Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

A beautiful girl.... and a beautiful double-neck, too!

Paul, it's interesting that you worked for Mattel and Hot Wheels.... My two boys, ages 8 and 6, are crazy about everything Hot Wheels.... In fact, they have so many of them I can no longer keep track of them all!

Of course this has nothing at all to do with Rickenbacker finishes.... But I suppose a Rickenbacker Hot Wheels car would be kind of a cool novelty!

A Rickenbacker hot wheels car....get to work on it, Paul!

I spoke with John about finishes one day (actually, John gave my wife and I a tour of the factory about a year and a half ago, and this discussion happened during the tour), and he mentioned that he's been approached by other major manufacturers to enquire as to how he gets such a great finish on his guitars -- what are the secret ingredients? Paint? Clearcoat?

The "secret" is that each guitar is extensively hand buffed and polished. I believe John told me that on a standard 360 the buffing and polishing process can take up to an hour and a half per guitar.

FWIW, I just posted links to the old VoxTalks threads where there are photos from the tour John gave us. The message is in the "Rickenbacker General" section.