Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

After years of yearning for a 4003 Mapleglo, the day had finally come when I was to realise my dreams. Owing to very generous financial handout from my 92 year old mother (I daren't tell her what I've spent it on) I ordered myself a brand new Mapleglo to be delivered two days before a major festival gig I would be playing at. At the alloted time the delivery van pulled up in the road outside and I waited by the front door for the man to ring ... but the van drove off. I dashed into the road, no sign of any neighbours scratching heads wondering why they'd been delivered an unexpected parcel. I quickly got on the computer and sure enough the electronic tracking site showed the item had changed from In Transit to Delivered. I set about knocking on neighbours doors, but no one that answered confessed to having the guitar. Next I phoned the delivery company and very helpfully they spoke to the driver who described the delivery in detail and made it quite clear it had been accepted by my elderly next door neighbour. I called round again, thinking they must be out as they didn't answer earlier when I tried, but after some time they eventually came to door and handed over my boxed package. "At last" I thought as I returned home, but the story doesn't end there. Upon opening the package I slowly lifted the lid of the case ... to reveal a sparkling new FIREGLO!!! "Noooooooooooooooooo"!!!!! I got on to the shop immediately and started to describe what had happened, only to be stopped by the assistant to say "Don't tell me ... you ordered a Mapleglo and received a Fireglo" ... "Yes, how did you know?" I replied. Apparently the assistant had just put down the phone after talking to someone who had ordered a Fireglo and received MY Mapleglo. They were very helpful and will be bringing the correct guitar around tomorrow when I am to hand over the Fireglo ... but that leaves me just one day to try out the guitar when it arrives and get used to it. So do I stick with my old faithful Washburn bass for the festival or risk making a fool of myself in front of a few thousand people? Hmmmm .... after all this frustration (and assuming the correct guitar arrives tomorrow) I think I might just risk it!

Oh I could beat that, but what's the point? I can see you're easily wound-up, just relax!

At least it wasn't broken/stolen/missing, and remember that a true musician can pull through a gig with whatever instrument is on hand.

I recently won an ebay epiphone dot 335 guitar,when it arrived and i opened the box,it was a similar color epiphone SG. The seller kept asking me if it wasn't the same as in the ebay ad. Well,NO,including the serial number! (We did get it worked out,returned,and refunded,and i wound up with an even better dot,which while advertised as "mint" ended up needing a new tone pot and pickup switch,which took weeks to get set up,but which i decided was worth it to keep).
If you're uncomfortable trying out a brand new bass at a gig,use your standby bass,you will have plenty of playing opportunity with the new RIC later....

Yeah, I can beat that with several different examples. But, yep, what's the point?
Hope it all works out.

Last year this 750$ 2x12 speaker cabinet was carefully delivered to me after much anticipation by the delicate folks at UPS.

Oh man. One time, I had to read this loooooong post with NO paragraph breaks!

sloop_john_b wrote:Oh man. One time, I had to read this loooooong post with NO paragraph breaks!

Now THAT'S frustratin'!

sloop_john_b wrote:Oh man. One time, I had to read this loooooong post with NO paragraph breaks!

Hah, I held back from mentioning it....but yeah. That's a major pet peeve. Use the damn Enter key, people!

Play the Ric and rock the house!
Take your old bass as a standby just in case you feel uncomfortable.

I have never had an issue playing an unfamiliar bass as long as it was set up properly.

+1 , play the Rick!

One of the most delightful experiences for a bass player (or guitarist I'd guess) is to take delivery of an instrument, check it over, set it up to one's personal preferences, re-string it, and put it through its paces that same night at a gig!

You just cannot beat that thrill, or that initial, personal bonding process that inevitably happens if you have a quality instrument like a Rick!

Ash

Welcome Simon. What Stephen and Ashley said. Take your normal bass as backup.

Jeez guys, cut the new guy some slack.....

I'm glad it worked out ok in the end Simon. If it was me I wouldn't be able to resist playing the Rickenbacker, but perhaps take your other bass too just in case...

How about when my Ric got sent to the wrong address and I had to convince FedEx to ship it to the right place? That was fun.

Ha Ha ... thanks for the advice guys. Apologies for the single paragraph rant ... I was very frustrated at the time!

As you can see, I have know discovered the Enter key!!!

As suggested, I will chill out a bit and take my old bass as a backup ... now why didn't I think of that?!

how about this from the nice folks at parcelforce uk.