Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

After years of being played, with the use of all manner of gauges and types of strings, after being knocked, dropped, generally misused and downright neglected. I have decided that it's time the old girl had some TLC and was possibly returned to some of her former glory. Now I can't stretch to a full refinish job (that's something for the future perhaps) and so I am going to attempt to do what I can with limited resources and using some of the tips and tricks picked up here and on the official RIC forums (mainly from PW) and see what difference I can make

The current state of the finish is pretty shocking, there are some major lumps out of the headstock, body and the neck, as well as chips, scratches, cracking all over, and the finish is dull, seems I used all the wrong products on the rare occasions that I did clean her. Of course I regret that all now, but there was no internet back then and I was young, mostly drunk and foolish.

So, I thought I'd document what I do here and perhaps through my ham-fisted. half-arsed attempts others may learn just not what to do.

I've stripped her completely down to start work on the finish, replacement pickup mounts have been obtained along with a truss rod adjuster and a set of 10 - 42 RIC strings for when I eventually do the rebuild and full setup. I've made a start with drop filling the major chips and dents with nail polish / lacquer and I am slowly building up the layers. It's a long process and it will never look perfect, but it has to be better than the sight of naked maple glaring out once it is done. Hasn't it?

A few pics here to show the level of my sins

The worst of the chips in the body


Again, in its full close up horror


One side of the headstock


And now the other side, you can see the sort of cracking I have in this pic as well


I know, it's a shocking thing to do to a RIC, say you'll forgive me and wish me luck with it

We've seen much worse.

Best of luck, and of course we're all here to cheerlead and kibitz help!

This ought to be interesting. I've worked a fair bit with lacquer in a guitar context, but I know virtually nothing about Rickenbacker varnish.

...and this thread probably won't enlighten you much. I'd advise sticking to lacquer rather than going through the expense and hazards (not to mention the steep learning curve) of working with acid-catalyzed conversion varnish, in order to get a high-gloss, historically correct finish.

Paul is right, this thread is all about trying to to the best job I can, but with limited resources, I'll not be using CV or anything fancy.

This is a 'nail polish and a favourable wind' sort of job, a 'hack', a 'bodge' and quite possibly a disaster

No worries, Jingle. I'm not planning on throwing my lacquer out and starting over. I am a little curious about the in's and out's of CV, it's repairability, application, etc. Might be a good topic for a fresh thread.

Nice idea Ian. I love seeing storyboard resto-threads and this sounds like a good one.
I'm looking forward to seeing this develop.

0018g wrote:No worries, Jingle. I'm not planning on throwing my lacquer out and starting over. I am a little curious about the in's and out's of CV, it's repairability, application, etc. Might be a good topic for a fresh thread.

Although I've never done a thread per se on this topic, a search of the RRF and especially this thread and topic area, will give you lots of tips and insights on conversion varnish. Simply make that your keyword in your search!

An update. Work is going slowly, I have to take time out to stand at the bar in my local and talk rubbish, but it's going OK so far. The filling of the big scar on the body is nearly done and I've moved onto some of the bits that can be filled with clear nail varnish as well.

The big scar is now looking like this:

First pass


Third Pass


And now


Another coat and I can let it cure and start sanding it back.

Another issue is a couple of chips in the lacquer on the underside of the neck. This is more complicated as it involves some of the solid base colour as well as the clear lacquer as you can see here.



I thought about it and decided my best option was to mask it off, fill the base colour part in and then build up clear lacquer.

Masked


Base coat applied and tape removed


First coat of clear lacquer


So far so good ... a way to go yet though

Pretty soon you'll be able to stand outside your local and play for real pocket change!

So far, so good!!!

Lookin' great so far! Thanks for posting the progress photos, it's quite interesting to see how this progresses!

jingle_jangle wrote:Pretty soon you'll be able to stand outside your local and play for real pocket change!

lol, If I stood outside my local with a Rickenbacker I'd be mugged within minutes, or freeze to death right now

A question though, Paul. You talk of diapers being the best for polishing, my local supermarket has just disposables but a search on the internet (thankfully nobody at work saw me) got me to these. Are they the sort you mean?

cjj wrote:Lookin' great so far!

Cheers, shame about the colour though, eh?