What finish is this Ricky?

mikeselmer · Post by **mikeselmer** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 8:41 am

Hi! What finish is this Rickenbacker 480? Sorry, I'm a newbie, please help. Is that autumnglo or what? If it's autumnglo, are the lighter and darker ones in existence or are they basically the same?

MIKE

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 8:56 am

Seems like a much-faded autumnglo. The one on USA eBay is a darker version of the same thing.

longhouse · Post by **longhouse** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 10:43 am

That is beautiful!

bassman · Post by **bassman** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 11:14 am

Walnut in my opinion. Autumnglo during the 70's and 80's had a satin finish to it according to JH.

This is very glossy, which would identify it as Walnut.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 11:19 am

No way is that walnut. It's maple, with a shaded finish and a clearcoat. Walnut is not by nature glossy, so gloss alone wouldn't ID it as walnut, as you say. But walnut is much browner.

spencer · Post by **spencer** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 11:23 am

Who's 480? Could be a refinish.

Scastles · Post by **Scastles** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 11:29 am

Looks like a refinish, but it is hard to tell by a photo.

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 11:43 am

Notice the headstock is much darker than the body...Looks like the headstock is Autumn...

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 11:50 am

root beer glo ...

bassman · Post by **bassman** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 3:26 pm

"No way is that walnut. It's maple, with a shaded finish and a clearcoat. Walnut is not by nature glossy, so gloss alone wouldn't ID it as walnut, as you say. But walnut is much browner."

Were only talking about the finish here, not what wood this is. Of course it's maple.
I maintain this looks to me to be a walnut finish (on maple wood).

johnhall · Post by **johnhall** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 5:36 pm

I think this is a Walnut that may have started out on the light side, been left out in the sun, and probably suffers from some digital camera color shift.

kennyhowes · Post by **kennyhowes** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 8:38 pm

Kinda cool though, eh?

jps · Post by **jps** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 2:42 am

That's the secret prototype sampling the COY!

mikeselmer · Post by **mikeselmer** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 3:31 am

Hi! How interesting to see so many different theories on the finish, keep them coming! I also noticed the darker headstock. I need to check the seller of this guitar whether the body is refinished.

Here's another photo:

kennyhowes · Post by **kennyhowes** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 4:47 am

Check out the headstock - looks Ric to me. But who knows without actually seeing it.