Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I'm looking at a refinishing project on a 4001 that was originally Azureglo but has had the original finish stripped, (it's now a pretty bad Mapleglo). I'm considering putting it back to it's original Azureglo - does anyone have any info as to how Azureglo was mixed? Is there a "secret recipe"?

Steve, any competent larger auto paint store will be able to computer or hand-match the color, provided you have a sample...and therein lies the rub. So if you know an Azureglo Rick owner, just get him (her) to part with old Pride and Joy for a few days while a stranger mixes paint a couple of inches away... If you get this far, I highly recommend PPG's DBC line. This is a basecoat/clearcoat system and what I use to refinish guitars. The clearcoat (what Rick calls "conversion varnish") is PPG 2042. This is a crystal-clear, non-yellowing, bulletproof polyurethane clear. It needs to be applied by a professional using professional equipment. The results are nothing short of spectacular.

Thanks for the info Paul! I don't have access to any Azureglo instruments, but my bass does have remnants of the old finish under the truss rod cover and in the electronics cavity. Hopefully that will be enough to come up with a paint match. The refinishing will be done be a very talented local luthier, (although I don't know how much experience he has with RIC finishes). Is there anything else he might need to know about doing the refinish? BTW, the bass in question is a '73 4001 with checkerboard binding and full width fingerboard inlays. I bought it knowing that it had been stripped - I have a soft spot for instruments that have been abused and need a little TLC.

Steve: I'm sure than your luthier has his own preferences as to finish types and application; I've given my own. For my time and money, I advise against lacquer on anything but carved-top hollowbodies. Even then, I prefer the urethane finishes for gloss and durability, although some insist that they compromise the sound because they stiffen the top too much and change the resonance quality. On a Rickenbacker, this should matter not one whit, 'cause urethane's what the factory uses now anyway.

My advice is to stay away from lacquer (especially lacquer clearcoat) as it does not have the sheer durability of a basecoat/clearcoat urethane system.

I, too, have a weakness for basket case-ish projects. Here's a really nasty Fenton-Weill that I got out of London's East End, which predates the whole Brit invasion by about 5 years. This one will receive new everything including a nice Fender neck onto which the old Fenton headstock wil be grafted. The old neck didn't even have a truss rod...but I am curious to hear how the pups sound.

The second shot is of an April '59 Duo Sonic which I recently completed restoration of. This is approximately the same vintage as the Fenton-Weill. Sharp eyes will note the absence of the peghead decal, which has since been re-screened and replaced.

...is there any wonder that the Beatles, Searchers, etc., played German and American instruments as soon as they could afford them?

The Duo Sonic is also a so-called 3/4 scale guitar (like the 325), with a 22.5" scale length. Jimi Hendrix learned on one, and John Lennon might have easily ended up with one also, had he not seen that photo of Toots Thieleman using a Rickenbacker!. I've owned this example since 1980...

Good luck on your bass and let me know if I can be of assistance in anything!

Steve,

I heard a rumor (read it here, maybe?) that Azureglo was actually VW Beetle blue. You know, the odd "not so light but kinda bright anyway" medium blue that Volkswagen used in the '70s?

Can anyone confirm or deny this?

That's true.

It may not be exactly the same color but the guys were looking at a blue Beetle as the example of the color.

I have a very old (1958) Rickenbacker that I'm re-finishing at the moment because it was done with Black Automotive Paint. I don't like auto paint, it's way to brittle on wood that expands with the climate and atmospheric pressures. I've always used lacquer, as most all the major mfg's have. My favorite is nitrocellulos, which is the old school stuff. It's plyable and durable, why do you think everyone used it. It's getting harder to find cause the EPA wants it phased out, yes it has been deemed cancer causing, so is fish, so lets phase them out too. I have used, and still do
catalized finishes and lacquers, in my opinion the
only advantage that a 2 part cat/finish has over lacquer is the drying time and thickness. It takes
6 coats of lacquer to equal 1 coat of conversion varnish/2 part finishing material. When you measure the costs in time for production the conversion varnish wins. For small shops like mine lacquer is my choice, it is so forgiving.

I think the 1973-75 VW color is called "Orient Blue"

I think Orient Blue is newer color. VW actually used many shades of blue on the Beetle in the late '60's to early '70's. Could be Sea Blue (L360), Gentian Blue (L51B), Cobalt Blue (L630), VW Blue (L633), among others. Any idea what year Beetle these guys were looking at?

Frankly, all I remember is that it was a Variant and that it was dark blue, belonged across the street- sorry.

I had a Variant in that color; the code was L-360. I believe it was called "Sea Blue". But is was a shade or two darker than the Azureglo Rickenbackers I've seen.

I don't have an Azureglo instrument handy for comparison. Maybe someone else does, and if so, here is a link to a vast array of VW Type III (Variant) colors these cars were painted over the years. This endeavor might be a long shot--but try to compare an actual instrument with these paint chips and see what you come up with. My previous post kind of narrows the field of options down to four. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/paintcodest3.php

Thanks!

John Would that be Main st. Stevens or Kilson Drive?

It looks like Azureglo is VW color Cobalt Blue, paintcode L630. Here's a current ebay listing for a AG 4001 Bass:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3780389540&indexURL=6&photoDisplayType=2#ebayphotohosting

Compare to the paintcodes listed above, and it's a close match.

The only way you're going to really match this or any color is to compare actually painted-to-painted objects, Greg.

Comparing online or any other kind of color photos without a "standard" (which is what color-matchers call a color chip) is useless, due to variations in monitor color temperatures, white balance of the cameras taking the original pictures, and a number of other factors.

JH has said that it was "based on" a VW color. By this I take him to mean that they started out with the Variant color, and then changed it a bit. To me, comparing color-to-color, AG is lighter and brighter than the VW color, whether it is Cobalt or Sea Blue. These two characteristics of color, though sometimes their descriptions are used interchangeably, are not the same--"lighter" refers to tint, or the amount that the color shifts toward pure white or the purest form of the blue, whereas "brighter" refers to the chroma, or the intensity of the hue.

A good color matcher could match Azureglo in any type of paint you can imagine, provided he or she has a good sample of the original sprayed paint (or a can of the old stuff!). Ideally, an AG guitar itself could be matched. In this case, removing the pickguard will reveal an area of untouched original color that has not been affected by ultraviolet or the environment.