Re: is this pickup complete? correct?
Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 10:29 pm
If we're talking about horseshoes, this is a different kettle of fish. But most parts necessary to keep up and even restore older Ricks are available from the boutique, when production demands allow the parts to be available. Now, if you're talking about oddball stuff like F tailpieces or early 4000 pickguards or knobs, there's little demand. But fasteners, bridge plates, vibratos, nuts, "vintage" type tuning machines, and stuff like that, are readily available. This is kind of like asking GM to produce '55 Chevy grilles and sell them through dealer parts departments, though. Impractical for GM, and even more so for a tiny concern like RIC.whojamfan wrote:It just proves to me more and more why I beleive RIC should make available everything that they still manufacture. I believe their reasoning is somehow having the parts available would somehow devalue their vintage instruments, and negatively affect the sales of the vintage/classic models that these few items are used for. I really don't think someone looking for a sixties reissue McCartney bass won't all of the sudden go "hooray, I can just stick a horshoe on my 4003 and/or now I can sell it for a mint!"
No argument; it all comes down to practicality, and we can thank our stars that Ricks have changed little over the years, in terms of basic hardware.whojamfan wrote:What it will do, is allow those that own vintage instruments a way to keep them original when they need replacement parts, instead of having to either modify them, or pay prices that have caused some fire here on this topic. The player that is just interested in having the instrument playable doesn't care whether or not what year it was made, only that it is the correct part they need to make it function and keep it original. Simple as that.
Fender makes handmade 62 pickups for strats still with period correct components, but aren't worth the plastic they're made of to someone restoring a 62 Strat, who is willing to pay 3,000-6,000 dollars to get an actual set. This does not hurt Fenders vintage reissue series, custom shop, or anything else. What it does do, is allow someone who is unable or unwilling, the opportunity to replace pickups in an old guitar they have, or throw them in a new one, which will more than likely lead them down the road to getting either a custom shop guitar, or shell out for the real thing. Anyway you look at it, Fender wins, the customer wins, and nobody is hurting their vintage market or using these parts to fool people who pay the big money the originals bring.
Now, those of you who want to get the exact thing you want down to the month it was made, or whatever, understand the used vintage market and will pay the cost to have the "perfect" part. Whether they are collectors, players, or both, they want it exactly that way and may have to wait years to find the part. It's all part of that aspect of ownership, and deserves to be respected for what it is.
If I may,guys like Sergio offer a great service to help folks out in getting their broken pickups up and running again, and/or modify existing working ones to a customers preference. He also makes his own stuff, and deserves respect in that aspect as well. Pickups are not expensive, rare material, or such hard to make items, that one who does actually make them can't get a good laugh out the prices the market will pay for something they can do for so much less. Can Sergio make you a 1971 high gain pickup? Without a time machine, no. But, what he can do, is either fix your broken one, mod a different one,or offer you other options to get you as close to where you wanna be short of the "actual" item. I have never met, or spoken to him, but I know of his reputation and respect that and his abilities.
I agree the vintage market can be nuts, but more nuts is the supermarket, and the gas pump. $4.00+ for a gallon of gas is GREED, and that's what infuriates me. We don't need to fight over the price of parts, you can buy or pass, your choice. It would just be better for all of us loyal owners and players if we had more options. I mean no offense to John Hall, or any of the other folks at RIC IMHOs expressed in this posting, or any other ,for that matter. I love my Rickenbacker instruments, as we obviously all do, and am not trying to tell anybody how to run their business.
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