Call me a heretic, but...

[antipodean]

Thought wrong, I guess.

No way! I think it's a great move both from an aesthetic and production-process perspective (try saying that three times really quickly!).

Alas, I'm not in a position to buy yet another bass right now...

[j_gary]

Me likey!

[rickenbrother]

Thought wrong, I guess.

No John, you thought right. You can't please all of the people all of the time, but I would venture that the vast majority of folks prefer the new inlays.

+1

I haven't seen them in person yet, but they look great in pics. I look forward to the 4003 that I have on order to have the new inlays.

[chefothefuture]

John H-
You have done a fantastic job with the 4003. Don't let any one tell otherwise.
You have brought back some very sought after goodies and too me, that's extraordinary.
GOOD SHOW!

No-
I won't go to Fender AT ALL. I don't need them clubby necked canoe paddles built for
meat packer hands with a bunch of batteries to help drive a week amp! (Hey, I'm just dishing BACK what another continually dishes our way!!!!!)
I hate Fenders! And if there is any thing I hate more than a Fender; it's TWO Fenders!!!!!!!!!!

However-
I might sell most of my Ricks to help pay for my , shall we say, clandestine enjoyment.......

HA!

That'll fix 'em!

[gregson62]

Fireglo, Jetglo or Midnight Blue...I just can't make up my mind! Full width inlays pretty much settled it for me and I'll be buying another Rick this year. The full width inlays are a really nice feature to add back to an absolutely classic bass design and I thank you Rickenbacker!

There's an enormous used Rick bass market to keep the heretics happy, too. To each their own.

-Greg

[sloop_john_b]

John, you can't expect to please everybody. I think I can safely say that the majority of us love the change! For those who like the old inlays, there's 30+ years worth of Rickenbackers with them out there.

[espidog]

John, thank you for the chapter-and-verse explanation of the new inlay process and the difficulties involved - a much appreciated insight. I apologise unreservedly for suggesting that FWIs might have been introduced mainly as a cost-cutting exercise. Clearly they aren't! I should have known better than to expect such considerations to be driving the design decisions at RIC. Having been out of touch with this forum for quite a while until recently, I was unaware that there was a widely-felt desire for this change, and consequently the very different look of the new inlays came as quite a shock. Their appearance still grates with me and probably always will: to my eyes, they seem rather brash and unsubtle compared with the pour-ins - but, as others have said, you can't please everyone, and there are plenty of older instruments out there for those of us who feel as I do. ...Not that I can foresee needing to buy one, though: I've got my baby and I'm keeping her!

[thisismusicinc]

I have three basses with small inlays, I want big ones on my next!

[4stringnosing]

Finally, we didn't HAVE to go full width as we made this manufacturing change but I honest felt that's what the majority of people preferred and I thought there was no downside to doing so. Thought wrong, I guess.

With all due respect, John, you've got to stop being so oversensitive! From what I've read here, only a couple of people disapproved of the new inlays (and rather mildly at that, IMHO) Lets conduct a poll and I'll bet you'll get 95% suport for them. How you can turn what is basically a Rickenbacker love-fest into something negative seems just a whisper too close to sulking in my books. Everyone's first reaction is to react with horror that you might somehow be offended and quickly post something to sooth your reaction to a non-existant slight. Sorry, but that's just ridiculous.

To put things in proper perspective folks, take the emotion out of it. Let's say Rickenbacker made a commodity like television sets and decided for 2008 to switch from one style of button on their remotes to another. For every 100 customers who enthusiastically suported these new buttons, there were 2 or 3 who didn't really like them or thought perhaps it was a way to bring down costs to make them more competitive on the open market. Wouldn't you be surprised if the CEO of Ric TVs came on to a web forum and tried (successfully, it seems) to make people feel guilty for not liking their new change even though they actually did?

It's all a question of degrees: RIckenbacker changes their manufacturing process and design in a way that nearly all (myself included) heartily approve of, while Ampeg starts making products in Vietnam and selling them for the same amount as they did their previously USA-made gear.

You certainly have nothing to apologize for in the way you run your business and make your product, John--there's not a better guitar company in the world and you won't find anyone here to disagree with that. You do, however, need to grow a somewhat thicker skin. Yours is a business, not a religion and we are paying customers, not mindless advocates and apologists for Rickenbacker. Ric being a company, I cannot stress enough, that needs defending less than any instrument maker I've ever dealt with. Please, please, please: embrace and enjoy your success and well-deserved world-wide reputation. If the guys at that company named after a car part took every criticism personally, they'd be locked up in a rubber room and denied shoelaces or metal cutlery!

Thank you for continuing to make the best guitars in the world and you are most welcome for my continued patronage.

Okay, let the banning or flaming begin!

[rickenbrother]

Fred, I just think it's a lack of appreciation and repect from a few forumites that can be frustrating to JH. Put yourself in his shoes.

[jingle_jangle]

Imagine being in JH's shoes. He runs a family-held company in an ethical, sensitive manner. His customers are, in fact, his dealers. As end users, we are included in the "family" as a favor. (There are few businesses that maintain such personal ties with their end-users, mostly in very high-end goods like Morgan does, and like Rolls-Royce did before WWII) And this is a double-edged blade, as every decision has to run a gamut past everybody with an opinion, not only on the decision, itself, but also on barely-related matters of speculation and even on future decisions (like COYs, and, yes...these inlays).

John is one of the most stable and steady guys I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Still, this sort of thing is enough to make a person throw up his hands at the best and become cynical and fatalistic at worst. And, imagine, being under this sort of scrutiny and pressure 24/7 (OK, 12/5).

Factory closes for summer vacations soon and I hope JH really enjoys his...he earns it.

[deaconblues]

I think it's just the difference between fans of a small company like Ric and one of the "big two" guitar makers - we have the luxury of getting our questions answered, giving feedback, and having our grievances addressed.

The downside is that it sometimes becomes much more personal.

I am glad that JH cares about what we have to say, and doesn't just ignore people and say, "Oh well, the majority agrees with me." I didn't see a guilt-trip so much as a post clearing up some misconceptions about the new inlays.

[teeder]

I applaud the new chapter in Rick inlays!

[ajish4]

I applaud the new chapter in Rick inlays!

"Turn the page"......

Ok, now how about that skunk stripe?

[johnallg]

You know.... no, never mind.