Ben's RCA-4 Build

[BJMtz]

After a long time thinking about it I finally ordered a RCA-4 kit yesterday. It's currently on back order and I am in the states so it may be a while until it gets to me. This is good as it gives me some time to plan and prep things.

I would like to do a gloss black or, depending on the grain, a mapleglo/natural finish. Black would be ideal but living in a small apartment I'm not really setup for a spray job. I doubt I can get a gloss black from stain type finish. 4003s are all maple I believe so does anyone know if the mapleglo finish has any sort of color added to it or is it just a clear finish over the maple?

[wazkelly]

Hi Ben, nice kit.
Being Ash that is not an easy timber to use for a solid colour like black as it has a tendency for the finish to shrink back into the grain and would require lots & lots of prep work, primer & undercoat layers. Not to mention that the best thing about Ash is usually the grain pattern than can look stunning.
Having previously owned a couple of Ric's, yes they are solid maple where the neck is through body and wings glued on either side of that. Mapleglo is therefore a lacquered finish. Not sure if it is tinted.
I am doing a natural blonde MMB4 at the moment using Tru Oil and it looks similar in colour. You can check it out in my signature - build # 6.
Cheers, Waz

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[BJMtz]

Good to know about the paint on ash. The finish on your build is nice Waz. I think I would dig that on the RCA.




I don't know if the whiteish hue is due to the maple, but I would love to get that on mine too. Do you think I could get that out of the ash?

[wazkelly]

Clear poly or acrylic might be best as Tru Oil does add a bit of an amber tinge to the finish and seems to also darken a bit more over time. The MMB4 is Basswood which is quite white and light compared to Ash which can have a bit of a pinkish hue lurking in the background. Would still look good under a natural clear coat.

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[Andyxlh]

That body in the photo has a wide grain which would probably be a lot flatter than the ash in my RC4A which was very dense grained.
Here's a photo of my music man stingray Ash body (I'm pretty sure) against my RC4A ash body, you can see the difference in the grain.
The timber in that rickenbacker is more like the music man and less like the RCA. The RCA took a lot of work to get flat! But it can be done...

Ash with a straight clearcoat is darker than maple for sure, I have just put together an ash bodied Tele kit with a friend and he did it all natural with satin clear, and the ash was distinctly browner than the maple with the same clearcoat.
Actually the maple necks with straight clear on them are yellower than this with polyurethane clear on them, I'm not sure what they have used on this. Perhaps an acrylic?

[wazkelly]

Ric in the photo is all maple and showing off some decent grain.
As Andy said, natural Ash is darker and the kit stuff is probably a lot different to what the big boys use in USA to make MM's.
Damping down with metho or turps will give you a fair idea how it will look with a clear coat. Suggest doing metho wipe down 1st and then maybe same with turps to see if there is any difference.
Believe you can get a limewash that is a more washed out whitewash and cann be bought at most large hardware stores.

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[Andyxlh]

Actually that lime wash idea would look great. I have this planned for 2022 when I get to do that new White falcon kit...... 😊

[wazkelly]

Part of your 5 year plan?

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[Andyxlh]

Part of your 5 year plan?

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Oh yes, you bet...........

[BJMtz]

Good to know about lime wash. I do have a tiny bit of experience with clear poly so I can go that route, but I would love to lighten the finish and not darken it too much.