I have been advised to try using Naptha or lighter fluid to clean off sweat marks, have you heard of this before??

It's commonly recommended for the conventional finishes, but I'm not sure about an oil finish....

Hi All,

Any further feedback or suggestions, still looking for the magic bullet to clean my Ricky 4003 Walnut Oil Finish bass. Not too sure if Naptha is the best solution. Would really appreciate some advice from Ricky HQ about. I am sure I am not the only Walnut 4003 out there who is having this issue??

Thanks scottfender

Even though I think this is fairly well covered in the owner's manual that was shipped with the instrument and also online, I see you're not going to give up until we comment!

So . . . beyond what the manual says . . .

Naptha is an excellent cleaner for finished and unfinished RIC guitars.

After cleaning, Johnson's paste wax can be slathered on the instrument, heated up with a hair dryer to make it flow, and polished to a luster. No more sweat marks but it's not really unfinished anymore either.

In the past on unfinished Maple neck guitars, I've used dilute Simple Green. It certainly takes the grunge off but I won't say that it won't change the color a little bit.

Hi John,

Yes I am persistent, but this is because I really appreciate the finish of the tung oil on these basses and I do not want to sand and re oil as per the manual. There had to be an easier way to maintain the Walnut finish overall.

I wanted to make sure that what I use will not damage or change the overall look of the Ricky W as being in AUS they are as rare as hens teeth to buy here, hence me importing the bass. In Australia I have been recommended to use a product called Shellite by Diggers for the Ricky W this is available at bunnings thanksW

Well, that'll change by Christmas as shipments to the "new" Australian distributor are already on the way and they have plenty of these on order.

Hi John,

Great that will certainly be good for the AUS market, but the price will be the killer once they are marked up and put on sale. Are you considering any more prototype 4003 W (Gloss). I have seen one that sold in US, looked awesume and easier to maintain overall with the poly finish? Keep on making great basses at Rickenbacker, compared to my American Fender P Bass the Ricky W definately has more punch and clarity throughout the range on my Ampeg SVT CL Class Bass Rig in my opinion a perfect match made in USA....

Naphtha is basically a light paint thinner. It evaporates faster than a regular paint thinner. It is used in some older types of soaps, for laundry. it was at one time used in print shops to remove oil based inks from equipment, and printers hands as well. It is some times also used as a degreaser, (cleaner).

_________________
Rickenbacker:4003 RBY
Fender:USA Geddy Lee Jazz
D'Addario:ETB92 Nylon Tapewounds
GK:MB Fusion 500 / Ampeg:SVT-212AV

I like Howard's Orange oil on all my maple fingerboards and open pore finishes like walnut. It removes grime and leaves the wood conditioned nicely without making it gooey.