Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Further to my posting here John Hall has emailed me stating that he hadn't received my letters, so I have forwarded my first letter to him by email and await his response. Thanks for the comments guys regarding how collectable this will be in the future, interesting take on the situation but I'm afraid I'm not convinced, I'd much rather have one in pristine condition! The thing is though it still feels and sounds fab.....I'm running it through an Orange rig, yep Ric's and Valves, what more could a man want

All other issues aside, it's basically a faulty product, unfortunately - and substandard for a bass of that price.

Luckily it only affects this one finish.

Another thing that kind of bothers me is that my friends bass and the poster above is only about a year old. We have another forumite who said his 2003 had the color bleed. This means that the problem has been there for at least a few years. I see one common thing the complaint of a very strong paint smell when the customer first gets the bass. Could these basses maybe have not been dried long enough?

Let me first say that I sympathize with guys like Ian who have one of these affected instruments. It's really unfortunate that RIC did not catch this problem before those instruments were shipped. But let's remember that RIC is taking responsibility for the issue and refinishing those instruments that were purchased through the proper dealer/distributer network. Most of the folks here who are unable to get a refinish purchased their instruments second-hand or through the "gray" market. The risk of buying instruments this way, is that while they may save a few bucks rather than buying new (through RIC dealers and distributers), they will not be covered under the manufacturer's warranty. It would be great if RIC offered to refinish these instruments for a nominal fee, but I understand their refusal to cover them under their warranty as it would totally undermine their dealer/distributer agreements. However I really do hope that RIC can do something for folks with this issue.

Absolutely. Imagine how frustrating it is for RIC to for decades try and do right by their customers and distributors in every circumstance yet the gray market persists.

I agree with the comments above regarding the 'grey imports' - I'm not covered by a warranty and would just have liked my bass not to have had this problem.

It absolutely stank of paint and felt sticky when I first opened the case.

If anyone else has a MID Ric bass or guitar that reeks of paint and a tacky finish this issue and is NOT covered by warranty, my advice is to not play it for at least 6 months until the paint has settled down.

No word of a joke. My bass is no longer tacky, doesn't smell - ok the bleed has happened - but if you wait it out all will probably be well.

I fully understand RIC's stance on the wording in their warranty, but at the end of the day they have produced a faulty product and that is my gripe with them. Surely it isn't OK to produce a faulty product in the first place, knowing that as soon as the warranty is voided they can wash their hands of it? Surely they don't want these faulty products in the field. Surely once they realised they had some problems with this colour they would have got them back from the dealers. I don't expect anything for nothing from RIC, but how about a bit of good old customer care?

Amen brotha!

You get 'good old customer care' by being a 'good old customer'...you just can't go shopping in the 'grey' market to save money and expect warranty protection...kind of a drag, but there it is.

Besides, what's wrong with gettin' yer hands a little dirty once in a while? 'Pristine condition' is for 'prissies'...

Hi Dane,

If you go back through my posts, all I have said is that this shouldn't happen on a bass of this price. I have said all along my warranty is from the USA and have repeated John Hall's reasons why it wouldn't cover my bass. I have never disputed that. I just think it's not very good that an increasing number of Ric MID instruments with a seriously defective finish are coming to light.

So I'll be swapping my highly prized 'limited-edition blue bleed' with someone for an unaffected one then?

Hehehehe!

Thought not...... !!

Yes Dane, I agree with Ian, thanks for your support eh? Personally I wouldn't consider the 2nd hand purchase of a 3 month old guitar to be the 'grey market' but all this aside I think you have slightly missed the point, we're not just disappointed that Rickenbacker's warranty is **** (like you have to register your new bass within 10 days of purchase including a copy of the purchase receipt and if you sell the bass on the warranty ceases) we're extremely disappointed that we bought a Rickenbacker (which should be one of the best) and it is of sub-standard quality, it's not what you would expect is it

You have to register your instrument within ten days of buying it and AND provide proof of purchase? What an onerous policy that is...

Transfer the warranty? Are you kidding? I don't know about the UK, but I can't even transfer the warranty on a power drill over here.

Purchasing any product second-hand from unauthorized sources does indeed fit the definition of 'gray market' and in doing so you run the risk of not receiving the same services as people that went through authorized channels. In fact, I don't believe Ian himself disputes this.

The blue bleed is not something we're proud of, I assure you they did not leave the factory looking like that (now that the Midnight color has been changed it shouldn't be a problem), but we have been repairing blue bleed instruments from our CUSTOMERS for a good while now so to say that we're doing nothing is absolutely false.

Thank you, Ben, that's what I was trying to get at...you said it better, and with undeniable authority...

...and for you guys with this particular 'grey area' problem, a word of advice: "Repaint, sinners!"

Ben, welcome back. RIC company had not posted here much lately. It's nice when the OFFICIAL word is posted here.

This is a known factory defect. It shouldn't matter one bit where someone got an instrument from for Ric to fix it.

It's a real shame that a good company like Rickenbacker won't step up and do the right thing for this particular customer.

The final word, is, the final word, of course, but from my perspective, it stinks on ice.