Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

was talking to a local dealer the other day and he mentioned that the distributor for rickenbacker in australia is pulling out of the market and not accepting new orders.

Apparently there are 200-300 rickenbackers on order from various parts of the country with no eta, and many of them have been on order for years.

does this sound at all true, and does rickenbacker have a problem with production output to the extent that they can't service the global market?

That is true, Karl. RIC and the Australian distributor have ceased their relationship. I don't believe that the whys and wherefores of that are concerns of ours but it does leave the situation in limbo to say the least.

I have no idea what might or might not happen in regard to outstanding orders but given the situation I believe that dealers should be amenable to the idea of refunding deposits placed or offering other goods in lieu. My opinion only, of course. I understand that we are able to purchase new instruments from the Asian distributor - that is not Shinseido in Japan, BTW.

As we all know, the worldwide demand for Rickenbackers exceeds production capacity - hence the waiting time, even in the USA. At present it comes with the territory and I believe that RIC are doing everything they can to reduce the backlog without compromising quality assurance.

I would imagine that there will be little done about the Australian scene until that is resolved to some degree.

Just down the road from me is a music store that has 3 new rickenbackers for sale - from memory a 360/12MG, 330/6MG and a 330/6 blueburst - on display. They've had them for a long, long time (at least 12 months) but no one seems to be interested in them as they are still there gathering dust.

It may be that those model/colour combinations are not as desirable as others, Manuel. My local dealer has a 35012/v63JG and a beautiful 620/6 Montezuma Brown in stock. They've been there for 6 months or so.

They sell every Fireglo Rick they can get their hands on, however.

What state are you in Manuel?

I'm in NSW.

Actually I went down to check again, as it's been a little while since I was there, and in fact they've got a 360/6 MID, a 360/12 MG and a 330/6 FG.

You would think someone would snap that FG and the MID up. I can understand personally why the MG has sat for a while. It's not my taste in a Rick. Of course, others just love them.

You would think someone would snap that FG and the MID up

Doesn't seem to be a locale that's full of RIC fans.

I've yet to see a band around here that has a RIC player in it, apart from me of course.

I think the cost and general lack of familiarity with the guitar has something to do with it.

does rickenbacker have a problem with production output to the extent that they can't service the global market?

There's some truth to that, to be sure, but in this instance it's due to our perhaps quaint policy of insisting upon getting paid for goods we ship.

Our long backlog then plays into the how serious we are about locating a new distributor in Australia. Also, to be correct, it's less a "problem of production output" as a problem with overwhelming demand but obviously they are inter-related.

To bump an old thread.

Given that there is no Official Ric distributor in Australia, would that mean US based distriubutors would be allowed to ship here?

I dont see why they wouldnt...

By 'US distributors' I take it you mean 'US dealers', Simon?

I can certainly see why they wouldn't be allowed to ship here...... it's in their dealership agreement that they can't and I don't see RIC changing that policy to allow sales into Australia and not the rest of the world. There would be a massive outcry from the rest of the worldwide distributors if they did that!

I would suggest that until production gets close to meeting demand and a suitable distributor in Australia emerges it will be status quo.

There also seems to be a lack of interest in used Ricks at present too. They are not being snapped up on ebay as they were last year. I've advertised two at reasonable prices with little more than a sniff of interest. I also have four on consignment at a Melbourne store and much the same is happening there, too.

Yeah, I hear you Howard with regards to demand in Australia at the moment.

Its really weird, with prices going up and up in the US, they seem to be going down here - on the used market anyway.

But I dont understand the dealership agreement. These things are setup so as to not jeapoardise local distributors, which I totally understand. But if a country has no authorised dealers, then who's being put out by other dealers shipping there? You know? Its not cutting anyones grass...to use a very Aussue expression.

I though Japan was the Aussie RIC distributor?

Not so much Japan as Asia, John. Rickenbacker Asia is a separate entity from the Japanese distributor Shinseido.... although I believe there is some link between them (RA may be a subsidiary of Shinseido). I know of a few people who have dealt directly with RA with no problems at all.

Simon, I believe that one of the issues is warranty. As soon as a US Dealer shipped out a new Rickenbacker to Australia the warranty would be void - that's my understanding at least. I'm not sure that an end buyer in Australia - especially an uninformed one - would be happy to find out that his new broken Rickenbacker is not covered. However, I can't speak on behalf of John Hall or RIC so don't take anything I say as gospel.

There is no Rickenbacker dealer in Israel for many years now.

Still - Dealers in the states are not allowed to ship to Israel.
Bummer

A topic dear to me.....I love Rickenbackers! (so who does not here!)

Not so much Japan as Asia, John. Rickenbacker Asia is a separate entity from the Japanese distributor Shinseido.... although I believe there is some link between them (RA may be a subsidiary of Shinseido). I know of a few people who have dealt directly with RA with no problems at all.

I have bought parts from Rickenbacker Asia, and the invoices were from Shinseido. They (Jimmy) are great to deal with but you will pay very considerably more for parts than the $ value listed on US web sites..... I questioned Jimmy about this and received a prompt response that it was tied in with there cost to bring parts over from the USA. So, again maybe these inflated prices are due to warranty related issues..?..? Fackenbackers are also used as a reason for not shipping to Oz....i.e: people putting RIC hardware on fakes and trying to pass them off as the real deal...IMHO fat chance!

I think a lot of RIC guitars are trying to be sold here in Oz at a price based not on there international worth but there exclusivity (do I hear the sound of stones tossed in my direction?). Surf EBay and see what the Rick's you desire are going for in the States. If not for the shipping costs (and customs spraying them {they are made from wood, oh they made my last acquisition stink!}) we may be importing them second hand as individuals in reasonable numbers. I think to the up and coming player they are just to expensive compared to the generic copies of other brands, and this may be affecting used prices here.

I believe there is a strong market for these instruments here, pity our country (and NZ for that matter) has no RIC distributor....and for soooo long too.

Perhaps John Hall can step in and once and for all tell us in some detail why we cant buy new instruments and parts for Rick's Down Under? John, are you put there?

Si...........