Rickenbacker refin

ICBM

lamf68 said:

Surely you can see the difference in the "Off the shelf" repulsive burst to the one I sent back, also the back of the original was burst and the customer wanted it brown. I understand that it sometimes seems a pointless task, a bit like polishing a turd, but this guitar had everything changed out, wiring,pots,pickups,tuners, the guitar had sentimental value to the owner he just didn't like the finish.

I can see the difference, but it just seems like a huge amount of work for so little gain.

To be honest I actually preferred the original colour on the front...

Seziertisch

ICBM said:

lamf68 said:

Surely you can see the difference in the "Off the shelf" repulsive burst to the one I sent back, also the back of the original was burst and the customer wanted it brown. I understand that it sometimes seems a pointless task, a bit like polishing a turd, but this guitar had everything changed out, wiring,pots,pickups,tuners, the guitar had sentimental value to the owner he just didn't like the finish.

I can see the difference, but it just seems like a huge amount of work for so little gain.

To be honest I actually preferred the original colour on the front...

I guess it’s a case of define “gain”. I recently got a Japanese Gretsch refinished in nitro. I much prefer the new colour, light relicing and feel of the guitar now. Have I made it more valuable in a commercial sense? Probably not.

GoldenEraGuitars

If someone plays this Casino more now than before or is inspired to play more creatively than before any of the work was done then it was totally worth it. 

Seziertisch

GoldenEraGuitars said:

If someone plays this Casino more now than before or is inspired to play more creatively than before any of the work was done then it was totally worth it. 

I strongly suspect that it plays and sounds better than guitars twice or three times the price.

The thing that prompted me to look at getting my Rick refinished was the fact that it was painted in the factory before someone had taken the time to remove all the sawdust from it and clean the routing. This is a “premium” instrument retailing at about 5 times what that Casino does, yet the Casino in its original state presumably didn’t have an issue like this. 

They might cut corners on the materials used, but in terms of craftsmanship, “budget” guitars made in the Far East are probably better overall than a lot of “worthier” US instruments, at least at the non-custom shop level. 

I would sooner bet on you or anyone going into a shop selling Indonesian Squiers, picking out 10 of them and finding that the fretwork and finishing on all of them was immaculate, than I would on selecting 10 Gibsons and finding all of them up to scratch.