To refinish or not to refinish...

ric4003 · Post by **ric4003** » Thu Jan 10, 2002 10:23 pm

...that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind...oh, never mind. Seriously, I'm thinking about refinishing a 4003--specifically, stripping off the original yellow (read, white(?)) & leaving it natural maple--but I'm wondering about the "cons" of this. There are several potential issues: whether it will ruin the monetary value of the bass; what sort of finish to put on (clear? can maple be tung oiled?); whether it's worth the trouble & money; and the binding on the fretboard is so darned pretty, I hate to lose it. The "pros" are that it will be more attractive & hopefully more resonant. While I'm at it, I might also like to get it refretted & the fretboard redressed, & swap the pole pickups for vintage pickups (toaster + horseshoe). (I'll just build my own little Mapleglo V63, but with stereo!

Any advice, warnings, how-to tips? What sort of money is this likely to run me, & what sort of person should I find to do the refinish etc.? Thanks!

ricnvolved · Post by **ricnvolved** » Fri Jan 11, 2002 8:21 pm

A newcomer to the forum speaking here.

I've been following the various threads and posts about Rics in white eventually turning a cream color. Or in some cases, even yellow. Unfortunately, this seems to be a very annoying problem with Rics. Herewith, my own humble personal opinion.....

If I wanted a white Ric, it would be WHITE, even if that meant stripping the original white-turned cream-turned yellow, and re-finishing it in a white that would STAY white. (As close to the factory original shade as possible, of course.)

Obviously, some Ric owners have no problem with the change in color from the original. And that's fine. Speaking strictly for myself, there's no question that I would do exactly what I mentioned in the previous paragraph. If I buy a white Ric, I want it to stay white, and re-sale value be damned.

syncop8r · Post by **syncop8r** » Sun Jan 20, 2002 2:23 pm

I stripped the walnut finish off my walnut 4003s (no binding) and finished it with Birchwood Casey "Tru-Oil" gunstock oil and... it looks fantastic! The wood underneath is beautiful - I could see this on the back where belt buckles etc had worn the finish off. Originality is always an issue, but the finish was cracked and chipped all over, and the poor thing wasn't looking happy.
It is also easier to play the fretboard.
I'll try to get some before and after pics organised.

ric4003 · Post by **ric4003** » Mon Jan 21, 2002 8:29 am

Mark:
Hey, I'd like to see that refinished walnut Ric!! Sounds lovely. I have a similar motivation for (possibly) refinishing: (1) I love the look of natural wood, & (2) it's looking a little tired--some chips, sweat stains, cracks along certain seams (see "cracks" thread), etc. At the same time, it's doing OK, has a "tried & true" look, & the factory did SUCH a good job on the details.
Did you find that the oil finish changed the tone at all, or made the wood more "resonant"? Think oil would work on maple?

syncop8r · Post by **syncop8r** » Wed Jan 30, 2002 1:13 pm

It may have improved the tone; I'm not sure because when I reassembled it I took the opportunity to replace the six year old strings on it, which would account for a lot of the improvement!
The worst part was sanding between the frets - if you're going to refret you won't have this problem - do it then.
Sorry it'll take a while to post some pics. I have to
a) finish my new pickguard
b) finish the film in my camera
c) wait until Tech starts so I can use the scanner

I didn't like the stark white pickguards on the chocolatey brown body - in dim light all you would see was the pickguards etc
To see what it looked like, look up a thread called 4003s??? or something.

syncop8r · Post by **syncop8r** » Mon Mar 04, 2002 12:31 pm

Maybe this time...

syncop8r · Post by **syncop8r** » Mon Mar 04, 2002 12:37 pm

I can email you better versions of those pics if you wish...

ric4003 · Post by **ric4003** » Mon Mar 04, 2002 3:21 pm

You're right--that does look good! And the maple took the oil finish very nicely.

I think I'd decided, since last posting, to leave mine as is, since it's sort of a "character" thing. But it's nice to know that this really IS a good option. Thanks for the update!

aladams · Post by **aladams** » Tue Mar 05, 2002 7:40 pm

Hi, I'm not a bass player, but I have refinished my Rickenbacker 330/12. It was that UGLY dark midnight blue and it was chipped up real bad. I stripped the finish off, and viola!!! the wood underneath was beautiful on the front, and had some dark spots on the back. I used a Danish Oil finish, and it's actually MUCH BETTER than the polyurethane type of finish Ric puts over the colored finishes. All I can say is that I'm real pleased with the results. If you're a person whose not afraid to take a chance, GO FOR IT!!! AL A.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Nov 23, 2002 8:47 pm

refinish or not .... I have a '68 Ric with a beautiful fireglo finish that looks great until you turn it over ... the back has belt buckle damage ... those damn oversized belt buckles from the '70s .... I would not refinish that bass ...

my '74 4001 as far as I can tell before I owned it it started out jetglo, then it had a cheap red paint job, then it was stripped to mapleglo ... it looks good and plays good ... they also tried to make it into a jazz bass with a different bridge and vol, vol, tone controls ... well with a few bucks and spare parts from RIC I restored the hardware and left it mapleglo ... I like seeing the walnut strip on the '70s basses ... Then my '89 4003s5 was white with balck trim ... the rare tuxedo finish ... well it is cream ... somebody repainted it cream over the white finish ... looks pretty good and it fooled me for a while ...

If you refinish a Ric have it done professionally

rickcrazy · Post by **rickcrazy** » Sun Nov 24, 2002 12:47 am

I agree. Back in November '94 I had my 1976 4001 professionally refinished in white and it has remained white to this day. The original finish was Burgundyglo. When I bought the bass in 1990 (from a punk rock band) it had too many scratches and dents. I contemplated having it stripped to mapleglo, but the wood pattern really wasn't particularly pleasant to look at, so I decided on white.