Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I've got a '58-'60 pickguard for a 450. The gold has all gone away except at the pickup adjustment screw holes. It's hard to tell if it was anodyzed or painted on. It had a layer of surface rust, which I've removed. I was thinking about getting it back to gold again.

Does anyone know the paint code or maybe recommend a rattle-can brand that does a close representation of the original?

Thanks!

If it's metal I would think it is/was anodized, not painted. Can you find a shop around you (or not around you) that can redo the anodizing on it? Years ago I had a custom rackmount front panel made for an Ampeg PB250 from a company in my area, and they black anodized it for me.

It looked great, but the amp is now long gone.

jps wrote: Tue Jan 28, 2025 12:47 am If it's metal I would think it is/was anodized, not painted. Can you find a shop around you (or not around you) that can redo the anodizing on it? ...

+1

The Bacon and Day book corroborates that it was gold anodized:

Thanks for the info. I have seen them painted, but it's not good looking to me. Since posting this, I acquired a '60 Slab 450, and was able to see firsthand that it was anodized. I just posted a pic of my trio in the guitars forum. I'll put it here, too.

sangandongo wrote: Sat Feb 01, 2025 12:28 pm Thanks for the info. I have seen them painted, but it's not good looking to me. Since posting this, I acquired a '60 Slab 450, and was able to see firsthand that it was anodized. I just posted a pic of my trio in the guitars forum. I'll put it here, too.

Painted pickguards are clear plexiglass that with the paint on the back side.

That's not what I'm talking about. I have seen a painted metal one before.

As you can see in my photo, there's a painted plexi right there in the middle.

sangandongo wrote: Sat Feb 01, 2025 6:27 pm That's not what I'm talking about. I have seen a painted metal one before.

As you can see in my photo, there's a painted plexi right there in the middle.

The only painted metal ones were painted black and I don’t think it was done on the slab 425/450 models. (The painted gold plexi guard on your mapleglo 450 is not original, though that guitar is a ‘61 or later based on the body contours.).

For that model, the metal guards were anodized gold until 1961 when they were replaced with white plastic.

I would seek out a metal plating shop in your area and have the guard anodized again, it should be fairly easy to find a shop that does this.

I was planning on it.

Again, what I meant by "I've seen painted ones," is that obviously somebody painted it bold after the fact. The point in me asking was to figure out what was original, which was obviated by me acquiring the 1960.

Thanks for the assistance.

sangandongo wrote: Sat Feb 01, 2025 12:28 pm Thanks for the info. I have seen them painted, but it's not good looking to me. Since posting this, I acquired a '60 Slab 450, and was able to see firsthand that it was anodized. I just posted a pic of my trio in the guitars forum. I'll put it here, too.

Howdy! This is unrelated to this thread but your single pickup is further back to the bridge than a 420 would be. I love it. My 420 lacks the bite of my 450 and I was thinking about getting the pickup moved further back. Is yours a mod?

I’m very interested if it was a mod, did you have the pick guard cut from scratch?

Sorry, you are just misinformed about the earliest of these guitars. This is a 425. Moreover, it's the very first 425 - the prototype from 1957.

These were first designated 425 - the first production models in 1958 and maybe into '59 had the pickup way back like an Esquire or Junior. By '60, the pickup moved toward the neck and was located just south of the center screw on the bass side of the guitar. Later, in like '63 I think, the 425 became a tremolo-equipped single-pickup guitar and the pickup moved just north of the center screw, toward the neck. At the same time that the 425 got a tremolo, the 420 was released, a renumbering of the original design. The pickup position matched the tremolo'd 425.

I think the 425 ended its run in 73 and the 420 in 1980ish? I read the Ric Into the Frying Pan book intently on these instruments, but my memory's faded on the specifics somewhat.

Anyhow, this isn't a mod. It's all original. You can hear all three of these guitars on this song, "Prowling": https://open.spotify.com/track/1rXQrT2M ... d5bdf74089 - the 425 is doing the solo work, the 450s are doing the rhythm. Coincidentally, I made the song to be 4:20 long.