Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I just acquired a 1995 C1 which is in very good condition, but is a bit dirty.

My intention is to remove all of the gold metal parts and polish them. All of these parts are undamaged and not really tarnished, so they should polish up very easily. I think I will take some close-up digital photos of the bridge and measure the existing positions of each piece, so I can get the bridge back together with a minimum of re-intonation work required.

With the metal parts off, I will clean up the body of the instrument with gentle wood cleaners and finsh off with a tung oil treatment as the owner's manual suggests.

Here are my questions:

1. Were the maple parts oil finished from the factory? Or might there be some other finish on the fretboard?

2. The fretboard and neck are somewhat gray from finger oil and dirt. The maple through the body is somewhat cleaner. What is a good method to get back the nice bright maple color (as on my MapleGlo 4003)?

3. Is it a problem to leave the bass unstrung for several hours while the work is being done?

4. Do bridge parts require any lubrication or special treatment after cleaning?

I have played sax for a while and am pretty good at setting the action and replacing pads, but string instruments are new to me.

Just one caution: The gold plating is quite thin on these instruments. If you do decide to polish them, use great care and a very fine polishing paste. Most silver and copper polishes will remove the gold.

The fretboard will clean with lighter fluid or Dr. Stringfellow. Lemon oil also works well.

Meguiar's SCRATCH-X (back tube, get it at Target in the automotive section) is fabulous for polishing the maple part of that body back up. Use a COTTON cloth (old undershirt, diaper) no synthetics--they scratch. Do a couple of square inches at a time.

OK, I was thinking of a mild jewelry polish for the gold. I see that most other polishes, including silverware polish expressly state not to use on gold.

I might even test a drop of vinyl tub polish on the underside of one of the gold parts. Might be just the thing.

I have gallons of Megs #9 and #82 polish. (Pro versions of Scratch-X). I think I'll start with #9 which is a little milder than Scratch-X. Good idea, I never would have thought of it.

I tried some naptha on the maple fretboard and it didn't do much. However, I found a great product from Cory which is: Coconut Wood Cleaner. It cleans off all of the old grayish dirt and leaves a beautiful finish. Available at www.corycare.com, which seems to specialize in musical instrument cleaning and polishing products.

This stuff is also super for cleaning the gold parts on the bass.

Now I am waiting for RIC tech support to advise me as to whether or not to tung oil the fretboard on the Cheyenne.

Why NOT put tung oil on the fingerboard? That what we do; actually it's a mixture of tung oil and polyurethane but the oil by itself would be easier for you to work with.

Thank you Mr. Hall. That is exactly what I wanted to know. The bass has a beautiful sound (as does my 4003). Soon it will look as good as it sounds!

Be sure to post some pictures when you are done with the clean-up!

I will post some pictures as soon as I get the gold strap buttons. Someone in the past had installed black "strap lok" buttons which don't look right at all.

This bass has a really beautiful dark tone using RIC strings. I set up the action using information from this forum and it plays like silk. The oiled neck is actually easier to play than my new 4003 with the glossy finish.

Anyway, between the two of them, I think I can get just about any sound that I care to listen to.

Here are a couple of pix of the 4004C after some tung oil, a little Johnson's wax and a polish on the gold stuff:

Beautiful.

Absolutely!

Sexy lady!

Superb!

Jeff -- I haven't even installed the new bridge on it. This is as I bought it for $535 at the local Guitar Center. I guess the best thing is the sound. As of now, it is my favorite to play. I am strictly a finger player at present and am working hard on walking lines for blues and jazz classics. The 4004C gives that really mellow sound that I am after.

Are you soloing the neck pickup to get that sound? When I had the HB-1s on mine before replacing them with toasters I too found the sound very dark and warm with a hint of brightness, not at all the typical Rickenbacker tone. Some of that is probably due to the walnut in the body.