Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hello guys, just wondering if anyone can recommend a trusted place to order/buy rickenbackers in the UK. I'm looking to order a left handed 12 string 360.

Any help would be great.

Cheers

RicsRus have a good rep although I have never used them myself.

I don't think RicsRus is an OFFICIAL RIC dealer..
I pretty sure it has been mentioned here a few times in the past, but just a heads up.

I don't THINK they are able to order NEW guitars from the factory.

I just went and checked on the official RIC site and found this....

Rosetti Limited
Email: [email protected]

Rics R Us has occasionally had "new" Ricks which they have procured from other dealers (usually in the USA) in violation of those dealers' agreements with RIC (if they were aware they were selling to Rics R Us.) I believe they have also bought new or lightly used Ricks on Ebay. In any event, they are considered resellers and because of this the guitars will carry no factory warranty.

Ever wonder where those instruments that are returned to mail order houses under the typical 30 trial/exchange policy go? They can't be resold as new instruments, of course. Yes, that's right, most of them end up as gray market exports as we've determined from tracking many shipments.

Our dealer agreement has no restriction on the sale of used instruments.

Don't mind an instrument that has some miles on it, may have crossed through 5 climate zones, and that someone else rejected? Then an unauthorized gray market importer is just your cup of tea!

I hear what you say, but didn't Mike do us proud at the UK confluence. A really professional event, hosted by a Ric nut, with a free meal, great company, great gtrs & a great time had by all that attended & nothing was too much trouble.

Perhaps I should ask Rosetti to hold next years event?

I am afraid that Rosetti are useless. They are the distributors for Ric in the UK (ie don;t sell directly), but they deal with many other brands and really don't do Rickenbacker's business prospects any good in the UK - slow to respond to e-mails (if ever at all)and have no idea if you ask a technical question. They didn't know ANYTHING about the 75AE guitars (simple questions like what cases etc). Rics R Us are excellent, as are Peter Cook's.

If we didn't have to pay twice as much in the UK for our Rics and put up with rubbish customer service, we wouldn't need to buy (perfectly OK) 'grey' imports.

I have more than 20 Rics and have always bought from these guys, brought them back with me from the US or shipped to the UK via a US address. Even with UK import duty, VAT (17.5%) and shipping costs, I still save £100's on each guitar - that can't be right, in a supposedly 'free' market, can it?

Mark, we've been down this road many times before. For those of us that live in the UK, Mike is a Godsend, but we have to respect Ric policy & also respect Johns decisions & management...he does a GREAT job which is much appreciated. At the end of the day, Ric makes the best gtrs in the world & John is the boss. Going down this road again will do no-one any favours.....we love Ric, but Mike Smith is great too! I know we Brits are a pain John, but we try...you have to give us that!

Mark..I'm very interested in your last post. Can you send me your email so that I can ask you something.

Cheers

[email protected]

You Brits are great, Tony!
I don't mean no disrespect to RIC policy, of course. It's just that some of us apparently have no other ways than using grey markets - i've never heard of a RIC dealer in Russia albeit i've seen a coupla Ricks for sale in a music store. Mine was bought via my Mom on eBay, used, and brought by her here. It's a great guitar & i love it, and my Mom is a great Mom. But for me, and my Mom too, it was the only way.

Simon....Marks address is in his profile!

Sheena, I'm sure that no one on earth could begrudge you your Ric, or how you got it...

Mark: It seems to me that the free-market and free-trade always comes at a cost, one way or another.

RIC has developed business policies over the years that works for them. Regardless of the company, there are regional practices that are bound to arise that make it more difficult to buy in one region than another.

When new products becomes too expensive, the used market is bound to become more attractive. In Canada, we have a similar situation. When I cannot afford a new product, I opt for a used one, the downside of course being that there is no warranty. I have found Rickenbackers to be of such good quality that my used instruments serve me very well. It is not the fault of RIC that we have the GST and other taxes in Canada or the VAT in the UK.

I discovered Ric's policies the hard way when I bought my first one--a 350v63 exactly has John Hall described--a "clearance" item from a mailorder place. I really knew very little about the whole Ric dealer/warranty thing at the time. When I received the guitar, she was perfect, and included the warranty card, etc. When I filled it out and sent it in, I was informed by Ric that the guitar had already been registered(!).

As others have posted, it wasn't much of an issue as the guitar was perfect (I'm relatively sure it must have been a barely touched return or cancelled order--they weren't even scratches on the pickguard). I've bought enough used instruments that lack of a warranty doesn't matter much to me--and I tend to think it would matter even less if I actually could try the guitar in a shop, like Ricsrus for example.

I always feel bad for the things it sounds like many of you have to go through outside the lower 48 with this stuff. Since I have no personal experience, let me ask the stupid question--is it prohibitively expensive to ship a guitar out of the US to Canada or the UK for the buyer? I see lots of ads on Ebay, etc. that won't ship internationally, but I'm thinking that's mostly fear of the unknown?

Apologies to the originator if this in anyway redirects the thread, I'm just curious....

Bill

I agree Peter, I have bought several brand new Rics in my life, but many, many used ones. Rics are great gtrs & are built to the highest standard. I have never needed to call on a warranty, or needed attention to a used Ric.

Out of interest, Rics R Us offers a personal 6 month guarantee on his gtrs, so a good used Ric has to be a good bet!

Spot on Bill - I often contact e-bayers who will not sell outside of the US - it is mostly because they have a big enough market at home and can't be bothered with the hassle of shipping overseas (1 extra piece of paper !)

However, I have bought 20+ guitars from the US (I also collect vintage Hagstroms) without any problem at all (e-bay, private sellers or merchants).

Regarding Tony's comment - ultimately, you can't beat the market. If there is significant arbitrage between different markets, someone will find a way around it and make a buck, by moving product between the markets. If you can provide fantastic customer service into the bargain, all the better.

Providing feedback to about a useless distributor in a foreign country hardly counts as treason Tony. What is John going to do - cancel my order for all 4 75AE guitars which cost me the best part of £7,000 - yes that's 7,000 good old pounds sterling, for those of you on the other side of the water who would have paid less than this amount in USD !!