Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I'm sure this has been talked about but.......
One of the most distinctive things about a Rick is the TRC. Who was the RIC genius who came up with that design? And what about gold pickguards. Is there a technical spec for that color?.... or is that a big secret?

brammy wrote:Who was the RIC genius who came up with that design?

John's mother.

I thought Mrs. Hall came up with the logo, but not the TRC shape. As for the gold color, the original gold is a slightly different color than the reissue gold, so something tells me its not a secret formula. Testors model paint gold, believe it or not, was very close to the original shade, but the last can I bought wasn't close.

I'm not certain there is a such thing as "original gold" colour. As with most things Rickenbacker, I think it varied depending on who was supplying, and what was in stock at the time.

Agreed. All of my 50s gold guards have a slight green tone though (not oxidation) whereas the reissue plastic looks almost tan next to them.

Interesting to hear you say that, as the gold Pickguardian pick guards I put on my 350v63
have a very slight green tinge to them compared to the RIC gold TRC.

Tony has several shades of gold available, IIRC.

The newer shade used on the 325c58s is very greenish:
The green is, indeed, due to oxidization of copper flecks in the paint.

Well, THAT certainly is pretty greenish! ..... if there is an issue of oxidation turning the color green, why do they use that particular paint? There must be some other paint/ink/stain that retains the gold color over time.

I've been debating whether or not to do something about MY slightly greenish pickguards, but if I received a 325c58 with pickguards looking like that I'd have to send it back. After all.... gold is gold and green is green. (another DEEP THOUGHT from Brammy! )

I say not due to oxidation because its completely uniform, and, if you've ever had the pleasure of sweating on a 50s goldtop/es-295, they don't turn "greenish"....they turn green where exposed. Mostly, my assumption was based on the complete uniformity of the color. But it was an assumption...and you know what they say about when you ASSuMe

That bit about goldtop Gibsons is true, but I remember reading somewhere that the Rickenbacker paint oxidizes sometime before or during the application, so it's green when new.

Or something like that...don't quote me!

The other examples of gold PGs here look like the older, yellower, "pre-C" formula.

My completely layman's two cents is this.... it cant be that hard to get a gold looking application on a piece of plastic that stays looking gold.
We are, after all, professionals.