Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

John Hall wrote: "..The new formula also has just the slightest tint of yellow which warms up the colors, especially the Fireglo. It also smells quite nice!..."

Ahh, a new Ric-O-Smell for the senses. LOL

I'm looking forward to seeing the newer Fireglo myself. I would assume that when the next batch of lefty 4001C64s are made the new Fireglo appplication will be used. Cool.

Acetone is a component in most lacquer thinners, but it's only one component in what is usually a pretty complex formula, which is tailored by the suppliers to each application. Acetone is the most rapidly-evaporating component in these thinners, and its rate of evaporation (tied directly to the "flash-off" and dry time of lacquers), is usually tempered by the addition of a retarder, the most common of which is butyl cellusolve (BC).

As I understand it, Rickenbacker's new varnish is still a catalyzing type of material material, so control of flash-off time is quite important to proper cure.

John, I would talk to your supplier of this new varnish, and inquire as to whether modifying the formula with a small percentage of BC will be beneficial in warmer temperatures. If you wish to test this, BC is available in small quantities from suppliers of silk screen inks (instead of paint stores, for some reason).

As I recall, John mentioned that it smells vaguely of coconut. So recent purchasers can perform their own "sniff test".

My guess is that it's overpowered by the case smell, though, so that "The Smell Remains The Same".

Apologies to LZ.

Paul, we've used a number of different additives with some success including BC and BA but don't yet have enough experience to know exactly how to tallor it to the day's weather. Fortunately it's cooling down already and will soon be a non-issue. That will allow the secondary supplier some time to fine tune their formula and keep the primary suppplier on their toes.

It's funny in that the previous formula was sensitive to spraying in cold weather. It's easier to control heat in a spray booth than cooling, unfortunately.

I have the same old problem here, John--my booth, though large, spacious, well-maintained, etc., is not heated (not possible to get a permit here for that...) so that the clearcoat that I use, which is urethane-based, like your old formula, occasionally must be sprayed "fans-off" to keep the temperature up until it flashes. I also use a heatlamp rig, which is handy but requires constant monitoring.

The new stuff really doesn't do well sans- additives and some of the guitars we sprayed in July attest to that. Butyl Cellusolve is a must but not enough in some instances...

One of our painters even sprayed a piece of wood without catalyst and it almost completely dried! This stuff flashes off as soon as it makes contact.

The conversion varnish we used until July 1st we could apply fairly liberally with exactly the results we expect, but this new CV is another animal altogether.

Thank God autumn is here

By the way, it doesn't have that funny smell anymore.

I think it smelled more like chocolate but everybody that worked on it thinks it smelled like something else!

Now, if anything, it has less of an odor than our previous CV.

Sounds like challenging teething problems...

I've never been fond of the smell of the components of your new clear coat material, and the acetone sweetens it even more. Then you mix in some BC and it gets into headache territory for me.

On the other hand, the stuff that I use (PPG 2042) is much higher VOC, and soooo toxic that they recommend moon suits if you use it all day (I don't spray it more than 20 minutes a week, tops...) it smells like the worst chemical spill you can imagine.

I have complete confidence that by May, when OC gets the hots again, your suppliers and painters will have the new stuff dialed in...

You got it right, Paul, it's all been a big headache! If our factory were in China, we could, of course, spray any coating we wanted.

And someday, the entire planet will pay the price of the lack of environmental controls in the Third World, and the late adoption of same in our own country and Europe.

When I lived in Brasil, people would dump everything--gasoline, motor oil, paint thinner, antifreeze, right into the street, and some areas reeked of chemicals. My VW mechanic would climb a ladder and pour it onto the wood beams in his shop to keep the termites down and the roof up.

China is similar, although the government has a bigger presence there. Still, few standards.

So, for now, this is another temporary costadvantage that Chinese- and Indonesian-made guitars enjoy. But at what price?

Japan and Korea are both tighter.