Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Ok...Any idea what these stains are? I thought it might have been curry at first but they have been getting progressively bigger over the last 10 months. I'm baffled. I have enclosed a pic of my stand as others have said about that but i can't see how that would have affected it. ( even though I have covered it now with a tea towel cloth)..... I haven't had much luck with this guitar. Not long after buying it, strange mould type marks appeared over various parts of the body. ( they are still there despite following Ben Halls advice with polish and cleaning). I have treated this guitar like a sacred object but I must be doing something wrong!! The guitar is May-June 2010......

It's a reaction between the finish of the guitar and the padding on your cheap Chinese guitar stand. Throw that piece of **** in the trash and get a good one, like an Ultimate brand stand.

One of my Ricks has suffered a similar problem - is there any way that these marks can be removed (short of a refinish!)?

I don't think so to be honest. I also have mould type marks on other parts of the guitar and they haven't come off despite using strong menzerna polish. Tried that with this as well but no luck.

Ashgray wrote:One of my Ricks has suffered a similar problem - is there any way that these marks can be removed (short of a refinish!)?

As it's chemical reaction...probably not Ash - because the colouring may well have penetrated all the way through the clearcoat. I've successfully taken a stain off of the clearcoat layer, but not out of the clearcoat layer. viewtopic.php?f=104&t=403736&hilit=+1968

Do you keep it in a sunlit room? Could the sun be getting focused somehow & hitting it at that spot from the back? Does the guitar smoke cigarettes? I know Mapleglo yellows after time but that is odd.

The guitar is kept in the living room away from the sun or any excessive heat ( ie away from the heating radiators) The house is a non smoking house.

david/wales/u.k wrote:The guitar is kept in the living room away from the sun or any excessive heat ( ie away from the heating radiators) The house is a non smoking house.

It's likely to be a cheapo guitar stand - that's what I was advised by the previous owner had caused the problem with my Rick.

Does the guitar smoke cigarettes?

Only at the weekends when it goes out for a swally

Ashgray wrote:

david/wales/u.k wrote:The guitar is kept in the living room away from the sun or any excessive heat ( ie away from the heating radiators) The house is a non smoking house.

It's likely to be a cheapo guitar stand - that's what I was advised by the previous owner had caused the problem with my Rick.

Probably right and I've learned an expensive lesson but i gotta be honest, i just thought a stand was a stand. I wouldn't have dreamt it could do that

This happened to my 330 MG. luckily I noticed it when it only just started to yellow, and immediately knew what it would be.

Don't get bothered by it, it's only yellowing of the lacquer due to reaction and its on the back, but prevent more damage by buying a better stand, or stick a cloth on the stand.

I had a MG bass with similar stuff on the finish and my luthier/tech buffed it out in 5 minutes for free. It never came back.

david/wales/u.k wrote:Probably right and I've learned an expensive lesson but i gotta be honest, i just thought a stand was a stand. I wouldn't have dreamt it could do that

This is a well-known problem with nitrocellulose finished guitars such as those from Gibson. Many cheap, but respectable guitar stands (from a reputable manufacturer) may include a tag or sticker that says something like;

"Not for use with nitrocelluose finishes, foam may dissolve finish"

I don't know what Rickenbacker uses. I know older Ricks use 'Conversion Varnish' and newer ones use some type of UV-cured finish. I don't know if it has the same issues that nitro does, but cheapo guitar stands destroying finishes is actaully a pretty common problem for the unsuspecting. I read about this a lot on other guitar forums. Some people wrap their stands in socks or other types of material as a quick-fix in areas where the stand touches the body.

Putting a cloth over the cheap rubber parts of a stand may only help distribute the gassing of chemicals to a larger area. Buy a high quality stand. I have literally left guitars, including Ricks, on Ultimate stands for well over two years and never had an issue with the finish. I know there are other reputable stand makes I just can't think of the brands right now. Use the search function as there have been many threads on this in past years.

David, when you say that you haven't had much luck with the guitar, what other problems have you had? Did you buy it new or second hand? I'm just about to buy my first Ricky so I'm here doing a bit of research.