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So I’ve decided to get off my ass and start fixing up the guitars in my collection that are broken in minor ways, or in most cases, just in pieces. I’m wanting to start with my Recco, which is a vintage Teisco model with different branding. The specifics of that aren’t important, what I’m concerned about is taking it apart, cleaning the rusted parts, rewiring and restringing the beast and hopefully having semi-functioning guitar when it’s all said and done.

(Pics related to the questions will come this evening when I’m off work)

My question(s) is/are: can I just use white vinegar to remove the rust? Am I worrying too much about potentially damaging the parts?


the fretboard seems very dry, I’m not sure what type of oil or conditioner or whatever to use.

I plan to keep the pickups as last I tested the guitar, it works (a screwdriver on the pole piece makes a noise thru an amp). Should I replace all the pots and switches? Or give them a good clean and resolder that way?

I’m also concerned I lost the bridge piece, but I have a few sneaky spots I might have hidden it


Any advice for an n00b is appreciated

There are various solutions for getting rid of rust, you can get them at a hardware store. Just follow the directions on the bottle.

Also various solutions for the fretboard, for example Dunlop lemon oil or Dr. Duck's Axe Wax. Guitar shops have them.

You can try cleaning the pots, just spray TV tuner cleaner in the slot on the back of the pot and keep turning it. Do it several times. If that's not enough, then you'll need to swap them.

Why did you desolder the parts?

Fakir Mustache wrote:There are various solutions for getting rid of rust, you can get them at a hardware store. Just follow the directions on the bottle.

Also various solutions for the fretboard, for example Dunlop lemon oil or Dr. Duck's Axe Wax. Guitar shops have them.

You can try cleaning the pots, just spray TV tuner cleaner in the slot on the back of the pot and keep turning it. Do it several times. If that's not enough, then you'll need to swap them.

Why did you desolder the parts?

Hadn’t desoldered yet, was going to take the whole thing apart and I’m anticipating needing to potentially replace the switches, as even though they work, one of the switch tips is broken

Yep, lemon oil on the fretboard. You might find yourself having to put loads on, then finding that that dislodges dirt etc, so you wipe it off, then apply more. If it's very fry basically keep applying until it stops drinking it.

I nearly always just use WD-40 on bridges etc, but then I'm not looking to restore them, just make them function well and make sure that any rust doesn't get worse. Are you trying to restore it so that it looks new?

Why are you rewiring? Changing pots won't have an audible difference unless your changing the values of them away from factory spec. I'd be inclined to clean them and use them till the break.

Other body gunk I usually just breath on it then wipe. Unless it's a guitar that I'm not precious about, like a school cheap strat with a definitely poly finish, and I have a dozen of them to do. Then I might use some isopropyl.

I don’t want it to look brand new, but this thing was fairly neglected by both its previous and current owner, so I’d just like to get the majority of it off. The body isn’t in too terrible of shape and will be easier to clean.

Some before pics to both hold myself accountable and to show (hopefully) how far it’ll come. Unfortunately, it seems I’ve lost both the bridge and the reverb handle. I didn’t plan on using the latter much, but the former is very necessary. I’ve seen some replacements for cheap but I’ve also seen tune-o-matic types used, so maybe I’ll look into converting it. (Pardon the messy floors, various guitars and boxes that were laying around are no longer just laying around )

I've always liked that some Teiscos had these nice looking mahogany necks. Love how yours looks

sunshiner wrote:I've always liked that some Teiscos had these nice looking mahogany necks. Love how yours looks

I promise it’ll look better once I condition the fretboard

i was expecting way worse from what you described, and i don't think it should take much to clean up what you can.

i'd say try all the suggestions made so far and then reevaluate how it's working. it may turn out that the pots and tuners, for example work exactly how you need them to once the rust is gone. it may also turn out the ratios on them aren't meeting your expectations, but you won't know until they're restored as much as they can be.

all that aside, the guitar looks really cool. it will shine up super nice with not all that much TLC. can't wait to see it!

Moar photo poasts






All of the solder joins look okay, so idk why I was ever worried about rewiring, as many of you pointed out. I have no idea where that thought came from.




I knew that these things were made of plywood yet I was still surprised when I saw the stripes on the inside of the body rout
this thing has a surprising amount of space under the guard. Probably couldn’t fit humbuckers…maybe I’ll find out some other time.


One of the pickguard screws fully broke during disassembly, but I’m not going to bother drilling the out, mostly for lack of a drill

rad! that guitar is going to be a stunner when you get it dialed in. even those tuners look like they'll have some life (the first photos had me worried).

i think a drill is definitely the easiest way to get that broken screw out, but maybe someone here knows of some other macgyver wizardry to pull it off?

Yep, this looks exactly like a guitar that looks a bit rough now, but will clean up lovely.

Yup, will be sweet. I have a Teisco tulip style design on the drawing board I’ve been thinking about.

dots wrote:rad! that guitar is going to be a stunner when you get it dialed in. even those tuners look like they'll have some life (the first photos had me worried).

i think a drill is definitely the easiest way to get that broken screw out, but maybe someone here knows of some other macgyver wizardry to pull it off?

I mean I have a few beers that could take one for the team, but I could also just glue the broken screw head into the pickguard (not the hole in the body) so that it covers it, but if this thing ends up missing one guard screw I’m not too bothered.

you had me at "a few beers" <3

A bit late but vinegar and baking soda are your friends

Careful with some coatings on metal as it can start oxidation. (had this happen on matte - satin chrome - schaller straplocks once)