Short Takes: Purpleburst

The “other” Color of the Year

I can hear you guys already: “Purpleburst? There’s no official Rickenbacker finish called Purpleburst!”

Technically, that’s true. But what if I told you that Purpleburst guitars exist anyway. Because they do—under a very specific set of circumstances. Let’s get into it.

We already know that the finish on most Rickenbackers made prior to 2009 can yellow from exposure to sunlight. We may use phrases like “ambered Fireglo” or “mellowed Mapleglo” or “creamy White” to make this seem like a desirable thing—and aesthetically it often is—but let’s not pretend that this was the plan. It’s simply a byproduct of time, UV exposure, and the materials that were available at the time.

L: 2026 Mapleglo 4003S. R: 1974 yellowed Mapleglo 4001

But here’s the important distinction: in most cases it’s not actually the color coat itself that is changing. It’s the clearcoat on top. If you could somehow peel that clearcoat away, the finish underneath would still be—more or less—as vibrant as the day it left the spray booth. Rickenbacker’s color coats have historically proven to be quite stable.

Usually. But let’s face it: if you stick anything in the sun long enough, it’s going to fade. And one Rickenbacker finish is more prone to that than any other.

2007 Blueburst 360/12

This is Blueburst. The 2005 Color of the Year (click to learn more), Blueburst is a striking dark-to-light blue sunburst and remains one of the more sought-after COTY finishes today, carrying a significant price premium over “standard” finishes—and most other COTY finishes as well.

But sometimes—under the right conditions—it can become…Purpleburst?

“Purpleburst” 330

Now we’re all immediately familiar with what we’re seeing here. One of the most famous electric guitars in the world—the 1958-1959 Gibson Les Paul—does exactly the same thing. After years of UV exposure, a finish that left the factory looking like this…

1958 Cherry Sunburst Gibson Les Paul

…can wind up looking like this:

1959 Cherry Sunburst Gibson Les Paul

But what’s actually happening here? On the Gibsons, the red aniline dye they used was—unknown to them at the time—extremely UV sensitive. That means sunlight slowly breaks down the red pigment over time. The longer the exposure, the more the red disappears, leaving behind the yellow and amber tones underneath.

Rickenbacker is famously tight-lipped about the specifics of their color formulas—as is their right—but it’s clear that something similar happened with whatever pigment they chose for Blueburst.

For reference’s sake, remember the “Purpleburst” 330 we just looked at? Here’s what the back of that same guitar looks like:

Blueburst 330 back

Yep. Same guitar. Don’t believe me? Let’s take the tailpiece off.

330 tailpiece shadow

That dark blue “R” shadow is (much closer to) the original finish color, protected from years of UV exposure. If that doesn’t demonstrate exactly what a lot of sunlight can do to a Blueburst finish, nothing will.

But just so you don’t think that’s a one-off, here’s another front-and-back comparison, this time from a 2008 360.

2008 Blueburst 360, front and back

Or how about a 2007 620 that got it front and back?

2007 Bluburst 620

Or even a 2008 4004 Cheyenne II:

2008 Blueburst 4004 Cii

The point is this: this isn’t a one-off phenomenon.

Here’s the good news: this appears to take a lot of UV exposure to occur. We’re talking “hanging on the wall across from a big window for years” levels of exposure. And consequently, examples like this are few and far between. But they do exist.

Will you find other sun-bleached finishes on Rickenbacker guitars? Sure. Like I said, stick anything in the sun long enough and it will fade. But no other finish is as prone to fading as Blueburst, and as much sunlight as it takes to turn those guitars purple, I can’t even imagine how much it would take to turn a Jetglo guitar gray!

Fun fact, though: UV exposure can turn a Jetglo guitar green.

“Green” 1988 Jetglo 325V64

Well…kind of. The same yellowed topcoat that can turn White into “Cream” can turn Jetglo green…in direct sunlight. Take it back inside and it’s Jetglo again.

If you want a cheaper Blueburst—or if you actually like the Purpleburst effect—well, this is a good way to go. And while both the 330 and 360 pictured above are on Reverb as of this writing, Purplebursts are in fact quite rare. Like I said, it takes years of sunlight to achieve this effect.

Just to be on the safe side, though, I probably wouldn’t buy a Blueburst guitar sight unseen.

If you enjoyed this exploration of Purpleburst guitars, you might enjoy this discussion on Glueglo.