Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Mark, that is almost identical to my March 1971 bass, except that if anything yours is a good bit lighter (unless it is the flash photography ). Gene's is way lighter, and it is from only Dec 73, so they must have really started lightening them right after Jon Casselman's bass, which he said was either an April or May 1973 model and which seemed from his photos to be as dark as my 71 was.

She is beautiful, Lyle.

Elys, I dug deep into the finish with Windex and 2000 sandpaper, with PerfectIt III rubbing compound, with Scratch-X...and she became lighter in tone. It used to look like this:



Now, did it originally look as dark as this photo, or was it the lighter shade it is now? I do not know.

Thanks Crazy Rick, but the final transformation will be next week after the other parts come, and one more workover on the finish. Then Cinderella will once again become a Nasty Princess.

Probably was that dark to begin with then (like on the lower horn face), if you really did take off enough of the clear and then underlying colored layer to get closer to the sealer. The finish would be lighter there, I suppose, where there was less thickness of color coat.

Elys, I've been thinking about this. I think the bass appeared lighter originally than when I got it, and I think it darkened due to dirt, grime, smoke and time on the clear varnish. There were only a couple spots where I actually hit Burgundy in sanding, very small spots. And when that happened, bang, I'm also hitting wood---so the paint itself is a very thin layer. So I would conclude that Rickenbacker probably was already "lightening" their shade of Burgundyglo in December 1972.

Yours is the best empirical evidence that I have seen, so I am sure that you are spot-on correct. I have never seen anyone document in this way their layer-by-layer archaeology in taking off finish to see how the color density and hue changes with each succeeding layer. It is not unusual that the actual color layer would be thin, though, according to what I have seen and heard. The (usually) clear sealer itself is the deepest layer, and then once the painter got ready to add color, they would spray just enough of a thin layer to get the hue they wanted, then all the rest would be clear topcoat and would be fairly thick for protection and durability, compared to the thin color layer sandwiched in-between.

Although I do not know exactly how RIC was doing it in 1972, I do know that when other companies in the 50s and early 60s used nitrocellulose paint, they would apply 6 or so coats of sealer, then a single layer of color, then 8 or more coats of clear topcoat. Nowadays, manufacturers do not have the time to wait on drying and curing all those coats, so they just use 2-part CV and it dries and cures very quickly and you can do all the layers in a day or two, instead of a week or more.

Is that a green guard on that beauty,,or did I just take too much cold medicine last night?

Dale, I have a question?

You said this:

"Never heard of ..rescuepearl.com.. but here's the way I do the replica C.P. Inlays: pull frets and neck binding, cut tri-angel slots to size, paint slots, crush pearl with mortar and pestle, pour small amount of clear resin in slots, sprinkle C.P. in slots, cover with more clear resin, let cure, sand to fingerboard, recrown fingerboard, lastly, refret and rebind neck....It is impossible to find the exact material we used back then, the supply has diminished. It was made into sheets, then cut to fit each slot, hand fitted and glued into place."

I don't quite understand when you say "paint slots". What were you painting them and why do you need to paint them if the epoxy/crushed pearl mix is going in them?

BurgundyGlo (or "Burgundy" as it was in 2001, or "berr-GUN-dee," as they say in New Orleans) is my favorite Rickenbacker color ever ever ever.

kennyhowes wrote:BurgundyGlo (or "Burgundy" as it was in 2001, or "berr-GUN-dee," as they say in New Orleans) is my favorite Rickenbacker color ever ever ever.

Oh yeah, it's way, way up there for me. I think #2 only to Blue Boy. A 70's 360WB in BG is one of my dream Ricks.

kennyhowes wrote:BurgundyGlo (or "Burgundy" as it was in 2001, or "berr-GUN-dee," as they say in New Orleans) is my favorite Rickenbacker color ever ever ever.

+1, Kenny, +1...

nyrkickazz1 wrote:A 70's 360WB in BG is one of my dream Ricks.

NOW you're talkin'.

I have a 425V63 in Burgandyglo. I had considered refinishing it to an AFG to match Harrison's 425 when he first purchased his, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. It was just to beautiful to touch.