[johnhall]

Massive positive reaction to this bass (white on white with chrome) I love to see white in the 300 series.

It's just too bad that white is such an incredible pain in the *** to work with.

[sloop_john_b]

Without doubt one of the best looking basses produced by RIC in the last 15 years.

Absolutely agree. Stunning.

[ilan]

It's just too bad that white is such an incredible pain in the *** to work with.

Just make them with checkerboard binding and nobody will notice the occasional imperfection.

[Keef]

Yeah, I did contact Paul W. about refinishing a regular 4003 in white. Probably cheaper than getting one from Germany.
I'm not trying to be a whiner, but I'm not sure I understand the concept of only 15 for the states and lots for Germany.

[johnhall]

Yeah, I did contact Paul W. about refinishing a regular 4003 in white. Probably cheaper than getting one from Germany.
I'm not trying to be a whiner, but I'm not sure I understand the concept of only 15 for the states and lots for Germany.

Black market suppression, just like the Blue Boys were originally. The 15 sold in the US serve a similar function.

[ilan]

So this could still be COY 2014? That is good news.

[godber]

Massive positive reaction to this bass (white on white with chrome) I love to see white in the 300 series.

It's just too bad that white is such an incredible pain in the *** to work with.

But we're worth it

[scotty]

Massive positive reaction to this bass (white on white with chrome) I love to see white in the 300 series.

It's just too bad that white is such an incredible pain in the *** to work with.

Why is that John? What makes it difficult ?

[jps]

Massive positive reaction to this bass (white on white with chrome)...

+1. We've been banging on for ages haven't we Scott!

So, your wives have noticed, eh?

[jps]

It's just too bad that white is such an incredible pain in the *** to work with.

Why is that John? What makes it difficult ?

IIRC from a few years ago, I think it has something to do with cross-contamination due to airborne particles, but this may have been regarding metallic finishes.

[godber]

Massive positive reaction to this bass (white on white with chrome)...

+1. We've been banging on for ages haven't we Scott!

So, your wives have noticed, eh?

[mantisstudios]

I have one of these basses, the binding is a cream color and goes nicely against the white body....different vibe from the tuxedo.

[johnhall]

IIRC from a few years ago, I think it has something to do with cross-contamination due to airborne particles, but this may have been regarding metallic finishes.

That's definitely one of the biggest challenges. Essentially, every other instrument of any other color has to be removed from the spray department when white is being shot. When you consider that there might be as many as 100 instruments in the spray area at one time, it makes for some serious logistics problems.

It's just as much of a problem that white contaminates the other colors as white gets contaminated from the other colors.