Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

There's a great gtr. Player on YouTube with lessons on a bunch of Jam and Who songs and he has some custom painted 330s, but also a blueboy- and I have seen other Rick enthusiasts use that term. Is that a finish offered by Rickenbacker or something that has to be done by a refinisher? Just confused as to how/where the term popped up in association with Ricks.

It was a limited time COY (color of the year) in 2004, I believe, offered as a standard factory finish.

Rickenbacker has since discontinued the Color Of the Year program, from what I can tell.

The Blueboy finish had a habit of "greening" when exposed to certain elements, often turning nearly seafoam green.

The original Blueboys were a 360F, a 4000 bass, and a custom OOO-style acoustic, all done in light blue, built by Rickenbacker c. 1960 for country singer Jim Reeves and his band, the Blue Boys, hence the name.

jfine wrote:a custom OOO-style acoustic

It looks more like an OM body style, to me.

Jeffrey--it sure could be. OM's and OOO's are real similar anyway. I don't have any idea what the scale length on Reeves' guitar is--I'm assuming it's 24-3/4" like most Rics, and OOO's are also 24-3/4", so I made that connection. OM's are 25-1/2".
In Richard Smith's Rickenbacker book, he mentions that Reeves' guitar is called a "Blue Boy Martin" (!) on the Ric factory invoice.

Since the '80s Martin has not kept with it's own body size/shape/neck placement traditions going back into the 1920s or so.

A traditional 000 has/had a different body shape with a narrower upper bout and sloping shoulders with a 12 fret neck placement. An OM model has/had broad, straight shoulders, slightly wider upper bout, and a 14 fret neck placement.

A few Blueboy Rics pop up on the Craig's List here in Los Angeles once or twice a year. I recall a 360 model was just for sale recently. They are available, if you look.

I was looking through the 2011 Vintage Guitar Price Guide and I see that Martin did not stick with their initial body size/shape designation, going all the way back to the mid '30s, so perhaps the Reeves guitar is a 000 body! Anybody know for sure what it is? It sure is shaped like a OM is supposed to look like, and it is a 14 fret body.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNH62KRP ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lngT2EMh ... re=related

Jeff -- those are awesome Rics on that Reeves band album cover !!
Now I see where that cool 4000 pickguard prototype came from.

Rob, I wonder if the 77DX is painted blue, too?

jps wrote:Rob, I wonder if the 77DX is painted blue, too?

His underpants are probably blue too....

I wonder what colour that stripey jacket is? Blue?

It's a shame that I couldn't find a clip of him playing a blue boy whilst singing 'blue boy', that would have been cool.

BB was the 2002 COY, I believe...MB was '04 and '05.

I recall reading how some mid-1950s Rick acoustics were invoiced to sales as "Martin Body" guitars...

Blue Boy was '04 and Monty was '03 & '04. The initial Japanese run of BB's was from 2002.

Is there any way to get the BB to finish greening all the way?
My guitar sat in a case for 5 years, only getting played once a year or so.
I took it out of the case this week to take some photos for the purposes of selling it....and.....the back has started to get green. It seems to me (and three perspective buyers) the guitar is unsellable until it is a uniform color.
Also....the black fuzz from the case seems to have made some marks on the back of the neck.