Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Mark,
I have a 4001CS that has some strange discolorations, presumably from a hanging rack. just below the headstock wings, above the nut, there are two orangish stains (one at the top of the neck as you face it and one at the bottom, too).there also is a finish crack across the back of the headstock, that runs through these stains.

First, if I sand down the spots, what would happen if I spray nitrocellulose cream lacquer and clearcoat over these dime-size spots? If that is incorrect, what type of product should I use for a touch-up? Also, the clearcoat cracks-- should that be a different procedure?

Thank you!
Brian

Don't try using NC Lacquer .It will not blend and will show later as a hideous spot ,far worse than what you have now.

Instead ,I'll give you the official Rick version .
Get a tin of 'Turtle Wax' and thin it down with some water and scrub it with that .
Then use some polish ,something with out silicone .

Clearcoats cracking is near impossible to fix on Convwersion Varnish,polyester and any catilized clear .Reason ...you won't melt the crack back to gether ,you are just filling a void .So you will get the reflection of the edge of the seam .That is what you see .

You can fill it with water thin super glue (go to a hobby shop and get the smallest bottle ) don't use the stuff at a grocery store ...it's old and take forever .Some of the stuff sold at hobby shops has a date on the bottle ...get the newest stuff you can .It has a shelf life.

Me ...I use a 3M compound ,then a 3M polish and hit it with by buffing wheels ...takes seconds .

It's unlikely these hanger discolorations will come out, as it's usually a reaction throughout the finish. But there's no harm to trying the LIQUID Turtle wax treatment.

Indeed, the superglue can really fix to things you wouldn't believe but there's a real art to flowing it and then leveling it out by sanding and buffing. Some of our girls can fix almost anything this way but me, well, it's always a mess. It' be good if you have some cheap guitar to practice on before you try the CS.

Thanks for the advice, gentlemen. I will proceed with caution.

just spotted this on eBay: a poor white 620-12 from 1989...



It seems that guitar stands/racks are rickenbacker hell!
I doubt this could be touched up without a complete refin, could it?
a

Looks bad ....you can see the wear spot through the clear into the color and through to the wood ....the rubber off gassing ate the clear coat and the dye reacted and bled through.

I doubt Turtle wax would help.