Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hello! Long time lurker, first time poster here.

While doing some set-up work on a friend's Rick with Blueboy finish yesterday, I noticed some discolouration of the paintwork on the upper bout - on the top edge, abouve the bridge pickup housing and just above the bridge in particular. The colour has gone from the usual light powder blue to a darker, grey-beige stain. It's not pronounced, and in normal indoor lighting looks like a shadow. I've got some pictures, but they're not handy on this pc right now, I can upload if anyone's interested though. Once you've noticed it though, it's there and a definite distraction and unwelcome mark.

When I returned the bass to my friend, we had a think about how it might have happened. Turns out that the marks/stains have appeared exactly where she touches the bass with her right arm and hand: forearm on the upper edge, thumb on the pickup housing, little finger tucked in above the bridge. What's odd though is that there's no similar marks on the neck from her left hand.

Has anyone else observed this kind of thing before? It's a shame to have such a mark on a bass like this. Can anyone advise on how it might have got there? The finish is uniform and unbroken. Also, any tips on how we might remove or otherwise treat it? We're based in London, England if there's any professionals or techs that can be recommended.

Many thanks for your help.

Tony

(ps mine is '75 Jetglo 4001, btw)

Welcome to the forum Tony!

There are certain people with skin chemistry that affect various finishes, but it's odd that it would only happen with one hand/arm. Also, there are numerous cleaning chemicals such as hand sanitizers, lotions, etc. that can effect the conversion varnish on instruments. I suppose it's possible your friend uses things like this on her arms, but it gets washed off of her hands before playing so it could have a different effect where her arm touches. These chemicals are discussed in the Rickenbacker Manual available here:

http://www.rickenbacker.com/pdfs/manual.pdf

Mostly, I've heard of such chemicals softening the finish, not really changing its color, but I suppose it could happen.

Tony, detailed closeup photos are a must for long-distance diagnosis. It does sound like chlorine contamination, though this has only been known to cause bleeding of some colors, not out-and-out discoloration.

First time i've ever heard of this on a Blue Boy.

Thanks for the responses - much appreciated. Here's one of the pictures I took, hope it comes out ok. The camera on my mobile phone isn't great. If you think more better photos will help, I'll get back with a decent camera for more detailed shots.



You can just about see the three areas I refer to: top edge, above the pickup, above the bridge (a bit faint, this one). To the human eye, the marks are more obvious than in the pictures - see how the camera has slightly whitened the Blueboy colour.

Also, as an aside - being a bit of a newbie, I'm not sure if there's a more appropriate section of the forum to post about this kind of thing. If a mod would like to move the thread, then that's cool by me.

Tony

Erik "Blue Flame Rick" has a Blue Boy bass that this has happened to as well.

I last saw Erik's Blue Boy 4003 again in October. The finish seems less blotchy than it was previously and turning more evenly into a mint color, which I thought looked kind of cool.

This looks to me like some sort of transfer of oils (skin oils or hand lotion) to the clearcoat.

It may not have penetrated far into the varnish. Try getting some original T-Cut and rubbing it in, using a soft cotton cloth. If this doesn't take it out, it may have penetrated too far. Don't rub too much (more than a minute or two); the varnish in these areas is only about .007"-.010" thick.

It looks like there may be a crack originating from one of the screws on the bridge pickup enclosure. I've never seen a finish crack like this before - I wonder if it could be related to the finish issue?

My Blueboy 4003 started turning green as soon as I got it. It was very blotchy at first, but as Joey has mentioned, it's evened out now and is a cool minty green color. There is some deeper yellowing at the heel and where my arm rests on the body. I hope to find another Blueboy that stays true blue, but I wouldn't trade my current one for anything.

I would suspect hand lotion.

johnallg wrote:I would suspect hand lotion.

What are you insinuating John?

You don't want to go there.

jps wrote:You don't want to go there.

That would be correct!

blueflamerick wrote:My Blueboy 4003 started turning green as soon as I got it. It was very blotchy at first, but as Joey has mentioned, it's evened out now and is a cool minty green color. There is some deeper yellowing at the heel and where my arm rests on the body. I hope to find another Blueboy that stays true blue, but I wouldn't trade my current one for anything.

I've seen pics of "minty" BB finish Rics before (maybe they were of yours?) and IMO they make for a very nice color. I am much more partial to green myself, of course, but the "cool mint" thing is actually a really nice aged finish look, kind've like yellowed white finishes.

86kubicki wrote:It looks like there may be a crack originating from one of the screws on the bridge pickup enclosure. I've never seen a finish crack like this before - I wonder if it could be related to the finish issue?

You're right - there is a small crack there. Strangely though, the crack in the finish doesn't extend under the pickup cover to the screw hole as you'd expect.

This crack isn't particularly close to the blotches - I'd be surprised if there was any relation between the crack and the blotching, I'm happy to be argued at otherwise though.