any thoughts on how to clean my vintage Rickenbacker?

[Sir Ricardo]

Hello!

I just bought an old 360, and it has arrived fairly dirty.

> the wood surfaces on the front and the back of the guitar need to be cleaned / wiped down / whatever

> the metal parts (bridge / pickup surrounds / R tailpiece) are pretty dirty

So I need to clean both the wood and metal parts of the guitar.

I wouldn't mind partially disassembling the guitar if that helped. I don't want to unsolder the pickups, but anything short of that I'd do.

Any suggestions? Cleaning fluids / application methods / things to do or not do?

thanks much, in advance - - -

Richard

[jps]

Naphtha.

[iiipopes]

Then polish with original Zymol.

[Sir Ricardo]

Naphtha.

OK, naptha has been procured from the hardware store. By the way, the naptha I got smells nothing like the "naptha" that comes via lighter fluid. The lighter fluid version has a much darker smell.....this more refined naptha smells volatile, but clean. And it is crystal clear.

So........now that I've got this volatile stuff, I must admit I'm worried about putting it on a nitrocellulose finish, which is what a vintage 360 has, right? No damage will result? The metal parts I can see.....they won't get damaged. But the finish?

Based on what I've read, the trick is to put just a little bit of naptha on a clean fine rag, and gently start swirling it around on the guitar's surface. Simple enough. I just want to make sure the finish doesn't come off on the rag!!!!

Any thoughts?

thanks much!

Richard

[jps]

You did get enough Naphtha to fill your bathtub, right, so that you can dip the whole guitar in at once, right?

Oh wait, April 1st was a couple days ago!!!!!

The naphtha won't damage anything, but yes do a little at a time with a clean cotton cloth, some here prefer new diapers! Make sure you are working in a well ventilated area or, if the weather is nice, outdoors.

[cjj]

And be sure to avoid open flames and other sources of ignition. You sure wouldn't want a brand new FireGlo finish on your whole body...

[jps]

And be sure to avoid open flames and other sources of ignition. You sure wouldn't want a brand new FireGlo finish on your whole body...

It might JG blacken it, too!

[Sir Ricardo]

You did get enough Naphtha to fill your bathtub, right, so that you can dip the whole guitar in at once, right?

No, because my bathtub is already full of the gin I'm making.

==================================

Well this naptha is pretty good stuff......most of the light residue is going away.

However, there are a couple of spots that have gunk on them, and the gunk seems impervious to naptha.

So another method will have to be used on these two spots, each of which is about 1" square.

The naptha worked great on the bridge, R tailpiece, and pickup surrounds, too.

1) any thoughts on Plan B for the two 1" square areas that don't seem to lift off with naptha?

2) after I'm done, I can see that polishing will be necessary. I need to figure out which polish to use. Scott mentioned Zymol. I also already have Virtuoso Premium Polish. I've only used it on a poly-coated guitar, and it didn't seem to do anything. Thoughts?

thanks much-

Richard

[jps]

Check with Paul Wilczynski on the stubborn areas, pics may help in seeing what it going on.

[jingle_jangle]

Naphtha is the least damaging to finishes, while dissolving most oil-soluble contaminants like cigarette tar and atmospheric grunge.

However, it won't do a very good job on water-soluble gunk like finger dirt, sweat, Tequila Sunrises, and bloodstains. So, what you want to do is use the Universal Solvent (water), and cut the water with some sort of surfactant (mild soap--I use saddle soap or leather cleaner, but dishwashing liquid works OK as does face soap) to cut the surface tension and allow the water to penetrate the gunk. You can apply it with an old toothbrush in crevices and a soft cloth everywhere else.

NOTE: Inspect the instrument thoroughly and keep the water away from any cracks, holes, or chips that go to bare wood. Also watch areas like the binding or neck joint, for cracks into which water can soak. When you're working to clean with the water/soap solution, try not to soak anything too much. Brush, wipe. It's the suds you want, not pints of water running off your Rick.