Rickenbacker "MoonGlo" Finish(Color)

by (**pauleway**) » Mon Oct 14, 2019 5:17 pm

Has anyone on the forum heard or remember this color finish from Rickenbacker?
My brother worked at a music store in the 70's + 80's and said he remembers the color "MoonGlo" on a few Ric's that came thru the store.(Mid 70's era).
He said it was a reddish orange middle with a very dark, blackish outer finish.
Just curious if anyone heard of, or has a Ric in this color, and if you do, I'd love to see a photo of it.

by (**jps**) » Mon Oct 14, 2019 8:12 pm

pauleway wrote:Has anyone on the forum heard or remember this color finish from Rickenbacker?
My brother worked at a music store in the 70's + 80's and said he remembers the color "MoonGlo" on a few Ric's that came thru the store.(Mid 70's era).
He said it was a reddish orange middle with a very dark, blackish outer finish.
Just curious if anyone heard of, or has a Ric in this color, and if you do, I'd love to see a photo of it.

He was seeing FG and came up with his own name for it.

by (**collin**) » Mon Oct 14, 2019 8:21 pm

jps wrote:
pauleway wrote:Has anyone on the forum heard or remember this color finish from Rickenbacker?
My brother worked at a music store in the 70's + 80's and said he remembers the color "MoonGlo" on a few Ric's that came thru the store.(Mid 70's era).
He said it was a reddish orange middle with a very dark, blackish outer finish.
Just curious if anyone heard of, or has a Ric in this color, and if you do, I'd love to see a photo of it.

He was seeing FG and came up with his own name for it.

Nope!

Not sure exactly where the 'moonglo' name originated, but more than a few people have used this terminology to the point where I can only assume it was once printed in a catalog or other collateral back in the day.

It refers to an extremely dark black-to-red fireglo. Much more drastic (and darker) than Autumnglo, and less brown.

Here is a lovely converter specimen of Moonglo, from Ron O'Keefe's fine collection!

by (**8mileshigher**) » Mon Oct 14, 2019 9:09 pm

Collin, thanks for posting that MoonGlo picture --- that is a unique color, indeed !

by (**jps**) » Mon Oct 14, 2019 9:27 pm

Nice! What did Rickenbacker call that finish?

by (**collin**) » Tue Oct 15, 2019 12:10 am

jps wrote:Nice! What did Rickenbacker call that finish?

It’s commonly mistaken for Autumnglo (which is more brown), but not sure what Rickenbacker may have officially called this. Like I said, it could have even been called “moonglo” officially at one point. Maybe Ron could shine some light on this? He has a few in this color.

by (**Guzzitd63**) » Tue Oct 15, 2019 6:31 am

collin wrote:It’s commonly mistaken for Autumnglo (which is more brown), but not sure what Rickenbacker may have officially called this. Like I said, it could have even been called “moonglo” officially at one point. Maybe Ron could shine some light on this? He has a few in this color.

Nice. That's gorgeous! I like it even better than the "Dark Amber Fireglo" from a boutique one-off they sold a while ago:

by (**admin**) » Tue Oct 15, 2019 9:28 am

Yes Moonglo, Collin.

by (**libratune**) » Thu Oct 17, 2019 1:42 am

I was doing an online article for Premier Guitar magazine, and one of my guitars (I think it was the first one posted below) was in the mix of about 25 guitars, in a spot entitled "Rickenbackers That Rocked the World." (Kind of pretentious, but whatever.)
The editor I was working with spotted this guitar and asked, "what is the name of that finish color?" I said technically it was a dark Fireglo that resembles what RIC called Autumnglo. She said, to me it looks like Moonglo. So the name was born -- or so I believe. I don't think it was ever an official "RIC" finish color, but I could be wrong.

I gradually spotted a few other guitars of this color over the years and have 4 of what I believe are the 5 Moonglo guitars issued by Rickenbacker, all bearing a 1968 serial number, but issued in different months. The "total of 5 in 1968" info was told to me by the guy from whom I acquired the 375. Could just be a myth, but the finishes of these guitars are unique and very similar in coloring. In person, the dark edge finish is like "black cherry," but not totally black like a Redburst (last photo, for comparison) and fades to a kind of watermelon color in the middle. So, if this is to be believed, there is one more "Moonglo" from 1968 out there. As they were all "Deluxe" models, I'm kind of assuming it is a 360/5 roundtop. Could also be a 360-12, round or bound, though.

: 365 O.S. Moonglo

: 366-12 Moonglo

: 370 O.S. Moonglo

: 375 Moonglo

: 1997 Redburst 1966

by (**admin**) » Thu Oct 17, 2019 7:51 am

Ron: I am over the Moonglo on this post. Thanks for these details and examples of this finish.

by (**pauleway**) » Thu Oct 17, 2019 10:58 pm

"Quote by libratune" The editor I was working with spotted this guitar and asked, "what is the name of that finish color?" I said technically it was a dark Fireglo that resembles what RIC called Autumnglo. She said, to me it looks like Moonglo. So the name was born -- or so I believe. I don't think it was ever an official "RIC" finish color, but I could be wrong.

365 O.S. Moonglo.jpg

366-12 Moonglo.jpg

370 O.S. Moonglo.jpg

375 Moonglo.jpg

1997 Redburst.jpg

[/quote]

As I said in my post, my brother worked at a popular music store in Buffalo NY in the late 60's - early 70's and said that a few Rics came in and were labeled "MoonGlo" finish. I was curious to see if anyone remembered, or maybe still owned one of these guitars. He did not come up with the name, he said that was what they were labeled.
Anyway, that 370-OS pictured is exactly the color he was talking about. Thank you libratune for posting those great photos!!

by (**cjj**) » Fri Oct 18, 2019 3:39 pm

The colour looks fairly similar to my Amber Fireglo 4003FL. Maybe a bit more red in the centre...

by (**drumbob**) » Fri Apr 17, 2020 12:06 am

I owned a vintage Rickenbacker with what appeared to be that very Moonglo finish many years ago. It was a 335, I think, with the dark cherry sunburst finish as I see in these photos. It had a vibrato. I remember thinking it was darker than the standard FireGlo finishes I'd seen. I sold that guitar foolishly to a kid in Bergen County for $475, I think. It was in primo condition. I bought it in a little guitar shop in Fair Lawn, NJ for $325.

It's possible I owned a Moonglo Rick, but I can't be sure. It would be a nice finish for Rickenbacker to reissue. But don't hold your breath!

by (**tnc2**) » Sun Aug 23, 2020 12:18 pm

I had a 360-12 about 20 years ago that I thought was a refin because it was almost black on the edges that went into a red, it had a large belt buckle rash on the back all the way through the finish to the wood and someone spray painted it black, I removed the rattle can paint to reveal the original finish. Someone on here probably has it. I had never seen a black cherry on a Rickenbacker before.