LeftyBassist.com

4001? reverse headstock? Not for me.

Threads like this give me the impression that if we were all actually in the same room discussing gear, it might look something like this:

Bravo Matt!

Sad to say that this turned out to be a horrible experience for me... I'll update once it's all over with.

Jack Nicholson hanging out with Lee Sklar?

Damn, that sucks. Let us know when you're ready.

yeah, pls do so. I have bought tons of gear from Dave's over the years and have never had a bad experience.

Anyone has got his new Ric here?
Some are available here in France, 2500€ (as usual unfortunately).

Aiight, here's what happened... now that I just received my refund, I'm OK with sharing my story.

I received the bass the Wednesday before Turkey-Day, let it sit for a couple hours, opened it up and it looked beautiful upon immediate inspection... the finish was immaculate. The strings were slack out of the case, so I tuned it up to pitch and let it set for a couple more hours before I had a chance to spend some time with it at home. Once I sat with it, I immediately noticed some shitty construction and setup details that were missed.

Now... please forgive my anal retentiveness here, but this is a $2000 American made bass built by a company who has been around for a long-ass time, and I'm judging it as such.

1.) The G saddle was backwards and the intonation was HORRIBLY off. In fact, the intonation overall was pretty bad. No big deal, that was an easy fix... but it never should have left the factory like that.
2.) The side dots were all effed up... the side dot for the 5th fret was about a centimeter off-center. Annoying, but I could live with it.
3.) The nut was cut WAY high... higher than any bass I've ever played, including the cheapest pieces of Indonesian garbage that's out there. Again, annoying, but not the end of the world.
4.) The bridge pickup was glued onto its base crooked... another annoying minor detail that I could live with.

I spent a couple of frustrating hours trying to set it up how I like it and I just couldn't do it... No matter what i did i was getting lots of fret buzz, especially on the D and G strings, and some on the A as well... action was lower on the E string, but it was fine. I thought that was odd.

The neck seemed fairly straight on the bass (just a hair of relief) but in order to get rid of most of the fret buzz, I had to crank the action WAY high... If I gave the neck just a touch of relief, I could lower it a little, but not much. I couldn't figure out what was going on, so I checked relief on the treble side of the neck... it had NO relief AT ALL. Not a good sign.

I then sighted the neck and this brings me to #5 on my list... the neck was completely fugged.

I checked the truss rods and the treble side truss rod was cranked... WAY more than the bass side. And when I sighted down the neck, you can see the touch of relief on the bass side, but the treble side looks like it has a hump in it... ? Yikes.

I immediately sent Dave's a polite email to let them know what was going on, and I told them I wanted some more time with it to see if I could dial it in. I wanted to keep the bass... I wanted the deal to work out... I was trying to remain positive. I received a brisk reply from Laun at Dave's... "Thanks for letting me know. You can keep me posted on what you decide." No help, no suggestions, no apologies, no nothing.

I evened out the two truss rods a bit better and let it sit overnight... absolutely no change the next day. I then attempted to add a little more tension to the bass side and ease off some more from the treble side, but the changes had no affect when I checked on it again later that night. I completely removed ALL tension from the treble side... the hump stayed.

I was eventually able to bring the bass down to a local guy who has been doing repair work for over 30 years for a second opinion... and without even knowing what I had found, he was able to spot the same things I did immediately. He also saw what he thought was a slope in the fingerboard. After showing me what to look for, I could see it too. You could literally see the fingerboard slope downward from the treble side to the bass side. It was horrible.

Needless to say, he recommended I send it back.

So... that day, I sent Laun at Dave's another friendly email giving him an update. I told them I would need to send the bass back, but that I would be interested in an exchange for another Ric if they could guarantee me that the neck, frets, and fingerboard were 100% before they sent it out... otherwise, I would also be OK with a refund.

SEVEN MINUTES LATER I received a reply from Laun that said, "It looks like our remaining lefty 4003 doesn't set up perfectly either, so we’ll be happy to refund the $1899 once we get the bass back."



Now, I dunno about you guys, but that sure seems like a pretty shitty brush-off to me... I've never heard of anyone who was able to read an email, go grab a bass out of the case, do a complete check-up AND reply to that email in 7 minutes... so, I naturally went from "this is a shitty situation but I'm going to make the best of it" to "what in the hell is their problem and why am I being treated this way."

I called up and Laun asked him why I got the brush off... he said that he wasn't doing that, but Rics are "finicky" and I'm not going to get the same kind of setup results with a Ric that I can get on a Fender. I explained that it's not a set-up issue, that the neck is fugged... all I was asking was for a bass that didn't have neck issues... about a minute later I realized that I was wasting my time... so I thanked him for his time and hung up.

By the way, yes... the bass that Laun wouldn't let me have because it has issues is the same bass that's still for sale on their site.

MEANWHILE...

Our very own Matt R. also received a Ric 4003 bass that was less than stellar... crooked nameplate, bad nut, and, SURPRISE! A bad neck. *sigh*

Matt decided to get his issues handled through Ric because they were so cool on the phone, but he and I started chatting back and forth about my situation and he went to Dave's with his issues as well to see what kind of response he would get. He was told by Laun that his guys would check over the other Ric they had and they'd do an exchange, no problem. A completely different answer than I received for whatever reason... which, in my opinion, is complete bullshit.

If Matt wants to chime in with more details on his situation, he can do that. He gave me permission to share some of his story here. He's read all of the emails I sent and can verify everything I've said... I was NEVER a dick and I was always very polite with Dave's... I wanted to try to keep the deal if possible.

So... the takeaways from all of this is that I will NEVER buy another Ric without getting a chance to check it out first or at least buy it from someone who I know is a competent player and can set up their own instruments... and I will NOT be giving Dave's any more of my business.

Anyway... I'm pretty bummed.

Good post. I can absolutely back up everything Addison has said about his situation. The thing that really turns me off about this situation is the inconsistency with which we were dealt. When he asks about the remaining Ric, he's told it had issues. When I asked about it (I also considered a straight up exchange), I was told that "the neck seems o.k. with just a hint of relief".
By the way, Addison and I both had our email exchanges with the same guy.
So I emailed back and just said that I was uncomfortable with making an exchange with them and would take it up with Rickenbacker and use the warranty. In fairness to Dave's, they did say they would accept a return well after their advertised 48 hour "look over" period.
I talked to the service department at Ric and the guy I talked to (several times) was super nice and really apologetic about the situation, so it eased my mind a bit. Still, it boggles my mind that these basses left the factory, much less made it into customers' hands. As upset as I am, I feel pretty confident that Ric will make it right and I'll end up with a kick ass bass in the end. This is my 5th Rickenbacker, so I know how good these instruments are traditionally. So I'm not ready to give up on them yet. What did cross my mind is that maybe they are having a slump that Fender was kinda known for in the 70s... I hope I'm wrong and that this is one of those "shit happens" scenarios. I dunno. I know that sounds like a naive thing to say.

However, I'll also echo Addison and say I'll never do business with Dave's. they treated me personally a little better, but their inconsistency was a big red flag to me. I was also told I was getting the bass pictured on their site. Not the case.
At any rate, I'll certainly keep you guys abreast of the warranty situation. It'll just be a while before I know what's up though. Just sent my warranty card in, so I have to wait til I'm in the system at Ric before we can get the ball rolling.

Thanks for the backup broheim.


Yeah, I forgot to mention that as well.

The fireglo 4003 that I ordered is the same bass that is up on their site right now... that listing has MY serial #1240535 attached to it, but the bass I received was NOT the one in the picture.

So, I would be REALLY wary of ordering a fireglo 4003 from these guys, because you could very well receive the bass I sent back... and trust me, you DO NOT want that one.

Ok, I was thinking about ordering a fireglo from Dave's, I'll go and try a black one in the lefty guitar shop in Paris instead.
Sad story guys

Here is what I got for answer, do you guys agree with that? I've got no experience with Ric basses...

In my experience with Rickenbacker, the fit & finish has been superb in every case. Dave's Guitars is a weird bunch, man. They have given me, Addison and you inconsistent answers concerning the same bass.

Very strange how Dave's is treating you all. i have never had an issue with them in like 15 years. have bought stuff from Dave hisself when he answers the phone. That being said, I think there have been changes in their staff recently, which could lead to these issues. i'd write to Dave and let him know what's going on. he's always been a streaight up guy and gives a $hit about the product he sells.

@Matt, i hope Ric can fix you up in a timely manner. Their CS dept can get backed up. but you will get back a bass in perfect shape.

i'm also finding it weird that Ric let less than perfect basses out the door ...

just my 2 cents ...

I have seen many rick's and owned 1 that was built in 89' in the past. In my opinion, they all have some sort of issue. Some worse, some less. As much as I would love to own another because the tone is to die for... I wont buy one ESPECIALLY a newer one. I have a right 1992 in my possession right now. It's good, but it ain't perfect either. My past Rick had a hump in the neck too. Rick's are notoriously known for having to raise the action. If your looking for ultra low action, these are not the bass for it. Not saying "all" cannot be setup ultra low but most people I have talked to that own them say raise the setup a little. My 2 cents.

Damn that is sad to hear. I have never owned a Ric or even played one I was hoping to check out one of the newer ones because the older ones are so expensive. Glad to hear Addison got his money back even though he had to deal with a ton of BS. I hope it works out for Matt....Could be a bad batch or something maybe. I love Warwick but I can't lie I have had some turds for sure. I don't have any issues being a left handed player other than we have to buy basses many times without getting our hands on them.

My experience is otherwise. I've owned 3 Rickenbacker 4003's and of the three my newest one is the nicest and the one I kept (it's from a couple years ago). Action came from factory low and I've never had a reason to change it (and this is coming from someone typically into higher action).

What about this one? What do you think?
It's the same price than a new Ric in France...

I feel pretty good about the warranty situation. They now have my warranty info logged in. Hell, they still have my 2004 Fireglo Ric in their system.. Looks like I may get my bass shipped off today. I'll keep you all posted of course. One good thing is that I've been dealing with the same guy the whole time, so I feel like there's accountability here. Doubt this would be the case with a bigger corporation.

AzWhoFan, Addison and I both dealt with the same guy at Dave's, so maybe he's the problem and not the store itself. When I bought the bass over the phone, I talked to someone else (can't remember his name), and he was really nice and accomodating. Still, this has been enough to scare me off from doing business with them.

I purchased the Jetglo from Dave's and my son has had no issues with it no fret buzz, neck looks straight with slight relief no bumps. To be on the safe side I'm going to bring it to Paul Unkert (Unk) to get his opinion. If there are major issues I will send to Ric for warranty work. He is 9 and in love with the bass so he will say its fine. If I will post his findings when I get to chance to have him look at it.

http://www.unkguitars.com/
http://theoriginalguitarguy.com/