Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I received a letter from David Calderon, Forum member, that I asked his permission to share with readers of this topic section; old-timers will recall a slew of threads on the topics covered, here. I thought it about time to condense the information. We've had a lot of new members lately, and this might motivate some to read the threads in question at length, at their own leisure.

Here's an excerpt from David's letter to me:

Hello  there  Jingle_jangle. I decided to email you outside the
post  as  I  didn't  know  if  a  new post would be good for my
question.  You've  made  a  lot  of  guitarists  happy with the
restoration  job and finishes knowledge you have, but I haven't
read anything about Fireglo finishes.

You've made a lot of very clear instructions to go about restoring the shine and sheen on Jetglos,  but  how  do  I deal with Fireglo? I have an Oct 2005 4001C64  in Fireglo. Nothing's happened to it yet, but I'd like to be ready.

What should I do when:

1. the fretboards become grimy and dirty?
2. the finish get scratches, more so dings and buckle rash?
3. the finish becomes dull?

Just  like  in  the forums, hope you'd give out detailed steps.
You're  knowledge  and  skill is awesome, at least in what I've
read  so  far,  along with Dale's work. Thanks so much for your
time and waiting for your step-by-step instruction...

David

This will be a longish post, but nothing beats reading the discussion threads (most are contained in this topic section--go by the titles for starters!) so I'll give brief but comprehensive answers.

1. Best time to clean the fretboards is during string changes, when the old strings have been removed. Cut a cotton diaper into four squarish pieces and dampen one with either naphtha or my old fave Dr. Stringfellow's Lem-Oil. Scrub near the frets to remove the grunge. I keep an old clean toothbrush for this purpose, then wipe clean with the diaper scrap.

I prefer Lem-Oil because it coats the frets and fretboard with a very thin and hard protective layer of aromatic citrus oils. So, when you're done getting the grunge off, wipe with a clean scrap of diaper and Lem-Oil.

Sometimes the grunge comes off easier with a water-based cleaning agent; in these cases I use a light spritz of Windex and the toothbrush. Don't soak the fretboard with any water-based product--it will seep into the wood around the frets and cause the fretboard to swell temporarily. Finish off with Lem-Oil in any case.

Fretboard dull but in otherwise good condition? Get a tube of Meguiar's Scratch-X and a small bottle of Zymol Cleaner Wax (light blue in color). Both are available at Target and auto supply stores, or contact them via their websites for dealer information.

Take another scrap of diaper, squeeze a dime-sized frothy dollop (sorry--I've been spending too much time at Starbuck's lately) of Scratch-X onto the diaper scrap, and attack the fretboard, rubbing parallel with the frets. You'll find that a lot of embedded filth will come loose, and the varnish polishes up to a glass-like finish. This action will also polish the fret tops. Scratch-X contains the finest abrasive known to the Jedis who use it to polish their light sabers.

Use the Zymol to protect the polished surface. Wipe it on, then wipe it off befre it dries. It contains no fillers (kaolin) to haze up--it's pure wax and natural oil blends. Smells like coconut oil, too. Yum yum! Reminds me of the last Hawaiian Tropic bikini contest that I adjudicated. There was this one babe who...never mind. She won, that's all you need to know...

2. Scratches can be taken out using an abrasive system. The deeper the scratch, the more aggressive the approach. Note that in no case should you use any sandpaper coarser than 1500 grit on a Rickenbacker finish!

You will need to purchase a Dura-Block sanding block (a small one with a 3/4" X 1 1/2" rectangular cross-section in a 1' length is available at good body shop supply houses like Finish Master). If you purchase the 1' length--that's how it's sold--you should cut off a 1 1/2" length using a sharp knife like an Ex-Acto knife.

Wrap a strip of #1500 or #2000 Wet or Dry sandpaper around the block, holding it in place with your fingers. Spray a bit of Windex onto the surface and begin to sand across the scratch wherever possible. Dry with a clean diaper and inspect the scratched area. When the scratch is gone, rub with 3M Perfect-It III or Perfect-It 3000 rubbing compound, again, applied and rubbed with a diaper scrap. You will have to rub hard to get this stuff to give a good gloss. Work on a small area at a time--don't try to do large areas or the whole surface of the instrument at once.

This also answers #3. If the instrument is only a bit dull, try the Scratch-X/Zymol treatment; f this doesn't get it shiny enough, go back to Perfect-It, then on to Scratch-X and Zymol.

Dings and buckle rash usually require either a spot refinish or complete refinish. I have seen gap-filling super glue touted as a good filler for scratches and dings in conversion varnish, but it is MUCH harder than the CV when it sets up. This means that it will not buff out to a high gloss without leaving a ring, however small. You'll always see where the patch was made.

The above techniques work on ALL Rickenbacker finishes except oil finished instruments and those finished in matte conversion varnish. Results are most dramatic, however, on Jetglo and darker bursts like Autumnglo.

Excellent Paul!
I have a deep nick in my 325 Jetglo that goes through the alder.I can see the alder. Should I paint it first, prior to using superglue?
Which kind of paint should I use? I read in other threads that you also recommend Black nail polish for this kind of job.
Thanks for sharing all of your knowledge with us.

Another fine post from the Curmudgeon, with the humour we have all come to know and love.

I'm glad he posted this, because I was wanting to know again what Scratch-X and Zymol to get. I plan on having a go at a Mapleglo and Jetglo finish...

Paul -

On the Rickenbacker website Forum under the Setup and Technical topic, there's a thread called "cloudy finish on fretboard" where a Forum member is seeking help on what caused (you guessed it) cloudiness on his finished fretboard.

John Hall asked if he'd been using lemon oil. Any insight as to whether lemon oil can cause this phenomenon in clear finishes?

Thanks for that great & detailed info, Paul. Very interesting and useful. Being pretty inexperienced in that area (well, apart from glueing broken guitars with epoxy...), i may have to re-read it a few more times and maybe even ask really silly questions, like "should the same technique be applied in case of 650 Dakotas if needed" (yup, sorry, like i said, i've always been pretty lousy at chemistry and varieties of finishes, and the other question is where to get all that great stuff where i live...).
Thanks again!

I have made the correction to your name David.

That could be another long post, David, but I'll try to be brief:

Scratch-X first, then Zymol to protect the surface. I'm sorry--I thought that was clear. Scratch-X is rubbed into the surface and removes halos and haze. But it opens the pores of the paint, which should be filled by the natural oils and waxes in the Zymol in order to protect the finish. Zymol also adds the last bit of perfect gloss to the CV.

Wiping direction: on the edges, go along the contours and at 45 degree angles to the edges. On the flat surfaces, any direction is OK, except circular! Do a 2" X 2" patch at a time with the Scratch-X. You can Zymol larger areas, like the whole front or back.

Sorry about the "E". It was late at night, end of a long day getting ready for RIC75 (I'm bringing about 10 guitars, five of which are still being Scratch-Xed and Zymoled (good timing) but I promised you it would be last night, so I wrote while half-knackered!

Nicolas, read my initial posts and what I say about super glue on CV finishes. This is especially true of Jetglo, which is very, very touchy to touch up and keep looking perfect (that's the reason we touch up, isn't it? In the case of the scratch through to wood, I'd carefully fill the scratch with black nail polish, until it is overfilled. Let it dry for a few days minimum. Then use a bit of #2000 Wet or Dry paper, wet with Windex and wrapped around a small, hard, flat block (I have a bunch of small plexiglas blocks that I laser-cut for this purpose) to flatten down the nail polish till it's absolutely flat with the CV surface. Next, rub out with some Perfect-It III or Perfect-It 3000 compound. Then Scratch-X and Zymol. Ricks average .007-.010" in conversion varnish thickness, wich in the paint biz equates to "elephant hide". It's a lot to work with when flatting, but you can go through and buy yourself a mess o' trouble if you are not careful and fastidious.

It's a lot of work and expense for one scratch. I wonder if there's a market for a small kit that would put all these products together in a small package, with the proper Dura-Blocks and laser-cut plexiglas blocks, and diapers along with detailed instructions? If you're interested, write me off line (my e-mail address is in my profile) and if there's enough interest, I'll make up a bunch. Price would be in the $40-50 range including a plastic carrying case...

To do the best job on any Rick, I recommend stripping the instrument and unsoldering the pickups to disconnect them. When you're down to wood-no hardware, you can really wail on it.

Sheena: These instructions are for Ricks with a high-gloss finish. Excluded are any oiled walnut guitars and those Ricks which leave the factory with a matte CV finish.

Kris: The jury is still out on Lemon Oil, but JH has expressed skepticism in the past. He has to--any recommendation from him that causes owners grief and means warranty repairs could get very costly in short order!

My own response would be: What kind/brand of lemon oil? The Lem-Oil that I recommend does NOT soften the CV finish. But pure citrus oil would attack nearly anything. It even softens plexiglas! Lem-Oil is relatively mild, however.

Excellent as always Paul. I too recommend looking up the origional threads to read all thats ben covered.

And Sheena and I (and probably a lot of others) are patiently waiting for the oiled walnut primer.

Thanks again John. You´re Da man!
BTW, what about unfinished or unlacquered rosewood fingerboards like the one in my C58? same treatment as the lacquered ones?

Thank you, Paul. And yes, we'll be waiting for instructions on walnuts. Patiently, of course. Have a great time at 75th celebration!

Scratch-X to get the swirls out, Zymol at least twice. Zymol goes quicker. I would not use Scratch-X on metal, only Zymol. I can say you will find out just how strong your hands are(n't) as you cramp while doing "the treatment".

Zymol is OK for pickguards, too. It will remove any 'Made in USA' residue.

Two to four coats of Zymol does a great job of really bringing up the shine.