Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

What I mean is, at this point it is between myself and Rickenbacker. I do want to thank those that helped, mostly yourself and beatlefreak.

I'm sorry if my discouragement is taken the wrong way, but I spent a lot of money on this guitar. The notion that because I didn't fill out a card, that I wasted all that cash, well yes, I am disheartened to say the least. I didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings.


To be honest, I find registration cards to be a bit disingenuous.

They know how many people mail these things in, and it's an obvious attempt at avoiding a warranty while still offering it.

All that said, they still may step up to the plate. And all else aside, I'm really not sure why you are taking my expectations regarding manufacturer responsibility so personally. I just bought this guitar, and no matter what Rickenbacker policy is, I think it's fair to expect more than 10 months of use for top dollar. I don't see what is so outrageous about that.

I know I said I was withdrawing earlier, but I am finding this to be a good thread in terms of airing our opinions regarding the quality of the instruments, our expectations regarding same, and the issue of warranties and their enforcement (for lack of a better term).

You are very welcome, and it is gratifying to find that, despite our help (at this juncture) not being able to alleviate your suffering, you are appreciative.

In the case of most manufacturers' registration cards, your experiences replicate my own: most often these are used as marketing devices, as most consumers never bother to fill them out. This is because many products are manufactured to be disposable. A few exceptions are items like cars and computers; these two categories are registered electronically. A toaster? What does it cost? What's to break? Who wants to go through the trouble of sending it back for repair, anyway? Answers to these and similar questions are obvious.

Then we get to the case or RIC; as usual, a very special case, indeed. Before I bought my first Rick three years ago this month, I did do some reading up on the topic in general, and found that the issue of warranty cards were taken very seriously by the company. So mine were mailed in promptly. These are handbuilt instruments; the set neck means that it takes a lot of work to correct issues of finish, construction, and the type of neck twist issue that you seem to be experiencing. It's not like a Fender where the neck is like a baseball bat and in any event can be detached and another substituted in a matter of minutes. The RIC tradition is that the instruments are each unique, though they are series-built, by virtue of the wood used and the amount and type of hand work involved.

$1500.00 or so is a lot of money in most peoples' estimation, to pay for a guitar or bass. The fact that these instruments are built and finished by hand in very small numbers in the USA, using techniques that remain essentially the same generation-to-generation, and are still sold at prices competitive with (and in many cases, cheaper than), mass-produced, Asian factory-built instruments, is a testimonial to the business philosophy of the company's principals these many years.

Nothing outrageous about expecting long life for your hard-earned buck. But don't get the issue of defective merchandise (again, I haven't seen the guitar--I'm going by what we've written back and forth) mixed up with that of the mutual responsibilities regarding warranty: the customer's to register the product, and the manufacturer to stand by the terms it set out, provided the customer has held up his end of the deal.

BTW, Ricks are not "top dollar" instruments...instruments such as the newest Ken Parker archtop jazz guitar, at $30K, hold down the high end, and then only the midrange of high end!

No one has suggested pulling out the rods and making sure they are straight. I'm betting the one side with a backbow has a "C" shaped rod that is pulling the wood of the neck back. I've seen that a few times both here on the forums and on one of my own basses. Straightening the rod should straighten the neck. If the rod is curved. I've found Rick necks to be very stable.

Thanks for that post, Paul, I think reasonable people can disagree on the warranty card. I certainly didn't want that disagreement to be confused with my attitude towards your help with this instrument. I'm frustrated now (nothing to do with you, you're the good guy here), but long term, you *are* helping. This will get resolved one way or another. And you can bet that I will fill out the card in the future, as silly as they seem sometimes.

As far as Rickenbacker is concerned, I just got off the phone with a Richard in customer service. He was very kind. Like I thought, I didn't send in my warranty card, but I can get a written letter from Apple Music stating that I purchased the instrument new from them, along with a copy of the receipt to register the instrument. I find this perfectly reasonable and am starting the process today.


That is an interesting suggestion, johnallg, though it makes me a bit nervous. What is entailed in that process?

Personally, I would worry about messing something up regarding pulling the truss rods. The guitar is under warranty. You have begun the process of confirming that with RIC. You've done all and more than a reasonable person would do to attempt to deal with this yourself. Get it into the hands of an expert to fix this right, once and for all.

The reason I did not mention the truss rods is that this was a new guitar. Truss rods go in at the factory without this type of distortion, so there was no reason to suspect it had been added.

I'm with Dan on this, let RIC handle it after you get the docs from Apple Music.

Paul, there have been at least two new basses between here and the RIC forums that have had the curved rods. That said, I have only pulled rods on my used basses, not my new 2004 4003, though that neck is perfect even if a tad chunky - I still love it.

OK, John, not knowing the specifics of those two basses and definitely not having seen them in person, I'm deferring to you on this. But the truss rods being completely relaxed and the neck having a back bow speaks to me of neck problems, not truss rod overcurving. The truss rods on a 620 are mild steel rod stock and, at least when I install them, I could curve them quite a bit and not see any effect on the neck.

I'm always learning new stuff, though, so I look forward to being further informed on this topic.

I wasn't aware the guitar rods were a lighter gauge steel. Lernt somethin' there!

I know the bass rods are really stiff steel and on my two basses that had pronounced curves to the rods, they did in fact influence the necks. Both basses had one rod that was really curved and made one side of the neck have a backbow. The other side of the necks, with rods relaxed, were straight. After pulling out the curved rod, the neck laid straight. After inserting a straightened rod, both necks behaved as we all know a Rick neck should.

The other bass examples I mentioned had the same experience as me, and in fact influenced me to investigate my neck anomalies.