Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I've waited some time and now I've got one! A 93 Cheyenne which I bought on Ebay last week. I collected it today and I've only just put it down after 7 hours. I love it. I love the feel, the size, the shape, the neck (although it feels fatter than my 4001), the sound (bedroom only so far) and the looks.

I'm happy beyond my wildest dreams and I'm very nearly satisfied. Unfortunately there's a problem. It's dirty.

The maple neck and fingerboard are engrained with muck! I suppose the walnut is too, but it's difficult to tell. I'm prepared with tung oil and lint free cloths and almost everything else that's recommended, but I want to clean it before I oil it. I'm not sure how to go about it, what would you all recommend? I don't want to jump in and ruin anything on day one, trying to get the dirt out of the wood grain.
Help!
Please!
Any ideas?

Hand Rubbed Oil Finish Maintenance

The most favorable way to maintain a hand rubbed oil finish is to obtain some Tung oil and a 3M Scotch-Brite Ultra Fine hand Pad #7448. Using small amounts of oil at a time, wipe down the instrument until there is a relatively uniform coating on the surface of the guitar. Going with the wood grain, use the Scotch-Brite pad to lightly send the surface until it begins to take on its original silky smooth feel.

Before setting the instrument aside to dry, use a clean, lint free cloth to wipe down any excess oil or grit. Allow 8-12 hours for proper drying.

This procedure can also be performed using ultra fine, gray colored sandpaper. A minimum grade of 1200 should be used to avoid damaging the surface of the wood. It is also important to steer away from black paper, as the residue is likely to stain the instrument as the oil sets in.

The above was taken from the instructions that came with my 650D, also finished in hand rubbed oil. Hope that answered your question.

I use Simple Green to clean the fretboard on my 4004C, John Hall said it could be used for that purpose and it works very well indeed.

Congrats on your new Cheyenne. Mine gets plenty of playing time, along with its "sister" 4004C-ii, much more than any of my classic Ricks.

Phil-- Congratulations on the Cheyenne! I have one just like it and can easily identify with your feelings right now. I have no idea what to recommend as far as cleaning off the grime. But once you figure that part out, you're doing the wise thing in protecting it afterwards. I give a high recommendation to using Deft Danish Oil instead of standard tung oil. Danish oil is a combination of tung oil and polyurethane resins that will provide a longlasting & durable finish. It should be available at any good local hardware store. I used it on mine and I'm completely happy with the results.

Wishing you all the best on your new family member.

Congrats Phil! I’m envious! Can hardly wait for mine to come. I think I need to stay off this forum or at least ignore posts for 4004’s. All I keep reading is how great these basses are. It only makes the wanting even greater!

Can’t help you on cleaning. However, for protection, I use the recommend wax from Warwick on my Thumb 6. It keeps that bass looking beautiful!

Good luck with her - treat her gently

Cheers,
Andy

Phil, I read in another post where Mr. Hall does NOT think highly of polyurethane on a guitar. I would use standard Tung oil until I heard otherwise from him. The Scotch-Brite pad should clean off the grime very well, and if not, it's down in the wood pores for good.

I used Polyurethane on some fishing lures and ended up with separation of the coats. I think there may be something besides Tung oil in the base coat that RIC puts on the Cheyennes and Dakotas at the factory. It is compatible with standard Tung oil for sure, because that is what RIC recommends.

Thanks very much for all your help and comments guys.

I wasn't sure whether or not I had to clean the wood before I tackled it with the Scotch-bright and tung oil. I also got some ultra fine sand paper and some 0000 wire wool.

It'll take me a while to pluck up the courage to start the job because I haven't done enough worrying about it yet! As soon as I have some results I'll let you know what happened.
In the meantime, if anyone has any more thoughts, opinions or suggestions I'd be very grateful to hear them (the dirt is well engrained into the pores of the wood particularly on the fingerboard and the neck).

I think I'm just putting off the day when I have to go ahead with this!

Courage man, courage!

Your neck CAN'T be any dirtier than the neck on an old vintage Telecaster I saw Mike Campbell playing in the High Grass Dogs video. Mike didn't seem to let a dirty neck bother him. I wouldn't worry about any dirt down in the pores. Us flyfishermen have more respect for guys with lots of patches on their waders. I means they fish a lot. Consider the smudged neck a badge of honor.

Try the 0000 steel wool with a little furniture polish .... rub gently ....

So YOU'RE the one! I bid on that Rick, too, but wasn't willing to go more than $1,050. Congrats. Anyone else out there with a Cheyenne 1 (walnut) in good condition that is considering selling?

Sorry about that Paul. You'd have loved it!!!! It sounds great, and it's in great condition apart from the dirt. I think it must have been played by a motor mechanic while he was at work!

I got it for what is a very good price in England. I can understand your concern about the price though, especially when you would have had to pay shipping and taxes on top.

Good luck with your search.

Philip - I know what you mean. I never clean my car so why am I so concerned about my Cheyenne? Maybe because it's my new baby!

0000 steel wool has the requisite abrasive qualities but it's awfully easy to make a mess of it. The "hair" ends up stuck all over the pickups and the black residue sometimes is worse than what you were cleaning! That's the reason we recommend the Scotchbrite pads instead.

Also, on most of my guitars, not just the oiled ones, I used a bit of 1200 to 1800 grit sandpaper to burnish the back of the neck. Yes, it will take away the gloss on a finished neck but it doesn't get any smoother or faster than that.

John does that go for old guitars also or are they already burnished by years of playing?

Paul-- The 1st series Cheyenne basses don't seem to come up very often. I consider myself fortunate more with each passing day. There's probably another one out there somewhere that will be just for you, but it will likely require some patience on your part to hang in there til it shows up. You'll know when it does, and I can promise it will be worth the wait. I really do wish Mr. Hall would make the Cheyenne I available again.

Thanks very much for that John. I'll certainly leave the wire wool in the cupboard now, and use the Scotchbrite pads (yet another thing difficult to get in England), and the fine sand paper if I need to.

I must say John, that I think it's great that you are concerned enough about your customers, and also Rickenbacker users who don't buy direct from you, to show concern about them and offer them help and advice. I don't know of any other CEO who does that.

Thanks very much indeed.