Finished nut on 4001c64

[ibal]

Does anyone know whether Ric basses ever leave the factory with clear-coat covering the nut? I own a 2007 4003 and a 2009 4001c64s, neither of which have any sort of finish on the nut. I'm considering buying a 2009 4001c64 which has clear-coat on the nut that's starting to chip off. I'm not concerned about the cosmetics of it -- I'd just as well remove what's left of the clear-coat. But I can't help but wonder whether the existence of the clear-coat indicates that someone might have done some strange work on the nut after the bass left the factory, including perhaps replacing it. The seller is the second owner of the bass. She's doesn't know about any work ever being done on the nut. I'm pretty sure I'm being paranoid about this, but I thought I'd ask here just in case anyone had any ideas. Thanks.

[Barlow]

I would say RIC installs the nuts after the clear coat is applied.
How's the workmanship of the nut? Slots etc. cut correctly? Any issues with playability? If not, I wouldn't worry about it.
You can always replace or have it replaced easily.

[ibal]

Slots actually look slightly chewed up, at least on the E side. Or maybe that's just the clear coat coming off. Not sure. I actually have a replacement nut at home. I wouldn't dare replace the nut myself though. So, I need to think about the cost of having someone do the work (if it really does need to be replaced) when contemplating how much to offer the seller. .

My feeling is that this is a very minor issue. I just wanted to get feedback from folks here. The seller has been excellent in providing answers to all of my annoying questions so far. Hopefully she won't mind me linking to her photo here.

http://m1216.photobucket.com/albumview/ ... a.jpg.html

[johnallg]

It does look like the nut was clear-coated. It also looks like the nut was filed fir BEAD tuning. I wouldn't worry about it and just plan on replacing it.

http://boutique.rickenbacker.com/produc ... d=563&qv=1&

Oh, and welcome to the RRF!

[Colonel Sanders]

Does anyone know whether Ric basses ever leave the factory with clear-coat covering the nut? I own a 2007 4003 and a 2009 4001c64s, neither of which have any sort of finish on the nut. I'm considering buying a 2009 4001c64 which has clear-coat on the nut that's starting to chip off. I'm not concerned about the cosmetics of it -- I'd just as well remove what's left of the clear-coat. But I can't help but wonder whether the existence of the clear-coat indicates that someone might have done some strange work on the nut after the bass left the factory, including perhaps replacing it. The seller is the second owner of the bass. She's doesn't know about any work ever being done on the nut. I'm pretty sure I'm being paranoid about this, but I thought I'd ask here just in case anyone had any ideas. Thanks.

Sometime along the way, RIC went from varnishing after the nut has been installed and switched to the other way around.

As with anything RIC, you will see the occasional oddities or outliers.

[ibal]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.