Colour bleed on Midnight Blue 4003

12stringbassist · Post by **12stringbassist** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 9:08 am

My answer from Rickenbacker (on their official forum) was to remove my posted query about it and one in the 'Just guitars' from someone else which was similar.

The answer appears to be to avoid Midnight Blue Rickenbackers at all costs.

I showed it to a dealer today who (was horrified at the sight of it and) is stopping dealing with Rickenbacker anyway over a number of other issues.

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 9:13 am

How many people wash up to their elbows when they wash their hands?

It certainly begs the question, why does this not happen with any other color? I have NEVER seen this before in nearly 30 years of playing and being around Ricks.

86kubicki · Post by **86kubicki** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 9:28 am

I believe that RIC recently changed their clearcoat. Could this be the problem? Have any finishes other than Midnight Blue experienced this issue?

rickaddict · Post by **rickaddict** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 9:28 am

Neither have I, but there were at least 3 examples of it yesterday on that other forum...All MID.

Odd.

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 9:35 am

Where are the Jetglos with grey stained binding?

bob_the_bass · Post by **bob_the_bass** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 9:36 am

Ian ...
Your profile says you are from Manchester. Which dealer are you refering to wrt stopping dealing with Rickenbacker ?

clankchris · Post by **clankchris** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 9:40 am

I hope your problem gets taken care of, Ian...

Spending over 1K on a bass that's finish is bleeding would make me pretty sour too...

alanz · Post by **alanz** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 10:19 am

Ian:

My answer from Rickenbacker (on their official forum) was to remove my posted query about it and one in the 'Just guitars' from someone else which was similar.

So, you're saying the RIC discussion board admin deleted your post?

Yowza!

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 10:29 am

This should be in that "disappointed" thread.

clankchris · Post by **clankchris** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 11:11 am

They just deleted the one he had in "Just Basses" also...Ian, did you get any answers?

incubus2432 · Post by **incubus2432** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 11:34 am

This is interesting.....I'm somewhat of a "germaphobe" and wash my hands constantly with all types of soaps. At gigs I sweat heavily and have had all sorts of stuff spilled on my Rics and my '97 Midnight Blue 4003 never had this type of issue so it must be something to do with some new finish/process. I hope this gets resolved for you!

s4001 · Post by **s4001** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 1:12 pm

Wow. Just wow.

I've been more than impolite to many of my main gigging Rics and haven't had any issues with the finish.

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 1:26 pm

I think there's still some mention of the problem on the RIC forum. They do have a policy of deleting multiple threads covering the same topic as a housekeeping issue.
It does seem a weird problem, but JH stated that a formula change to minimize this has already taken place.
It only seems to affect the blues.
I hope it's solved now, as I want a 4003 MID as well.

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 1:32 pm

It was there at lunch time, but now it's gone.
They also posted a management notice that the forum was being consulted before customer service for warranty issues. Maybe that's why the thread was pulled. It gives a bad impression to people who read the forum before RIC gets a chance to remedy the problem.

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 1:36 pm

I don't think RIC should be beaten up over this but the explanations so far seem a little flimsy. The way I understand it, the blame has been placed squarely on the owner/player in each case. Is that right? I don't read the forums on the RIC site so I am just going on what has been said here. Is it true that the owner's skin pH and choice of handsoap were cited as the possible (perhaps only) causes of the finish breakdown?

Has anyone reported this happening to a Rick in a color other than MID?