The skunk stripe on the neck of my 1990 MIA J-bass has raised enough that I can just feel it with my thumb, not enough to catch with a fingernail. Is there a way I can buff it down wothout refinishing the neck? A repairman told me a few years back if it got any worse, he could replace the neck, but it hasn't.

The bumps over time that appear around the skunk stripe or other neck laminations are due to the different kinds of wood shrinking different amounts over time. I actually think it's kind of cool, a badge of time, but with certain woods it can get to be pretty annoying.

I don't think there's anything you can do to correct this without having to refinish the back of the neck. You shouldn't have to replace the neck unless there's a break between the woods. Correcting the ridge is as simple as running a scraper blade down the back of the neck, but you'll have to refinish after that.

Live with it if you can!

Thanks for the advice. I guess I would rather live with it than mess with it.