Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Other than guessing by date of manufacture, and assuming that RIC stopped using Nitro in 1959, how can one tell, definitively, whether the finish is CV or nitrocellulose lacquer?

cjj wrote:Other than guessing by date of manufacture, and assuming that RIC stopped using Nitro in 1959, how can one tell, definitively, whether the finish is CV or nitrocellulose lacquer?

Place a drop of lacquer thinner on a Q-tip and rub the finish under the pickguard in an inconspicuous place. If the Q-tip picks up color, you've got a nitro guitar. If it doesn't, it is most probably CV.

Hmm, no pickguard, and no color (natural maple). But, there's probably a spot under the control plate. I suppose even clear lacquer would show some color. It's not glossy like most mapleglo seems to be, but could just be the age (50 years this month).

cjj wrote:Hmm, no pickguard, and no color (natural maple). But, there's probably a spot under the control plate. I suppose even clear lacquer would show some color. It's not glossy like most mapleglo seems to be, but could just be the age (50 years this month).

You'll see the finish soften and begin to shift a bit if it's nitro, whereas CV will show only a little mark if anything.