Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

What does the satin finish on the neck feel like? They're a scarce commodity around where I live so I'm looking for someone to chime in and give me an idea as to what the neck's like. Does the satin finish have a sticky feel to it like most satin guitars do? Is it slightly shiny? I can't seem to find anything on here about them besides talks for pricing and bridge problems. Google Image pics are also few and far between. A little help would be great. I'm working on a refinish project on a 4003 and I'm thinking I may go the satin route if its not sticky like most are.

Played one that came in new at Wildwood; they wanted $2700. Feels maybe slightly less grabby than the gloss finish, but I actually couldn't quit thinking about it... would have taken some getting used to for me. It was a great bass, but so are most Rics. The finish looked sanded to me, like they did a normal JG and took a buffer to it or something... I liked it but I didn't think it looked as stunning or even as uniform as a standard finish. There were some areas on the back that looked splotchy or uneven under direct lighting. Hardly a deal-breaker for me but I'm sure some people take issue with things like this. A cool bass with some cool rarities, it's just an issue of price really...

For your refin I'd think you could do several coats of black, sand it even, then do a final sanding but no gloss coat.

I have a 400164S with a FG satin/matte finish. I love how the neck feels, like sanded wood, smooth and organic.

I am not sure what you mean by "sticky" to my mind, a regular gloss finish like you typically find on a Rick has a "sticky" aspect to it, not a satin finish. Satin, to me, is dry and soft.

by sticky I mean if your hand sweats its gets gunky and kind of sticky. to me it does anyway just from te experience of playing bare necked guitars and basses

I see. I think satin would be more prone to that kind of build-up but I doubt the differences are large.

I guess all I can do is just wait and see what the fellow on the other 4001c64S says and what Paul says about polishing the satin finish before I decide if I'm going to gloss my refin, or just satin seal it. My main concern is the binding right now

RobRick wrote:I have a 400164S with a FG satin/matte finish. I love how the neck feels, like sanded wood, smooth and organic.

I am not sure what you mean by "sticky" to my mind, a regular gloss finish like you typically find on a Rick has a "sticky" aspect to it, not a satin finish. Satin, to me, is dry and soft.

I've had a C64S since 2003:

http://www.rickresource.com/register/vi ... ine%3Dtrue

And I would agree with Rob that it feels dry, soft, smooth, and organic. Definitely not sticky.

The regular finishes feel nice and slick if you keep them polished. Some feel sticky if you don't keep them clean and/or if the varnish starts to degrade. I had a white 4001 that turned yellow and got sticky. So far though (knock on maple) the C64S is not.

Prowl wrote:I guess all I can do is just wait and see what the fellow on the other 4001c64S says and what Paul says about polishing the satin finish before I decide if I'm going to gloss my refin, or just satin seal it. My main concern is the binding right now

I don't notice much of a difference between a satin neck or gloss neck, and not enough of one to impede me in any way. Besides my 4001c64s, I have a 4003MB and 4001FG with glossy necks. And two 4004's - a Cheyenne in satin and a Blueboy with gloss.

I'm certainly no Chris Squire - I play more like the Macca (Sir Paul McCartney) BEFORE he listened to Brian Wilson's PET SOUNDS.

In the interest of correctness, I would finish the neck however you decide to finish the body.
So if the body is satin or matte finish, I would make the neck satin as well.

IMHOO.

FWIW the neck of my 4001FL, which has a 70s CV finish, feels smoother to my hand than either my 4003s or the 4001C64S I played. I think the topcoat has really shrank a lot over the years and this may be why.

I've found that the back of the neck on my C64S has "sheened up" with normal "play-wear". Good thing is that it feels much more "organic/player-friendly" than some glossy neck finishes I've encountered over the years.

FWIW, the area around the upper bout where my picking forearm rests (see my avatar) has also "glossed up" a bit.

bigbajo60 wrote:I've found that the back of the neck on my C64S has "sheened up" with normal "play-wear". Good thing is that it feels much more "organic/player-friendly" than some glossy neck finishes I've encountered over the years.

FWIW, the area around the upper bout where my picking forearm rests (see my avatar) has also "glossed up" a bit.

Same here. Some spots on the fretboard have "glossed up" as well. And that's just something that happens with satin finishes... As your arm, hands, and fingers rub them, they buff them.

Jeff thanks for posting the link to your bass on the register. Not only do I have new laptop wallpaper, I also have a better idea how I'm going to handle my refin.

I was wondering about the 0 fret now. I read somewhere on here that the 0 fret renders the bass near unadjustable. Is this true? This was coming from the guys that worked on Macca's bass.

Prowl wrote:Jeff thanks for posting the link to your bass on the register. Not only do I have new laptop wallpaper, I also have a better idea how I'm going to handle my refin.

I was wondering about the 0 fret now. I read somewhere on here that the 0 fret renders the bass near unadjustable. Is this true? This was coming from the guys that worked on Macca's bass.

You're welcome, Miles. Glad my photos could be of use to you!

Well, I guess it means that you'd have a hard time raising your action on the nut side. I like my action low on the nut side though, so the zero fret is just what the doctor ordered. It doesn't get any lower than that!

I don't have a 0 fret on my bass. I was just reading about Sir Paul's bass and IRC, Dale or JH had said that the bass was unadjustable at that point with it on there

It basically just sets a limit on how low the action can go, but honestly, it's set as low as the action should go! Really it just makes cutting a proper nut easier.