Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Is it possible to do this in a professional-looking way? I was thinking a gloss lacquer black spray paint might do the trick.

The pickguard would be easy enough I think, I just hope it would look even when it was done and dry completely. Would it need a clear gloss top?

The TRC would be more of a challenge because I'd be going from black-on-white (the normal kind) to white-on-black, so I was thinking first a solid coat of white on the letters, then spray the whole thing black, then scratch the black off of the letters to reveal the white.

Thoughts?

p.s.: If anyone knows whether it's possible to replace binding easily I'm kind of tempted to go black with that some day too. This would be for my Mapleglo 4003. While I don't like BH, I do see now why people like BT on these.

I think you'd have more trouble just trying to scrape through the black to reveal the white paint on the letters. I'm pretty sure the right sort of black paint would work just fine (after all, there have been numerous people who have painted them gold). Then, after that's done, paint the letters white (you could scrape the black off all the way to the white plastic, but I'm not sure that would look so good).

And yes, black binding on Mapleglo is truly divine, IMHO, but I don't think it's particularly "easy" to swap it. I think at the very least you'd have to reapply the CV clearcoat over the new binding to have it look right...

cjj wrote:I think you'd have more trouble just trying to scrape through the black to reveal the white paint on the letters. I'm pretty sure the right sort of black paint would work just fine (after all, there have been numerous people who have painted them gold). Then, after that's done, paint the letters white (you could scrape the black off all the way to the white plastic, but I'm not sure that would look so good).

This is what my wife said too (and she's a lot smarter than I am). I think I'll take this approach.

And yes, black binding on Mapleglo is truly divine, IMHO, but I don't think it's particularly "easy" to swap it. I think at the very least you'd have to reapply the CV clearcoat over the new binding to have it look right...

Yeah...

There are posts here by a few who have painted the TRC black then carefully sanded the lettering to the white plastic. You will/do loose the Made In USA on the TRC.

I think you'll find that just having a clear plexi guard made and back-painted to the color you want is a lot less hassle, a lot better looking, and more durable than trying to top-coat one with paint. Pichguardian would probably be the best place to have this done if you don't want to make one yourself.

Amen to that. Top-painted guards look bad and don't last. A must to avoid.

You could also have one made out of clear Plexi, and then have a vinyl label made, and stick that on the back. I did that myself for a better than stock look, at least if you compare it to the old silk-screened ones. Once it is scanned into a computer, you can zaoom in and clean up the letters to where when the label is printed, it looks a lot nicer. you can make them in any color you want this way.

Greg

The trick to applying vinyl labels to plexi (or any slick surface) is to first spray the surface with Windex so it's wet and soapy. Apply the label, slide it around on the soapy surface until you've got it where you want it, then use a rubber or polyethylene squeegee to press out all the soapy solution until the glue on the vinyl grabs. Work from the center out, in all directions. This pushes any air bubbles off the plexi.

Last, use a soft cloth like a towel, burnish the back of the vinyl and soak up any remaining soap solution.

As someone once said here a few months ago (made me spit coffee on the keyboard)--Wah Lah!

Isn't that someplace up in Washington state?

While you're working on your pickguard and TRC, take a few minutes and some wet-sanding paper and polish the edges. It makes such a nice difference and it's cheap and easy to do. Total time for the pair might be 30 minutes to an hour by hand with no tools needed, and it will be time well spent.