Re-Painting my 350v63

[Ram4]

Hi guys. I am torn about this. I have a Blue Boy 350v63 that I bought unseen that had minty green in spots with yellow/greenish spots all over it. I was able to easily get the yellowish parts off but some of mint green seems to be tough to fix without a lot of effort, if at all. And even if I were successful turning it all blue again, there is no guarantee that this greening process will ever end. Therefore, I am considering having the guitar completely re-painted, but I have never done that to a guitar, let alone a rare color such as this and I don't want to ruin the guitar, let alone diminish it's value. I do have a 660/12 Blue Boy as well that has none of the green issues, so I know what it should look like. One good thing is that this is the 350v63 which would seem to be a pretty easy guitar to re-paint (no checkerboard binding or regular binding at all).

So if I re-painting/re-finishing is possible:
- Would someone be able to match the real Blue Boy color?
- Would the finish feel like my 660, in other words would I or anyone know it was re-done?
- How long does this process take?
- How much would I expect to pay?

Thanks

[jps]

- Would the finish feel like my 660, in other words would I or anyone know it was re-done?

If you were to eventually resell the guitar, would you let prospective buyers know it was refinished?

[Ram4]

- Would the finish feel like my 660, in other words would I or anyone know it was re-done?

If you were to eventually resell the guitar, would you let prospective buyers know it was refinished?

Absolutely, but that could be in 30-40 years from now and I have no intention of ever selling it (or my 660/12). I'm just annoyed that the mint green thing is happening with the conversion varnish (at least that's what I've read on here) and people are not even sure what color it is when I show them.

[jps]

Larry Davis. Do a search for him online.

[sloop_john_b]

http://davisguitarworks.com/site/index.php

[jps]

Thanks, for the link, John; I was on my way out and didn't have time then to look it up.

[jdogric12]

How bad is it? Can you post pics? If you plan to sell it, I'd probably live with it and see if the "change" continues and becomes more uniform to the whole guitar over time. I'd think a refin would diminsh value. One day we might even have a good laugh about how people are paying premiums for authentic yellowing finishes! If you play it out a lot and it's an important part of your look on stage, I'd go Larry Davis. You'll wait some months and pay several hundred bucks, but be very happy with the results he gets you.

[jps]

I prefer the look of a completely yellowed Blue Boy, its mint green is a very col color. So, I say leave it alone and see how it progresses, especially, as you have no plans to sell the guitar for 30-40 years.

Why have two guitars with the same, exact boring BB color?

[Ram4]

Thanks guys. I have seen Larry Davis' name come up here time and time again.

As far as how bad it is - if you put it next to my 660, you can clearly see it's green (especially the headstock which is entirely green and all around the pickups). The two horns and back of neck are mostly blue. A few things - it's not a guitar I play out with (but that could change overnight if I got into a live playing thing with the right people). I don't see myself selling it until I can't play anymore or need the money (which hopefully will be in 30-40 years). The bottom line is it's frustrating to put it side by side with another Blue Boy and it's green(ish). I've already reached out to Larry Davis on this. Thank you again.

[Ram4]

I prefer the look of a completely yellowed Blue Boy, its mint green is a very col color. So, I say leave it alone and see how it progresses, especially, as you have no plans to sell the guitar for 30-40 years.

Why have two guitars with the same, exact boring BB color?

That IS an interesting perspective with the mint green being it's own color. The only issue with that is I have is the color is uneven. The headstock is completely mint green. I just prefer the blue.

BORING BB color? Haha. You know, I've owned a decent number of guitars. My better half doesn't want any of them in the living room. Of course they are in the hall, both bedrooms, closets, etc. But I'll tell you are story on how the Blue Boys came into our lives.

It was 2006. I had always been a Beatles and Byrds fan and I loved the 12 string Rickenbacker sound. I had never bought one because by the time I became a guitar player I was into lead guitarists like Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen, Dickey Betts, Duane Allman, Alex Lifeson, etc so the 60's pop thing was not as interesting to me. Fast forward almost 20 years and I am listening to those 60's bands I always loved. So I decided it was time to pull the trigger on a Ric 12 string. I went to play a 360/12 Mapleglo at a local store. The sound was there, but I was not liking the narrow neck. Two fingers to make an E chord? What? I don't think so! Even though I was prepared to buy this 12 string on the spot, I couldn't do it. I asked if there was a Ric 12 string that had a wider neck. They told me there was one called the 660/12 and good luck finding one. How hard could it be? Well, I started calling all the stores in my area, then my state, then my region. I couldn't believe that almost no one had a 660/12 in stock. "We can order you one, it will take about 18 months." The reason I didn't bother shopping online for one at the time was I felt I had to play it after the 360/12 problem with the neck width. Anyway, I pretty much gave up and started looking on eBay. One day in December 2006 I finally found a 660/12, yay! Wait... it's not Maplego, Fireglo or Jetglo. It's some kind of baby blue? I don't want that weird color. I looked at the price $1,599.00. Had a Buy It Now option. I was thinking about it. If I bought it and played it and didn't like it, I could probably just sell it since this guitar is so hard to find, right? But that BB color... I don't know... I looked down at the comments. "Hey, I'm in your area, if I buy it can I come pick it up?" The seller said, "Sure!" For some reason, that was all the incentive I needed to pull the trigger. I literally yelled out "Oh no you don't!" as I hit the Buy It Now button. Ok, now I have bought it. It better be good. I hope that I like that light blue... When it arrived, I opened it in my living room with my girlfriend standing by my side. When I opened the case it was love at first sight for both of us. Not only did I think it looked incredible, but she immediately said "That guitar is going to be displayed in our living room as art!" Of all the guitars I've owned, this one was THE ONE. It is so gorgeous in person. I brought to an open mic, and people were RAVING about it. I had people coming by to see it that were not even guitar players that had to comment on it. And that was before I played it and they heard that sound through a compressor. Are you kidding me? I got the wide neck, checkerboard binding (LOVE THAT), a one of a kind color, 12 saddle bridge, a vintage case, AND toasters! Never mind it's a ***** to string and tune and keeping it setup properly. But anyway, Blue Boy entered our lives with a bang.

Years later my girlfriend made a comment saying I should try to get another Blue Boy if the opportunity came up. Well, it did and I got the 350v63. But unlike the first time, when I opened the case my heart sank as I saw the green and yellow - no blue. I still was thrilled to get a guitar that was somewhat of a childhood dream for me. I was a Beatles fan since I was 4 or 5 and I listened to everything I could get my hands on. I loved John's Ric and wanted one. When I finally played a 325 I laughed at how ridiculously small it was and I didn't like it. My hands are too big. But I knew the 350 was out there. I played one eventually and wasn't blown away by it (I think Ric 6 strings are lousy compared to say Fender or Gibson as I am a lead player), but I LOVED the look of it and for rhythm guitar (and occasional lead) it would be fine. So when I saw a BB, I couldn't resist the double temptation of another BB and the Beatles thing. Now you have the whole story and then some.

[jdogric12]

Two fingers to make an E chord?

That's how McGuinn does it!

[Ram4]

Two fingers to make an E chord?

That's how McGuinn does it!

I know, I have one of his videos from ages ago. No thanks!

[Ric5150]

My 2 cents. If the uneven coloring bothers you that much, it will probably always bother you. If you had it refinished and would love it the way you seem to love your 660/12, you might as well take the plunge.

I'm not sure what to think of the Color of the Year guitars (I'm a blueburst junkie) but generally speaking, I'm expecting the "collectability" of guitars to decline significantly in the future. I don't think "original condition" will matter nearly as much in the future, either. There are tons of guitars now which are dead stock or with only minor reversible mods because so many people are worried about doing something that will devalue them. There are people who are genuinely afraid they'll devalue the collector value of a Mexican Strat. The reason dead stock vintage guitars carry a premium is because nobody worried about it back then - now everyone's worried.

The CotY guitars may hold up better - as long as RIC never re-runs them or makes them a new standard color, but if one of my bluebursts was turning blotchy green, I would probably have it refinished. The future value of my bluebursts (and a few others) is probably only going to matter to those who inherit my stuff. Sounds like your BB may be in the same boat.

If you think you might be happy with a uniform mint green shade, you might try intentionally exposing it evenly to more direct sunlight and/or UV to speed the yellowing process. If you're ready to pull the trigger on a refin, you wouldn't have a lot to lose - provided you don't get the guitar too hot in the process (or start it on fire like ants under a magnifying glass ). (I'm counting on the more knowledgeable people here to step in and stop you if it turns out that's a bad idea. )

If you're really concerned about hurting the value, another option would be to sell the BB, buy a used 350v63 in a standard color, and refinish that one.

All that being said, I remember a thread on here (or possibly the RIC forum) where a guy was able to polish-away the yellowing on his Blue Boy. It sounds like you've already tried that, but it might be worth your while to find that thread before doing anything drastic.

When it comes to Rickenbackers, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if 'ambering' does carry some premium in the future, but I'd expect that to apply more to Fireglo and MapleGlo. The yellowing of those finishes just looks really cool. I'm kinda sad that my 1993Plus and 360c63SPC (Fireglos) will likely always be the same color, but I also like the way they look now, so I'm not too sad.

NOTE: This post is not meant to condone burning ants (or anything else) under a magnifying glass and "polish away the yellowing on his Blue Boy" is not a euphemism for anything - it is meant literally.

[Ram4]

I guess it simply comes down to money. It would cost a decent amount to refinish it properly, but I don't have the funds right now. In a year or so, the financial situation is going to change dramatically in my household so I suppose I could consider it at that time. The yellowing is not as hard to remove (I used Meguiars Swirl remover), but the green feels to be impossible to remove. At this point, I'll leave it alone. When I have the money to consider the refinish, I will do so. What a pain. Not only are these Ric's tough to set up right (the 12 string was setup and a few months later is no good again and has to be re-done), they don't play that great (for lead) and on top of that I have a finish issue on a high end guitar. I never had these problems with any other guitars.

[jps]

...they don't play that great (for lead)...

Right with ya', there!