Unvarnished 4001 neck, factory, or stripped?

[rictified]

I have a '79 Mapleglo with an unvarnished neck on it. It also has a wooden nut. John Hall has stated that no 4001's have ever left the factory with wooden nuts. I am wondering if any 4001's left unvarnished? It doesn't appear to have been stripped to me, but I have never seen another one like this, it also appears to have the original frets in it. Even the pits in the wood are open. Also the wood is very dark, like an unfinished Fender rosewood neck.

[dano]

Bob,

Mine is also a '79 and has an unfinished neck like you described. The nut however seemed to be original but was worn so I replaced it. I would like to finish my neck. Any suggestions on a good varnish to use and where to buy?

[johnhall]

The instruments always left the factory with finished fingerboards. However, it really isn't that difficult to remove the finish and that's what someone may have done. (A razor knife blade used as a scraper takes the finish off nicely without bothering the frets.)

For refinishing the fingerboard, you'll need something compatible with the conversion varnish we use. Nitrocellulose fits the bill nicely (although it's not as tough). Here it is in a spray can:

Spray Nitro

Just mask off everything except the fingerboard well and spray it after preparing the board. When it dries, a long sanding block with some 400 to 600 paper will take the finish off the top of the frets.

[robj]

I would think the Spray Nitro would work fine on a 4004C maple fretboard too. Any thoughts on this?

Because the unfinished maple fretboard can get pretty dirty I have applied some tung oil to it when I have given my bass a refinish so it won't get so dirty. I have always liked the finished fretboards on my classic Rick's and was wondering if this might be the way to go.

[dano]

Thanks Mr. Hall for your quick response. This is the reason Rics are #1 in my book! Robert, I'm thinking that the Spray Nitro would offer better protection than tung oil and be safe for the finish.

[johnhall]

Believe it or not, Simple Green cleans a 4004 fingerboard nicely. You can also apply the tung oil with 10-20% clear urethane added to it and get a little bit of sealing action going. It will even buff out to a low gloss nicely after doing this. Something as simple as a shoe shine style of hand buffing action will really brighten these and the frets up.

[robj]

I did know about using Simple Green to clean the fretboard and it works very well. I think you may have posted that tip on alt.guitar.rickenbacker sometime ago, thanks for the advice John.

I will try adding urethane to the tung oil when I refinish my bass after things dry out here weather wise. One of the things I like about my 4004C is that I can refinish it myself. It's good therapy I think.

Back to my question about Spray Nitro, is there any reason it shouldn't be used on my fretboard if I wanted a more permanent finish?

[johnhall]

My only concern about the nitrocellulose would be the adhesion. or lack thereof, to an already oiled fingerboard. However, it usually has enough solvent to dissolve whatever's already there and I'd certainly scrape it well first anyway. I don't think you'd be any worse off if it does not stick for some reason.

[dave4004]

Rob, may I recommend a product? General Finishes' Arm-R-Seal is a tung oil based wiping finish with urethane resins. It's available from Rockler and elsewhere. If you use the satin sheen variety, the finished product will look and feel like the original finish on your 4004. I imagine the factory tung oil finish is a similar type formula.

[robj]

Great, thanks for the information. It sounds like tung oil with added urethane is probably the better choice for my application. I will see if I can find Arm-R-Seal which sounds like a premixed version of what John suggested.