.

vale

TheGuitarWeasel said:

My second most frequent pickup rewinds are on Ricks ... of all ages (first is Hofner 'staple' pickups).

yay! hofner wins!

ICBM said:

I fixed my 4001 tailpiece like this... exactly because the tailpiece is hollow on the underside, there is room to fit another 'tailpiece' in there! The small notches are to fit around the ribbing on the inside of the casting.



The strings pass through the back of the original tailpiece, then through the holes in this one, then over the bridge saddles so the upward pull is taken by this bracket.

well that's a surprising look on a premium bass, i must say.

obviously it works perfectly or you wouldn't recommend it. but that close combo of 'meandering' bass rout and double-glazing accessory... a surprising look.

OilCityPickups

vale said:

TheGuitarWeasel said:

My second most frequent pickup rewinds are on Ricks ... of all ages (first is Hofner 'staple' pickups).

yay! hofner wins!

The story goes that as German industry was getting going again after WW2, Hofner were given/bought cheap, huge stocks of American army surplus solder and hookup wire (apparently used in some sorts of radio equipment). The wire had inadequate lacquer insolation, and the solder turned out to be acid and very corrosive. Basically the pickups rot from the inside and all ones still working are on borrowed time. If anyone owns a Hofner and it's still working without rewound pickups THEY ARE VERY DELICATE BY NOW, DO NOT DISTURB THEM. They will almost certainly stop working if you even take them out of the guitar to look at them. I personally wouldn't disturb an unmodified Rickenbacker Hi Gain ... given what I have experienced with core wire breakage.   

Funkfingers

vale said:
well, that's a surprising look on a premium bass, i must say.

You should see the neck pickup cable channel on my 4001.

Rather than a single, steady, continuous pass of the router bit, following a guide template, it consists of individual, overlapping dips of the bit, one after the other, presumably by moving the piece on the bench for each cut.

Perhaps, it was the last job on a Friday afternoon?

ICBM

vale said:

well that's a surprising look on a premium bass, i must say.

obviously it works perfectly or you wouldn't recommend it. but that close combo of 'meandering' bass rout and double-glazing accessory... a surprising look.

You can't see it at all once the tailpiece is back on . The wandering rout is completely unimportant since nothing touches the body there, but it is a bit casual certainly!

The 'double glazing accessory' is actually a piece from the speaker grille edging strip of an old Peavey bass combo which I had replaced with a steel grille.

Funkfingers said:

You should see the neck pickup cable channel on my 4001.  

Rather than a single, steady, continuous pass of the router bit, following a guide template, it consists of individual, overlapping dips of the bit, one after the other, presumably by moving the piece on the bench for each cut.

Perhaps, it was the last job on a Friday afternoon?

That's how they always did them - with a Forstner drill bit - you should be able to see the centre dimple in each hole...

If there's a normal way of doing something, and another way, Rickenbacker will usually do the other one!

Bridgehouse

I'm gonna say it.. I'm going to....


Why do so many people put up with Ric's when there are some clear flaws which they just don't want to address?


I had one, and yes, it was nice.. and unique.. to an extent. I'm not convinced that they are unique enough to justify the hype any more. I used to.. but they just seem to treat their customers like an inconvenience

Funkfingers

ICBM said:
you should be able to see the centre dimple in each hole.

Indeed, yes.

The method makes more work and adds to the production costs. 

ICBM said:

RIC ... know they can sell all the instruments they make, at more or less whatever price they want

In most business models, that counts as success.

dogload

Wazmeister said:

Never heard of it genuinely, and I've owned Rickies for years...

There's a lot of shouting about it on The Facebook at the minute. It's like everybody's Ric is spontaneously self-destructing.
It's something I've been aware of through the Rick Resource website although the incidents there seem to be quite few and far-between.

OilCityPickups

Bridgehouse said:

I'm gonna say it.. I'm going to....


Why do so many people put up with Ric's when there are some clear flaws which they just don't want to address?


I had one, and yes, it was nice.. and unique.. to an extent. I'm not convinced that they are unique enough to justify the hype any more. I used to.. but they just seem to treat their customers like an inconvenience

Firstly because nothing else looks like a Rick. It's an iconic and quirky fashion statement, secondly, because of the sound ... again iconic and quirky.

Pointless factoid of the day: Adolph Rickenbacker was the cousin of the famous WW1 flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker, and used his cousin's fame to help aid his sales in the early days. They also produced the first commercially available solid electric guitar. 

pmg

kt66 said:

pmg said:

Had a 4003 jetglo for about 4 years -no issues.

My no.1 guitar is a Ric 330 and has been since 2008 -again no issues.  

I dont know know what this exploding phenomenon you speak of is

Wow, so prone to snapping then?  What gauge strings is that?

Bridgehouse

TheGuitarWeasel said:

Bridgehouse said:

I'm gonna say it.. I'm going to....


Why do so many people put up with Ric's when there are some clear flaws which they just don't want to address?


I had one, and yes, it was nice.. and unique.. to an extent. I'm not convinced that they are unique enough to justify the hype any more. I used to.. but they just seem to treat their customers like an inconvenience

Firstly because nothing else looks like a Rick. It's an iconic and quirky fashion statement, secondly, because of the sound ... again iconic and quirky.

Pointless factoid of the day: Adolph Rickenbacker was the cousin of the famous WW1 flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker, and used his cousin's fame to help aid his sales in the early days. 

Oh don't get me wrong, I get it - being in a unique position like that (having nothing look or feel like your product and there being no alternative) is no excuse to treat your customers like shit.

It's annoying that their tailpieces are made from a soft alloy that is prone to snapping - but to insist on having you ship yours back to them and then pay for a replacement rather than either sending out a replacement or selling spare parts is taking the act of protecting your IPR to the absolute limit.

If my only bass was a Ric and I was gigging regularly and this happened and left me bass-less for nearly a month (or more) I'd be furious. Moreover, I'd be selling the bloody thing and buying something I can get spares for so it can be used as an actual working instrument. 

ICBM

Bridgehouse said:

Why do so many people put up with Ric's when there are some clear flaws which they just don't want to address?

Because despite those flaws, I prefer them to almost any other guitars and basses. They just fit me perfectly, sound how I want, and look great. What more is there to want?

They are far from the only company which won't address their flaws. Gibson and their fragile headstocks and variable neck angles, Fender and their stupid Telecaster jack sockets and volume knob/switch conflict, Gretsch and their daft strap buttons and bridges that won't stay in place, PRS and their lack of character-producing QC faults and coolness...

Funkfingers said:

ICBM said:

RIC ... know they can sell all the instruments they make, at more or less whatever price they want

In most business models, that counts as success.

But their refusal to sell out to corporate shareholders, borrow millions of dollars to 'diversify' and then find themselves up shit creek and in hock to the banks is a definite failure.

Bridgehouse

pmg said:

kt66 said:

pmg said:

Had a 4003 jetglo for about 4 years -no issues.

My no.1 guitar is a Ric 330 and has been since 2008 -again no issues.  

I dont know know what this exploding phenomenon you speak of is

Wow, so prone to snapping then?  What gauge strings is that?

Normal by the looks of it - the type of gauge that won't destroy a reasonably well constructed non-cheese-made tailpiece

Bridgehouse

ICBM said:

Bridgehouse said:

Why do so many people put up with Ric's when there are some clear flaws which they just don't want to address?

Because despite those flaws, I prefer them to almost any other guitars and basses. They just fit me perfectly, sound how I want, and look great. What more is there to want?

They are far from the only company which won't address their flaws. Gibson and their fragile headstocks and variable neck angles, Fender and their stupid Telecaster jack sockets and volume knob/switch conflict, Gretsch and their daft strap buttons and bridges that won't stay in place, PRS and their lack of coolness...

You are of course welcome to your own choice - my question wasn't about specifics. If you want to stick with a bass that requires you to chop up an old Peavy amp and fashion a bracket to stop it from falling to pieces then that's entirely up to you. Also - and I'm having to say this again.. I get it - I understand the sound and looks - but their aggressive defence of their IPR, their use of inferior materials and arrogance to listen to anyone about anything is unique - Gibson and Fender and many other mainstream makers may have their faults but they do at least listen a bit.. Gibson are the worst of the rest and frankly why we all don't crack on an get over the "made in the good old USA" thing and buy from some of the really high quality UK builders I don't know.

If I had more than £2k to pop on a new bass I'd be off to AC Guitars like a shot and spec up exactly what I want. His customer service is impeccable, it's value for money, it's supporting the UK economy and given the flexibility I reckon you could easily have something made that fits the look sound and feel brief for most people. 

ACG would do a slab body, unusual-ish scale twin single coil bass with pickups from whomever you wanted (like Oil City )

Ric need to get over themselves. They were a big player. They aren't nowadays.

Bridgehouse

I don't want to be the "Ric basher" on here - I've had a few. I liked them. 

I just want to give some balance - so many manufacturers get whacked on here for the smallest things and sometimes it feels like Ric have the absolute worst attitude in the industry and yet go relatively unscathed. 

If Gibson tried to pull some of the things Ric get away with you would all be fuelling up your lighters ready to ignite the torches and getting your best files out to sharpen the pitchforks.

ICBM

Bridgehouse said:

If you want to stick with a bass that requires you to chop up an old Peavy amp and fashion a bracket to stop it from falling to pieces then that's entirely up to you.

I would much rather they fixed the problem properly by just making the tailpiece out of better metal. I have to say I was tempted to nick the Matsumoku one! (It was a friend's...)

Bridgehouse said:

Also - and I'm having to say this again.. I get it - I understand the sound and looks - but their aggressive defence of their IPR, their use of inferior materials and arrogance to listen to anyone about anything is unique - Gibson and Fender and many other mainstream makers may have their faults but they do at least listen a bit.

Gibson don't listen either. Not sure about Fender but I don't see any real evidence of it - just better management in the first place.

I understand the need for their aggressive IPR policy too. It doesn't come across well, but if you don't defend it, you can lose it.

Bridgehouse said:

Ric need to get over themselves. They were a big player. They aren't nowadays.

Yes they are. Go to any festival for day and it's a near certainty you will see at least one Rickenbacker, usually a 4003.

Bridgehouse said:

I don't want to be the "Ric basher" on here - I've had a few. I liked them. 

I just want to give some balance - so many manufacturers get whacked on here for the smallest things and sometimes it feels like Ric have the absolute worst attitude in the industry and yet go relatively unscathed.

I agree - and I do find the fanboy attitude a bit puzzling. I was booted off the Rick forum for daring to mention a couple of minor issues, not because I wanted to bash the company but because I want them to do better. Or for disagreeing with John Hall, I'm not sure which...

Bridgehouse

ICBM said:

Bridgehouse said:

Ric need to get over themselves. They were a big player. They aren't nowadays.

Yes they are. Go to any festival for day and it's a near certainty you will see at least one Rickenbacker, usually a 4003.

I have hand on heart never seen a 4001/3 at any festival or gig I've played in 30 years. I've done quite a few festivals over the last year or so and by far the most common basses have been bloody Warwick Thumbs (!)

Bridgehouse said:

I don't want to be the "Ric basher" on here - I've had a few. I liked them. 

I just want to give some balance - so many manufacturers get whacked on here for the smallest things and sometimes it feels like Ric have the absolute worst attitude in the industry and yet go relatively unscathed.

I agree - and I do find the fanboy attitude a bit puzzling. I was booted off the Rick forum for daring to mention a couple of minor issues, not because I wanted to bash the company but because I want them to do better. Or for disagreeing with John Hall, I'm not sure which...

I rest my case. 

If I went to the UK's most well known and prestigious bass builder - Shuker - and made some suggestions having purchased one of his basses he would be respectful, listen, comment and discuss. He would probably even suggest a solution or alternates. I have a mate with a Shuker - it had a minor issue with the wiring which was a design flaw and caused some abrasion and thus a dodgy ground connection. It was over 5 years old, but was repaired, improved, apologised for, and a free setup administered. Oh, and it was bought used so he isn't even the original owner...

Ric would no doubt of told him he was playing it wrong, or it's how it sounded in the 60's with a dodgy wiring connection, or he'd have just got booted off the forum or something equally banal.

pmg

Bridgehouse said:

pmg said:

kt66 said:

pmg said:

Had a 4003 jetglo for about 4 years -no issues.

My no.1 guitar is a Ric 330 and has been since 2008 -again no issues.  

I dont know know what this exploding phenomenon you speak of is

Wow, so prone to snapping then?  What gauge strings is that?

Normal by the looks of it - the type of gauge that won't destroy a reasonably well constructed non-cheese-made tailpiece

Well I suppose if it’s going to explode it’ll be mid song, probably mid solo at some gig.  Should be interesting 

Bridgehouse

pmg said:

Well I suppose if it’s going to explode it’ll be mid song, probably mid solo at some gig.  Should be interesting 

You will be obliged to go on a smashing-up spree and destroy everything on stage if it does..

NervousJohn

Pulling this back to the topic the R tailpiece on my 1995 330-12 broke about ten years ago. Generic 10s or Ric strings. I seem to remember a scratch in the tailpiece that opened up into a spilt. It would have broken entirely if I’d left it, but contacted Ric, who said send it with a cheque to Rosetti and a month later I had a replacement. 

I believe the metal was changed around 2000 to something more robust and I’ve had no issues since. It doesn’t seem that unreasonable to me that a company wouldn’t have a guarantee on an older instrument. Especially as the failure mode is the customer scratching the part. Which seems to have been rectified....

As an alternative there is the trapeze tailpiece but that’s pretty ugly to my eye. 

JezWynd

Always wondered what the bridge saddles cover was for. Now I know; it's so the trademark R doesn't launch into the audience and embed itself in someone's forehead.