Refin or not

[marc61]

I have a chance to pick up this 2/1988 4003 for a pretty good price. Just concerned if it's a refin..I can't upload the photos because they are bmp files...if I can send to anyone for help...lmk..thanks!

[incubus2432]

Send 'em to [email protected] and I'll see what I can do for ya'.

[marc61]

e-mail with attachments sent...Thanks Brian!

[incubus2432]

Here ya' go! I emailed them back to ya' as jpegs as well. I didn't include the rear shot here since it was so small.

[marc61]

Thanks Brian. The seller said he was unsure if it is a refin. I need to decide today if I want it or he throws it up on Ebay(the evil threat...ha ha ha)

[atomic_punk]

That's really hard to tell on MG...looks like the finish is slightly dulled, but that's about all I can see. It's a newer one, so the likelihood of it being a refin are lower.

[phlemmy]

When I compare it to my 85 MG/BT 4003, the headstock looks a little odd. Mine has noticeable wings as you can see in the register photos.

[marc61]

That's the thing Sean..it looks like it's been sanded...especially on the top rear side if the front..

[phlemmy]

I'd lean towards that as well.

[jazz1234]

It might be worth seeing if you can get a look inside the control cavity or bridge cavity. If it's a refin then it's likely traces of the original color will be evident inside the cavities. That was the case with my '76 4001 MG ... when I posted a query on the Ric forum about the white residue inside the caivities, JH pointed out it was in fact the original white color (and this year hopefully it's going off for a re-fin back to the original finish). Good luck.

[rickfan60]

The headstock does look a bit odd. You could always have a set of walnut wings put on her.

[rickcrazy]

The upper body horn certainly looks a bit odd too. And where are the tuner bushings?

[ilan]

And where are the tuner bushings?

Exactly... that's why the headstock looks wrong.

[bob_atherton]

The strap buttons look in strange places...

[jingle_jangle]

It looks like a clear nitro refin to me. Even in photos, the finish looks way too thin. Original rics, even with a slightly dulled finish, are much smoother and deeper looking; the grain has a certain "sparkle" that's hard to defing quantitavely, but we know it when we see it.