No Ric's in 2011

[AzWhoFan]

Jerry of Jerrysleftyguitars mentioned on another forum last week that he recently spoke with Rickenbacker. Ric has decided that they will not be producing any lefty instruments in 2011.

Bummer.
But really, did we expect anything less?

[andrew]

They must've had a change of heart because I read previously that they were planning to make lefty basses this year.

[Agent00Soul]

I'm not really too angry at them per se. Even before the recession hit hard in 2008, John Hall seemed to be painting himself into a corner businesswise IMO. By that, I mean that due to the way he runs production techniques/distribution etc, there were going to be less and less places for RIC in a modern consolidated music market dominated by incredibly slim profit margins. In such an environment, it's not surprising that they have to cut the fat in all kinds of ways to stay afloat but maintain the standards that Hall wants the instruments to have. Traditionally RIC was one of the friendlier companies towards lefties and I see these current production cut backs as more as a part of a life-or-death struggle for the company's survival rather than a slap in the face.

[andrew]

Ric isn't feeling the pinch of the economy. They aren't producing lefties because they're so backed up with orders for their righty instruments.

[Agent00Soul]

I'm pretty sure that I read RIC's modern financial belt-tightening began when the price of the petroleum-based oils they use to buff the instruments went through the roof in the mid-2000s. That might have even been from the bulletin board on the RIC site itself.

[AzWhoFan]

i don't know anything about the petroleum product issue, but I do know Ric was suffering from outdated production scheduling and production techniques, as well as space constraints in their building.
They have addressed the scheduling and tooling issues about as best as they can, having invested in more modern and efficient machinery.
They are pretty much stuck on the floor space issue unless they go out and buy (the family has no interest in leasing) another building. Complicating that issue is Ric would only consider buying an adjacent or nearly adjacent locale. However all the land surrounding the Ric factory (for several blocks I'm told) is owned by one real-estate corporation which naturally refuses to sell.

[Frenchy-Lefty]

This belt-tightening trend, while understandable, isn't good for us. We also noticed that Ibanez had reduced its production of lefties.