Yearly Color/finishes - Love or hate?

admin · Post by **admin** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 1:18 am

John: I really enjoy the Burgundyglo as well. I am especially taken by the way it shows the grain. It has a sort of three-dimensional appearance.

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 4:45 am

Green rules. SeaGreen, that's one beautiful bass.
I lost a bid on ebay for a sea green 660/12 last year, but just bought Turquoise. I like the Greenglo's I've seen in a few pics best, and if I ever buy a beater, I'd refin in Greenglo. Are those Greenglo's custom finished, or was that a factory option at one point? They say people who buy green cars are the most well-adjusted, same probably goes for guitars! (I've got three greens, and look how well adjusted I am Ia m Iam).

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 5:29 am

Hey Jerry, check these out:

"Greensleeves"
1967 Model 330 (top) and 1968 Model 360 (bottom)
in Factory Shaded Green Finish
Photo courtesy of Jeff Benske
Jeff Benske's Recollections: Quest for Shaded Green

banta · Post by **banta** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 5:46 am

I know a guy in Chicago that has a greenburst 4001 like that 330. It's the only one I've ever even heard about.

I think the new 4004C is the perfect breeding ground on which Ric should try a host of translucent finishes. I've got my heart set on a trans black 4004cii5.

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 5:47 am

(Part 1)
-Article courtesy of Peter's Registration Page-

Rickenbacker Recollections:
Factory Shaded Green Finish
---Jeff Benske---

I've been collecting Rickenbackers for some time now and would have to say they are my favorite American made guitars.
About twelve years ago, I was studying music in college, and my music teacher posted a Rick for sale on the bulletin board outside the practice room. It was before class had ended, so I had to wait to ask him about it. As soon as class let out I inquired about it, and he brought the case out and opened it. My eyes popped out of my head! This was the 1967 Model 330. He told me that I was the first person he thought of when he posted it. I'd never seen a green Rick ever! I asked him if I could pay him at lunch, and he said as long as I wanted it I could pay him whenever. I had the money buy lunch time. He was selling it for a friend who was a jazz guitarist that just wanted to get rid of some extra stuff. He had bought it new in 1971 from a small music store in Milwaukee. He was told that the guitar had never been sold because people thought it was ugly. I guess everyone wanted Fireglow guitars, Beatle/Byrd colors. Makes sense. Regardless, I knew I had found something extremely rare.
I immediately started doing research, and because of the absence of the 1967 shipping records, I could only assume that this guitar is what the Rickenbacker book refers to as "shaded green." That summer I took it to the Chicago Guitar Show, in Villa Park Illinois, and literally was attacked by several dealers and collectors. Dave Rogers of Dave's Guitars, Nate Westgor of Willie's American Guitars, Larry Hendrickson of Ax-in-Hand, and George Gruhn, all examined the guitar thoroughly and unanimously agreed its originality and rareness. They also bombarded me with offers I couldn't refuse, but did anyway. For years after that many of the dealers remembered me as "The Green Rick Guy." Kind of cool I guess.
It wasn't until a few years later that I saw the 360 owned by Albert Molinaro (Guitars R Us) in the Bacon / Day book. I had a chance to visit his store in 1995 and see the guitar first hand. He said it was a 'one of a kind' and NOT FOR SALE! I had to break the bad news to him and tell him that I owned a 1967 330 in the same color. It could have been my imagination, but he looked a little deflated. His is still a one of a kind because all three are different models and different years. Anyway, I went about life for the next five years thinking that there were only two "Green Glow" Rickenbackers in the world, that is, until Ebay. The 1968 360 showed up on Ebay in mid September 2000. It was simply listed as "1967 Rickenbacker 365-C." I couldn't figure out what the "C" meant until the picture downloaded. I couldn't believe it, ANOTHER ONE! I then remembered that my 330 has the same "C" after the model number in the control cavity. Keep in mind that these two guitars are about 6 to 7 months apart. I E-mailed the seller to asked him a few questions about it before I would do any bidding. It still had a few days to go, so I wasn't in a hurry. He down loaded about six more pictures for me, and it was a lot easier to see that the colors of the two guitars are identical. He really didn't know too much about it except that he got it in trade from the original owner who played it quite a bit. I believe he said that he was a professional musician for many years and that he was selling it to retire. His friend did a deal with him with the intention of selling it right away. So technically I'm the second owner of both guitars.

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 5:47 am

(Part 2)

Anyway, I knew right away that this guitar was the sister to my 330. I had to have it. I did, out of curiosity, check out the Rickenbacker chat room and had to laugh at some of the amateur evaluations about this 360. I guess the consensus was that it was a poorly refinished bogus guitar. I think one guy referred to as "Maaco Green." Granted, the downloaded picture of the guitar was pretty bad, but I had the other example right in front of me. I wasn't about to argue with these experts. I didn't want to convince them that it was real. I guess that because none of them had seen one before, they concluded that it couldn't be real. I've never seen a T-Rex either, but I know they existed. Also keep in mind that Albert Molinaro's Rick, is the only reference point.
Nobody, except for a few dealers, knew of my 330. I guess all I had to do was win the auction. I did. So that's about it. I do have other tidbits of information, but this could go on for days. I do know of another Rickenbacker collector that gave me information about that color from a guy who worked for Rickenbacker in the sixties. He said that he knew of two "Green Glow" Rickenbackers that left the factory, but no more than five. Are there more? Who knows? We do know of three now.

blueflamerick · Post by **blueflamerick** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 6:43 am

I love the yearly colors. I only wish I had the $ to buy one each year. I'd even give up my first born for a sea foam green bass. As for future colors, I'd like to see Platinum or a see-thru jetglo.

blueflamerick · Post by **blueflamerick** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 9:50 am

Come to think of it, how about a lucite 4003?

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 9:59 am

4003 Sea Green, I have your basse's sister, mine is identical in every way except for the treble cover which came off about 2 seconds after I got it home, mine too is like brand new.
And what happened to Sea Mist (or foam) Green? I know when I bought mine it was listed at Ric as Sea Mist or actually maybe you are right Erik, Sea Foam Green. Now they list the color as simply Sea Green.

wints · Post by **wints** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 10:36 am

The colour issue is always a great thread. I personally love the rarer finishes, and looking through the old 60,s custom F****r finishes some do look real cool...as well as being the most desirable it seems. The Ric purple burst with binding is a must...without doubt one of the best colour combo,s I,ve seen anywhere. I ,d love that 4005 in purple that JH said they made. A blue boy..definitely. Old school burgandyglo with binding..again real nice. A sea green bass is always on the wish list...and the greenglo...Hey, I love the colour green!! All great looking pieces in my opinion...talking of which if Mr Yan will do the tech work I,ll post a pic of a green bass I know of...

4003seagreen · Post by **4003seagreen** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 10:44 am

Bobampeg, as far as I know the official Rickenbacker color designation has always been "Sea Green", I bought mine in 2000 when that color was the special color of the year. Fender has a "Surf Green" and other companies use "Sea Foam Green", but the RIC version of that color is and always was "Sea Green".

Mine was built in Feb 2000, was that about the time yours was built? At one time I inquired about the number of Sea Green 4003's that were built, but they told me that information wasn't available to the public.

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 10:57 am

Andrew,
By "tech work", did you mean picture posting?
Well, my pleasure.
Email me the jpeg image(s) and I'll post here.

(Hey by the way, I'm quite "intimidated" by the heading "Mr", haha. Just call me Paul like my friends do.)

paul_yan · Post by **paul_yan** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 11:16 am

Besides a Greenglo 4001/4003, I'd also love to have one in this Purpleburst finish...And how about body and headstock binding to boot?!
-----------------------------------------------
(Photos courtesy of Mike Parks.)

---350 Purpleburst Mark Hudson---

Oh my! Well not exactly my first words when I opened the case of this custom 350 originally made for Mark Hudson of the Hudson Bros. It's fraternal twin 370 purpleburst appeared on VH-1 Storyteller with Ringo Starr, Mark, and Joe Walsh. Based on the color of his mother's scarf, this beauty sports f hole, checkered binding on body and headstock, 3 vintage pickups, serial C6 8634 March 1993. Not currently for sale.
--------------------------------------------

banta · Post by **banta** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 11:34 am

That thing is cool, Paul.

mike_smith · Post by **mike_smith** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 12:21 pm

4003Sea Green: I have a 360-12 in Sea Green with a June 2002 serial number, talk about late delivery? and as I started this one, any thoughts on the the Blue Boy finish we have here in the UK and available to Japan as well, just wonder if Rickenbacker will make life easy for themselves next year and make it the 2004 special finish.