Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Paul & Peter...you are making me feel very inferior. You don't have to be a chemist to post here....but it helps!

Tony: We all deal with the chemistry of life every day. The chemistry of playing Rickenbackers is surely the most fascinating of them all!

Amen. We're just being tediously Sherlockian.

Peter, sulphur would be on the top of my list! Wonder why I didn't think of that. But in your like to Axel's guitar, he makes it pretty clear that the guitar has been on the wall or on a floor stand most of its life.

Wonder if there is a coal-fired power plant across the street?

The white didn't likely yellow- the clear coat did. The nameplate protected the surface of the finish.

I'm with Peter on the foam theory, except that it's probably not from the case but additional packing-grade foam placed in the case by the owner. That stuff emits all kinds of foul stuff, including sulphur, as it degrades.

That being said, I have seen guitars owned by smokers that have this "patina".

Hi! I have a lacquer-related question. What type of lacquer was used on Rics in the mid 1970s (especially on model 480)? Was it cellulose (is this the word) or some more contemporary type of lacquer? I'm trying to calculate the price of re-finishing a 1975 480. I've heard that cellulose lacquer is usually more expensive to peel of and do again because of crackling.

Nitrocellulose is easier than modern finishes (like polyurethane) to remove from a guitar. A finish is not peeled off, but either chemicaly or abrasively removed.

The only time that checking comes into it is when dirt has worked its way into the cracks; then the dirt must be dealt with, especially id the guitar has a transparent finish.

Hi all! I have a question about the pickups used in 480s. Simply, what pickups are they? Are they hi-gains? Did 480s come with different pickups?

Hi-gains. You might have been able to specify Hi-gain or Toaster back then. Maybe not.