A Fight To The Finish

[admin]

Since the very early days of the Rickenbacker Register, the proportion of finishes on our favourite instruments has remained essentially unchanged with one-third - fireglo, one quarter - jetglo and one-fifth mapleglo.

I suspect it will take quite a few more registrations before this distribution of finishes changes to any significant degree. While COY finishes continue to chip away at this distribution, it sure seems that the classic finishes are here to stay.

The origin of these finishes is an interesting study. Each one of them just seems right, on a Rickenbacker.

[admin]

Here are the latest data from the Register with regard to Rickenbacker finishes.

Finish No. Percentage
Fireglo 1283 31.19%
Jetglo 1029 25.02%
Mapleglo 778 18.92%
White 131 3.19%

These results are not surprizing when it comes to Fireglo, Jetglo and Mapleglo, howver, I am surprised that White is currently running fourth at just over 3 percent of instruments in the Register. It remains to be seen if this trend is reflected in the overall population of Rickenbackers. I am not sure how it would be an artifact of our sampling but it may be in someway.

Historically we have RIc produce instruments with a white finish from about 1970 to 1999 or roughly 30 years. There are some instruments from the late 1950s that I believe were white and the register currently shows examples of this finish from 1964 to 1999.

I hope that RIC goes back to this finish, although its tendency to turn very yellow is one of its least desirable features. Perhaps Paul will comment whether this significant yellowing is still something that would take place with new products.

I am hoping that those with white finishes would post a few examples of the yellowing of these instruments.

[ajish4]

Wow,

I thought for SURE Mapleglo would have ranked higher than third.

WHITE ?!?! I NEVER would have though that result!

I remember reading that JH would "NEVER" produce a white guitar again.

Great stuff Peter!

[sloop_john_b]

Of the 131 registered White guitars, 62 are 4001's, 25 are 4003's, and 6 are 4080's - a total of 93 out of 131 being basses! White 6-strings are pretty rarely seen.

[admin]

To take your analysis a bit further, John, six string Rickenbacker guitars represent close to 20 percent of all of the instruments in white finish in the Register. Of the 26 six strings in white finish, roughly 44 percent were manufactured in the 1980s and 56 percent in the 1990s.

Tony: For John Hall to have made this statement about Rickenbackers in white finish, there must be considerable headache involved with this finish.

Paul W: Why is the white finish so susceptible to yellowing?

[winston]

I used to own a 1976 white 4001. It was not my cup of tea. Another forum member now owns it and is happy to have it. I now own his JG 4003 and I am very happy with that bass, in fact it's my go to bass. I am not a fan of white Rickenbackers so this result is very surprsing to me.

[admin]

Brian: It was also surprising to me as I felt that Burgundy might be in fourth place, but it is close behind in 5th.

It remains to be seen whether the trend from the Register is born out in the real world. It may be that old guys with white basses have more time and resources than others and this may allow them to Register their instruments more often.

Do real men play white Rickenbacker basses?

[phlemmy]

yes we do!

[sloop_john_b]

I would have thought that Burgundyglo would have been higher too, but look at the production dates - BG and White started out roughly around the same time (late 60's), and White continued on through 1999 or so - BG was discontinued around the F.C.-J.H. transition, '83-'84 or so. There are only a handful or so of COY Burgundy Ricks registered as well.

[doctorwho]

... There are only a handful or so of COY Burgundy Ricks registered as well.

There are also nine 425/450v63 Burgundy reissues (from the limited run in 1999) in the register.

Here is my "textbook example" of an older vs. a newer white finish:

1975 4001S WHT and 1998 4003 WHT WT

The finish on the 4001S is the same under the pickguard, too. I like them both!

[jingle_jangle]

The yellowing is something that is a result of a lack of ultraviolet inhibitors in the conversion varnish. I suspect that this is because the CV that RIC uses is a furniture formulation, and nobody cares if a kitchen cabinet yellows slightly over a decade or so. Also, as used in cabinetry, conversion varnish is generally applied in a couple of very thin coats, so there is at most a couple of thousandths of thickness. Yellowing is also a factor of thickness of the coating, so it would be less noticeable on a warm brown cabinet finish in a thin application, that over a pure white finish, in a thicker application.

In any event, I recall JH commenting that this would be less of a problem with current formulations.

Next topic: would RIC ever offer white as a finish again?

I also recall Ben Hall commenting in the negative on this possibility.

[admin]

Thanks, Paul. With your comments and John Hall's in mind, would you have any hesitation in refinishing a Rickenbacker in white, at least from the yellowing aspect?

[jingle_jangle]

Not at this or any time. I use an automotive catalyzing varnish. Same as CV, but formulated for exterior use. It has lots of UV inhibitors to minimize fading of colors and yellowing of whites.

[admin]

Paul: I appreciate your response. It would seem, at least on some occasions, that being inhibited is a strength in a fight to the finish.

[alanz]

Having a white 4001 turn SnotGlo is part of the charm of a 30+ year old instrument.