Just inherited this from my stepdad. I am interested in fixing it up. The finish on the fretboard has worn away in a few places.

Who ever owned it before he did, replaced the tuners with Grovers. there are screw holes in the head where the original tuners used to be.

I want to get it playing, also would like to see if I can clean it up. Looking for suggestions.

I tried to insert images but seem to be having trouble. get an error message The image file you tried to load is invalid. It is a jpeg file. tried from my phone and my pc.

the maximum image size is 256 kb. Try reducing the size of the pics using an online photo editor to 640 x 480 pixels.

if you refinish a 50 year old guitar body, you lose the patina and the character, and lower the value.

but if it is only the top fretboard finish that is bad, then refinishing it is ok, have it done professionally by an expert in refinishing, a job which might entail removing all the frets to get it done right. It is not going to be cheap. But it is possible to refinish without removing the frets also, especially if the frets are good and original, I would not mess with them.

If you hand the guitar over to someone to refinish the fretboard, remove the pickups, pickguards with controls, the Serial Number / Jacks plate, the R tailpiece and bracket, and keep them safely with you. I would also remove the Rickenbacker logo truss rod cover; The temptation to replace the pickups, the R tailpiece and the logo cover is too great. Not to mention the original R tailpiece which are made of a stronger material that does not crack like newer ones.

Those old pickups from 1966 are like gold bars. I do not mean to say that every luthier would do it, only that SOMEONE might be tempted and you might never know. Best to remove them and eliminate all doubts.

the original 1966 Kluson tuning keys were mediocre compared to today's Grovers, so Grover tuners are an improvement, leave that issue alone. My 1966 370-12 still has the original tuners and they are worn out, not to mention all pitted. But I want to keep it original, so no new drilled holes.

Re: photos. -- There's photo posting info here in this fairly recent thread:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16338

You will see that Mr. Hall has increased the allowable maximum horizontal pixel width to 900 pixels.

If the photo size/width is not the problem, then it's likely due to a simple formatting error of the link itself. Be sure it has the [img]&[/img] brackets at the ends of the link (front & back ends, respectively). Avoid including spaces within the link.

-- hope this helps - we all enjoy seeing photos.

I have an old 62" Melody Maker and the finish on the neck is kinda "crusty" or "sticky"... I guess from years of hand sweat. I try to wipe off my guitar when Im through playing... Is there something I can use to clean or restore the finish?
Thanks

By the way, if you guys need to breake all captchas - I reccomend this:
XEvil 4.0: powerful CAPTCHA's breaker, included Google ReCaptcha-2!

_________________
1fatp8uh3k5159596

I use "Virtuoso" "Cleaner" and "Premium Polish". It was recommended to me by a professional and both products do an excellent job. I've found the combination of the 2 products will even help reduce / improve nitrocellulose and lacquer checking - my 83' 335 has a bit of checking on the body and these products have helped. Also, I use these on my 360 and it's very shiny