In praise of Mike Parks
Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 3:21 am
I thought that I would share an ordeal that I just went through concerning my new 4003 Blue boy that I had purchased back in June of this year. I bought this bass for the color option and for my collection, and hadnt really played it, but just brought it out to show off, and for the occasional picture for the forum. About a month ago, (early September), I decided to get it out, and put some new D'Addario's on her and give her some serious playing time. After doing this, I noticed that the E string had a nasty overtone to it, and I kept pushing it off of the fingerboard when I played. This went on for about 20 minutes until I got frusterated and set It down. Only then did I notice the obvious problem. The string alignment from the nut to the bridge was seriously off.
Not knowing what was going on for sure, I contacted Mike Parks, and sent hime some pics, he agreed that I definatly had something going on there, and suggested that I send the bass back to him for evaluation. He got the bass and really wasnt sure if I had a minor problem or if maybe there was somthing up with the neck itself. After contacting me on the update, he said that he contacted Kenny Howes out at Rickenbacker, and was going to send it out to them to be evaluated. So away it went, and I'm left thinking, well in about 8 months maybe I'll get another blue boy. OK, I was wrong, after a few pleasant conversations with Kenny Howes, the bass was repaired. They had replaced and recut the bridge saddles, and replaced and recut the nut. The bass was then shipped directly to me to avoid any more delay. I unpacked it at home yesterday, and must say, it looks and plays pretty damn good, they even stuck a new "made in USA" sticker on it. Above all, the bass is in as good of shape upon delivery than it was before it left on this ordeal. (Dead Mint), I cant find a mark on it.
In a nutshell, Mike Parks really came through for me as a dealer, I have nothing but praise for him, I simply shipped the problem bass to him and he took it from there. My freinds, you just cant ask for anything better than that. For your next puchase, I urge you to give Mike a try www.the-music-connection.com
Not knowing what was going on for sure, I contacted Mike Parks, and sent hime some pics, he agreed that I definatly had something going on there, and suggested that I send the bass back to him for evaluation. He got the bass and really wasnt sure if I had a minor problem or if maybe there was somthing up with the neck itself. After contacting me on the update, he said that he contacted Kenny Howes out at Rickenbacker, and was going to send it out to them to be evaluated. So away it went, and I'm left thinking, well in about 8 months maybe I'll get another blue boy. OK, I was wrong, after a few pleasant conversations with Kenny Howes, the bass was repaired. They had replaced and recut the bridge saddles, and replaced and recut the nut. The bass was then shipped directly to me to avoid any more delay. I unpacked it at home yesterday, and must say, it looks and plays pretty damn good, they even stuck a new "made in USA" sticker on it. Above all, the bass is in as good of shape upon delivery than it was before it left on this ordeal. (Dead Mint), I cant find a mark on it.
In a nutshell, Mike Parks really came through for me as a dealer, I have nothing but praise for him, I simply shipped the problem bass to him and he took it from there. My freinds, you just cant ask for anything better than that. For your next puchase, I urge you to give Mike a try www.the-music-connection.com
