Ric Is Losing Business

[Tommy]

Look, I honor and revere Rickenbacker. They are the Babe Ruth of guitars. The Michael Jordan of guitars. The Tiger...uhh, the Arnold Palmer of guitars. Such a sound, such a look. Pure heaven. Iconic. But the problem is Rickenbacker is not consumer friendly.

All year long I saved my cash; saved and saved in order to buy one of my dream guitars. Being a Beatle fanatic (and a John guy) the dream choice was the Ric 325. Oh, I have loved that one since I was a little kid. Only problem is I can take my fistful of saved cash and can't buy me a nice, new 325. Impossible to find. Two year wait, you folks here tell me. Two year wait, Ric dealers tell me.

So you know what I did?
I took my Ric money and bought my other dream guitar:



That White Falcon wasn't cheap; but because Ric has turned themselves into this exclusive two-year-waiting-club, they are losing out on business. That 325 money of mine went to the Falcon which was readily avaialable.

Come on, Rickenbacker. Is this exclusivity the way you want to go?
You are losing business!

[Ric-O-Buc]

You know what? They don't care. You know why? They don't have to. They're Rickenbacker.

By the way, that's a sweet Gretsch you have, congratulations.

[8mileshigher]

Sorry that you were frustrated in your guitar shopping, Tommy.

The factory backlog is real and they don't compromise quality for the sake of mass production .... Probably most Forum members have a story or two to tell about two and three year waits for some models.

Curious though, that you couldn't find a 325 or 350 model from an On-Line dealer or perhaps through the For Sale section of this Forum ??

[rickenbrother]

RIC is not losing business. Great guitars go into the hands of those willing to wait or find an available guitar at a RIC dealer or in the used market.
RIC cannot make guitars any faster than they do without sacrificing the quality that goes into them.
Congrats on your guitar, Tom. At some point, you might have that 325. Right now, Musicians Friend has them in stock, so they are available, maybe just not at your local RIC dealer.

[winston]

Tom once again you seem to have an axe to grind with Rickenbacker. This is the second time that I have cautioned you about this. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=390519&p=565589#p565589

Your story is not congruent with any factual information which is freely available if you own a computer and access to the net. You appear to have both at your disposal.

If you have an issue with Rickenbacker please take it up with them directly. Do not attempt to send a negative message to RIC through this forum. The rules of this forum require respect be shown to all members and just to be clear that includes our members who work for Rickenbacker. See rules 3 and 4 viewtopic.php?f=25&t=391087

[gibsonlp]

Hi Tom,
This is very simple:
Demand is currently higher than what the factory can actually produce.
There are 3 solutions:
1. Hire more workers, build another factory and expand, doing so will probably reduce the quality of the final product.
2. Try to chill the demand by raising the price.
3. Eliminate a few models as I guess that changeovers between models waste time.

Rickenbacker did #2 and #3, we are all glad they didn't do #1...
Besides, neither you or I know enough about their business and we should not tell Rickenbacker how to run it...

Edit: There are many 325 available on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0467355886
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0415594356
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0415574604
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0399710954
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0375695570

['70RS]

Being a Beatle fanatic (and a John guy) the dream choice was the Ric 325. Oh, I have loved that one since I was a little kid. Only problem is I can take my fistful of saved cash and can't buy me a nice, new 325. Impossible to find. Two year wait, you folks here tell me. Two year wait, Ric dealers tell me.

Well, you could have bought a brand new mapleglo 325c58 that's been hanging on the wall at an authorized dealer here in S.F.

Or you could have searched the net and found a few others.

Or you could have bought another nice guitar....which you did.

Being a John fanatic, I probably would have gone with the G6120DC instead of the Falcon....but that's just me. Congratulations on the new guitar, although I don't quite understand the snide tone.

[manta]

You obviously missed spending those accumulated pennies on this brand new, no wait RIC:

http://www.themusiczoo.com/product/3379 ... 63-Jetglo/

However, I did have a Gretsch Country Gent when I was a teen. Great guitar. You'll be fine.

Start saving again.

TR

[collin]

If I could roll my eyes more, I would.



I've never seen so many 325's on the market in my life as there are right now.

Seriously----what does Rickenbacker need to do to gain your holy approval.....hand delivery by John Hall?

[Tommy]

Thanks for the replies. Maybe my searching skills need improvement, but the only new 325s that I found readily available were the '58s.

Why my post is seen as a snide attack upon Rickenbacker is confusing. I merely am pointing out the obvious -- you don't have 'em, someone else does, that's where the money goes. Let's be real here, two years to wait for a guitar? Houses can be bought and change hands in less than two months.

I have one more guitar left on my dream list - the 325. I know dreams that are difficult to obtain are the ones worth obtaining, but Ric sure is making it difficult to hold onto this dream. Best thing I can say is one day when I do have the 325 I can look back and chuckle at these posts.

[Len]

My local guitar shop had four 325s in stock over the last couple months, including at least one that just recently arrived. They are out there if you look.

[jingle_jangle]

Tommy, your searching seems to be somewhat hampered by two non-negotiables:

1. You want a NEW guitar. You'll open up your vistas and cop a much larger selection if you spread it to "used, mint".

2. You're impatient. If (1) is truly non-negotiable, then you can get what you want by putting in an order and waiting.

I love Gretsches second only to Rickenbackers. (A somewhat distant second, but there you go...) But how a White Falcon can sub for a Rick 325 is beyond me.

Last, you're talking a mass-produced in Japan item for the Gretsch. They've been virtually overstock items ever since Fender took over in '03. Ricks are made in the U.S.A, priced competitively, and have a different soul and presence and a unique sound.

Talk about inflammatory topic headings! If you had a few whiskers on you around here, you'd realize that it is a fact of life that Ricks will always be a rarity. But to couch this fact in the title you used tells more about your lack of frustration tolerance than it tells us about RIC. John Hall told me last year that a marketing study concluded that RIC's market penetration was about 12% of available market. That leaves a lot of room for growth, if it was deemed necessary. Rickenbacker's true market comprises enthusiasts who will settle for nothing else.

I own a number of Gretsches...fabulous guitars, great value for money. But Rickenbackers they ain't.

[lennon211]

Thanks for the replies. Maybe my searching skills need improvement, but the only new 325s that I found readily available were the '58s.

Why my post is seen as a snide attack upon Rickenbacker is confusing. I merely am pointing out the obvious -- you don't have 'em, someone else does, that's where the money goes. Let's be real here, two years to wait for a guitar? Houses can be bought and change hands in less than two months.

I have one more guitar left on my dream list - the 325. I know dreams that are difficult to obtain are the ones worth obtaining, but Ric sure is making it difficult to hold onto this dream. Best thing I can say is one day when I do have the 325 I can look back and chuckle at these posts.

There's a 324C64 for sale here in Louisville. It's been on the wall at Guitar Emporium for a while. Very nice one too.

[jps]

Thanks for the replies. Maybe my searching skills need improvement, but the only new 325s that I found readily available were the '58s.

Why my post is seen as a snide attack upon Rickenbacker is confusing. I merely am pointing out the obvious -- you don't have 'em, someone else does, that's where the money goes. Let's be real here, two years to wait for a guitar? Houses can be bought and change hands in less than two months.

I have one more guitar left on my dream list - the 325. I know dreams that are difficult to obtain are the ones worth obtaining, but Ric sure is making it difficult to hold onto this dream. Best thing I can say is one day when I do have the 325 I can look back and chuckle at these posts.

There's a 324C64 for sale here in Louisville. It's been on the wall at Guitar Emporium for a while. Very nice one too.

I think he spent his wad a bit prematurely.

[kingblud]

Many of us have multiple "dream" guitars. I say congrats on checking one off the list, play the heck out of it, and enjoy! If you find yourself still looking for a 325, give it some time, and I bet one bubbles up at a good price.