Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

After reading many, many threads concerning damage to a guitar from drastic climate changes, I am interested to know if anyone has actually experienced this. So, here's the question. Has anyone experienced finish problems, bows in the neck, etc., that you believe can be attributed to a drastic change in temperature or humidity? Also, if you HAVE opened a case without letting it warm up properly with no adverse effects, please comment.

I once was driving through Colorado/Utah with my 1980 4001 in its case in a Yakima Rocket Box on the roof rack of my car. It was brutally cold out and the bass was up there for days. This was 11 years ago, before I knew about drastic temp changes and what they can do to a guitar's finish. I don't remember how long I waited to open the case once I got the bass inside, but the bass was riddled with a million little check marks running perpendicular to the strings after that.

Another story on the same bass...One time around 25 years ago, I was blowing the dust off the bass with a can of pressurized air that you use for blowing dust off cameras and computer parts and such...Apparently I wasn't holding the can perfectly level and whatever is in the can came out in a sort of liquid ice-type form. It flash froze the finish over an area of about a couple inches, and to my teenage horror, right there before my eyes (and ears, 'cuz I actually heard the finish cracking) a couple inch wide spider web of finish cracks shot across the bass.

But all is well that ends well. I still have the bass. It's still awesome. Perfect neck, hasn't needed a truss adjustment since 2 weeks after I bought it, great Rick tone, etc. But now the ugly, checked, white-turned-yellow finish has been removed and she's been restored to better than ever condition. And these days I'm a little smarter/more careful about its finish:

http://rickresource.com/register/viewit ... ine%3Dtrue

I also recently picked up a 75th Anny DCM 4003 that has finish checking on the body. These check marks are parallel to the stings and not as bad as my old 4001. They didn't happen under my watch, so I can't comment on how they came to be.

Wow Jeff, the finish on your "new" bass is superb!! What a great story with a happy ending. I'll chalk that up to 1 in the damaged column. I wonder though, do you think that the damage was done well before you ever opened the case? Considering the way your bass looks now, it was probably a blessing in disguise that the finish was damaged in the first place. Had it not been damaged, you probably would have never had it refinished.

dog wrote:Wow Jeff, the finish on your "new" bass is superb!! What a great story with a happy ending. I'll chalk that up to 1 in the damaged column. I wonder though, do you think that the damage was done well before you ever opened the case? Considering the way your bass looks now, it was probably a blessing in disguise that the finish was damaged in the first place. Had it not been damaged, you probably would have never had it refinished.

Thanks! It is the work of the master, Paul W.

The finish had already turned to an ugly, uneven Mucasglo with the spider cracks I mentioned earlier from the Dust-Off can. I probably would have had it restored regardless as the bass is very special to me and I couldn't bear to see it looking so hideous!

Not sure when exactly the damage was done, but I'm pretty sure I opened the case when the bass was really cold. I wouldn't doubt it if I left the case open to let the condensation on it evaporate too! These mistakes won't be repeated, and no harm no foul on Whitey as well as she's more beautiful now than ever!

So let's see...If you ask your average vintage guitar dealer, that bass is now worth half of what it was before because it has been re-finished. And at the very most, I'd say it would be worth around $1400 before the re-fin. So that makes it now worth $700? Yeah guys! Sure thing! See you in the funny papers!

Jeff, I'll give you $700 for it. Hell, I'll give you $1400 for it!!

johnallg wrote:Jeff, I'll give you $700 for it. Hell, I'll give you $1400 for it!!

I'll see your $1400, and raise you $100

I lobbed in my 660TP from Tokyo, where it was summer and humidity was around 99.999999999% (the air is like molasses). We had drought conditions here in Sydney at the time, with humidity around 30% or so. When the drought broke and humidity climbed by 40% or so overnight, small finish bubbles (~ 3-5mm across) formed on the back of the peghead at where two of the tuners are mounted and at the front of the peghead at the top end of the treble-side rout for the additional tuners. The bubbles burst and the finish flaked off. The chips have been sealed with clear nail varnish and sanded smooth, as matching the burst in the affected areas would have been extremely tough.

No big issue for me, as the guitar remains wonderfully playable, which is why I bought it, but a good lesson as to how CV can react to sudden humidity swings.

BTW Paul W and John Hall were both extremely helpful in explaining the phenomenon to me when I posted a question on the RIC corporate forum.

I appreciate your input. I always believed that humidity was an enemy, but your experience makes it very clear. BTW, after stepping off a jet on the tarmac at Nagoya airport on my way to the Philippines in August, I will never forget the whoosh of hot humid air that invaded the plane as soon as the door was opened. Luckily, my basses were safely at home.