(Recovered topic) Not happy with "new" bass, what w

ken_j · Post by **ken_j** » Sat Jan 15, 2005 9:20 am

If you really like it talk to a manager and see if you can get a fair price or at minumum return shipping for free. Basically they are just refunding the shipping price at $50 off. Remember the last word is never the last word. The first level responders can only go so far, but a manager can always do better to salvage the sale.

What color is it? A store by me has 3 4003's in stock Jetglo, Mapleglo, & a Fireglo. The perfect Ric is out there you just have to find it.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sat Jan 15, 2005 9:42 am

Yeah you can probably make a deal with them, if you play a lot it'll look like that soon enough anyway. You nenver did say what was cracked on the pickups.

pepsican · Post by **pepsican** » Sat Jan 15, 2005 9:58 am

The black finish is cracking (or is that plastic?) around the pole pieces. it basically looks like this (sorry for the crude drawing)

-0--0--0--0-

the -'s would be the cracks, and the 0's are the pole pieces. Just imagine those wore down to the metal already.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sat Jan 15, 2005 10:35 am

I just looked at my 2000 Sea Green and it has those lines also, I never even saw them before (and probably never will again) my pole pieces also have a little black scraped off the top of the buttons but I expect that on a Ric. This bass could pass for brand new BTW.

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 12:01 am

Hi John,
Those "-"s are not cracks. They are normal machine marks (for lack of better words on my part) on post-1990 RIC pickup bobbins which are indeed plastic. No worries there.

As for the paint scraped off the top of the polepieces (doesn't cause pickup malfunction though), I don't think that occured during shipping. However, it's a sure sign that the bass you got had been a display item at one of the GC stores and was "de-flowered" by some slap-and-poppers or heavy pluckers who also mindlessly hit something with the headstock, not to mention making buckle rashes while trying out the bass in the store, which is a god-aweful sin!

I'd vote for sending it back and have your money refunded. Get a new 4003 from one of the reputable RIC dealers mentioned above, which I'm sure you're doing already. Good luck!