Manufacturing efficiencies and 4001C64 production
Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 7:08 am
I have recently put a deposit on a 4001C64 with a Ric dealer. The dealer says they ordered the instrument in March 2007.
Of course I know there's a backlog for Rickenbackers in general but I thought I read somewhere that recently (last year or two?) the factory has implemented some manufacturing efficiencies in an effort to decrease the backlog.
So I became curious and tried to get an idea about the most recent C64 basses that have been built and that have shipped. What better place to look than in The Registry, I thought?
In my research, I found that of the twenty-six C64 basses built within the last 5 years, twelve or approximately 46% of them were built in mid-2006, apparently the most recent production batch.
Of course I am extrapolating based on a sampling, but I was surprised to see a huge gap between that last run and current day (earlier manufacturing gaps were on average about 12 months) and that we "seem to be overdue" for more 4001C64 basses "any day now".
So in an effort of trying to make sense of it all, I guess I am wondering about the C64 order from early 2007, the efficiencies implemented by the factory, and the apparent hiatus in 4001C64 production in 2007-8: Does anyone think we are going to see any 4001C64 basses shipping sometime in the next 3-6 months or so?
Chris
Of course I know there's a backlog for Rickenbackers in general but I thought I read somewhere that recently (last year or two?) the factory has implemented some manufacturing efficiencies in an effort to decrease the backlog.
So I became curious and tried to get an idea about the most recent C64 basses that have been built and that have shipped. What better place to look than in The Registry, I thought?
In my research, I found that of the twenty-six C64 basses built within the last 5 years, twelve or approximately 46% of them were built in mid-2006, apparently the most recent production batch.
Of course I am extrapolating based on a sampling, but I was surprised to see a huge gap between that last run and current day (earlier manufacturing gaps were on average about 12 months) and that we "seem to be overdue" for more 4001C64 basses "any day now".
So in an effort of trying to make sense of it all, I guess I am wondering about the C64 order from early 2007, the efficiencies implemented by the factory, and the apparent hiatus in 4001C64 production in 2007-8: Does anyone think we are going to see any 4001C64 basses shipping sometime in the next 3-6 months or so?
Chris
