Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Just got home here to Casa Kielbasa in the Marin Hills...

The Hofner will respond well to the Scratch-X and Zymol treatment, too. So will any guitar with a glossy finish.

Go for it!!!

"Casa Kielbasa"

Hahahahaha! My Aunt Ann (nee Siwik) made the best Polish Kielbasa by hand for the meat market she worked for. Real good meaty taste (some blend) with pepper and other spices in. When she retired they closed the store; I bought many pounds to keep and use sparingly - all gone many years ago. She died with the secret, unfortunately. The market sold all she could make.

More from David which I hope will benefit Zymol newbies:

"1. Since a Hofner Beatle Bass has a floating and unfixed ebony bridge, how do I take it off without losing its original place so I don't have to spend extra in bringing it to my luthier for intonation again? How do I mark where it was before? And can I do the Paul Treatment on the body binding as well, or do I need to avoid that?
 
2. I read in the forums that there is a ground wire in the Rick to the bridge. Can you give me instructions on how to disassemble the Rick, which wires to unsolder, and which wire goes back to where, how to disassemble the bridge without losing intonation and losing the ground wire etc?"

Quickest way I know to mark the Hofner is with a very light surface scribe around the corners of the bridge with a new Exacto #11 blade. The key words here are "very light"--make the scribe lines (actually fine cut lines) barely visible and do not cut into the wood itself. This must be done very carefully. Then you can wax away to your heart's content without problems.

Binding can be done with this method, too. Just avoid hard rubbing on the very sharp corner of the edge of the binding all around--there is a minimum of varnish here and what's left will rub through very rapidly.

Disassemble the Rick: First detune and remove the strings. Then remove the tuners and bridge. The location of the bridge plate should be marked using the same technique as the Hofner. Unscrew the plate and set it aside...push the ground wire through its hole--you can put it through easily later. Carefully remove the tailpiece--it can scratch the top, so you should spread a soft cloth under it before you begin removing strings.

Undo the three larger and one smaller screws, and remove the pickguards. The lower one will be connected by wires to each pickup. The pickup wires should be noted for position and desoldered from their attachment points--the ground braid is soldered to the pot cases, and the hot lead to the selector switch in each case. MARK the HOT leads and note to which side of the selector switch they are routed. This is important.

Last, unscrew the output jack nuts and slip the jacks through the inside of the body. Grab the three lockwashers per jack that may fall into the body. Unscrew the jackplate and tailpiece anchor. Unscrew the pickups (the center screws only should be loosened--the four corner screws are to hold the pickup housing together!). I mark the pickups N C and B depending on location and model, on the back with a Sharpie marker.

Scratch-X and Zymol to your heart's content.

As they say in the manuals, "reverse above steps to reinstall..."

Then remove the tuners and bridge.

Say what? Why remove the tuners? They have nothing at all to do with the ground wire.

Alan, I'd caution you against hyper-critical reading which misses the thrust of the post...

We are not concerned with merely removing the ground wire--we are disassembling the guitar to strip it in order that nothing is in the way of a proper buffing. Tuners are indeed in the way of properly buffing both front and back of the headstock, so we remove them.

The pickups, pickguard, output jack (s), etc., have little or nothing to do with the ground wire, either, yet we remove them also.

You are quite welcome, David...It's gratifying to see others getting good results from my methods and benefiting from my experience!

Would that be 'Drive P'??? On this Forum everyone needs a seperate drive for all this great stuff...

Paul, have you ever thought about doing a book with all of your how-to knowledge, tips and tricks - loaded with pictures, of course?

Food for thought...

With a video guide, please.

I'd buy at least two in a heartbeat!

I can make a translation into Russian. Maybe i'll also be able to find an editor for it, with my "relations" in publishing.

Youse guys are way ahead of me. I'm still learning English...

Could you recommend a good teacher?

If you did decide to do a book. and needed any help, I'll be glad to do whatever I can.

Paul, you're welcome to use my guitars for the book. That way, the photos will be a "perfect mirror image".