I would like to start by saying that Roscoe basses are by far the best I have played and this issue is so minor that if I do not resolve it, it is not a problem.

I seem to wear my finish on the back of the neck to the point of being sticky. The finish seems softer than the body. I only have this issue on the dark of wood strip in the middle of the neck.

I wrote Roscoe, I think Gard responded (very fast) that some super fine steel wool might help (it did) but the finish seems to buff back to shiny and sticky very fast. More than my other basses, although this is an issue on most of of my basses (ten of them) as I play a lot (3-4 hours a day).

Also, wanted to note that Roscoe warned me to be very careful about not to go deep and not to use a course wool.

I am really just wondering if there is a different finsih on the body than the back of the neck and if Keith and Co ever offer a harder finish for the back of the neck as an option.

Also, does anyone else have this issue?

I've never heard of the finish on the back of Roscoe doing such a thing. I'm wondering if you hands sweet a lot and if so is your sweet very acidic. That sounds funny but believe it or not most peoples sweet contains acid which can break down a finish over time. Very few have a high dose of acid in there sweet so therefore, your finish may not last long.

You may want to try buffing your neck down again with "0000" steel wool and then applying 3 coats of high quality paste wax, as this will slow your sweet from eating through the finish. You may want to apply 1 coat every week if you choose. Its very easy to apply, just wipe on a thin coat, let dry to a haze and wipe off.

Another thing I would reccomend is wiping your bass off with a clean dry towel after each practice or gig. Moisture is not the friend of wood. My hands sweet quite a bit also and before each session I normally lightly dust both off my hands with baby powder. When I feel this wearing off or my hands starting to sweet more I apply another light dusting. Hope this helps. Good Luck

I've never heard of the finish on the back of Roscoe doing such a thing. I'm wondering if you hands sweet a lot and if so is your sweet very acidic. That sounds funny but believe it or not most peoples sweet contains acid which can break down a finish over time. Very few have a high dose of acid in there sweet so therefore, your finish may not last long.

You may want to try buffing your neck down again with "0000" steel wool and then applying 3 coats of high quality paste wax, as this will slow your sweet from eating through the finish. You may want to apply 1 coat every week if you choose. Its very easy to apply, just wipe on a thin coat, let dry to a haze and wipe off.

Another thing I would reccomend is wiping your bass off with a clean dry towel after each practice or gig. Moisture is not the friend of wood. My hands sweet quite a bit also and before each session I normally lightly dust both off my hands with baby powder. When I feel this wearing off or my hands starting to sweet more I apply another light dusting. Hope this helps. Good Luck

I have the same expierience with my roscoes especially with wenge wedge neck. Plus I don't sweat at all ,(it's been surgically removed if you have some medical knolege it's called clipping) So I think purple heart neck doesn't have that problem.

I've never heard of the finish on the back of Roscoe doing such a thing. I'm wondering if you hands sweet a lot and if so is your sweet very acidic. That sounds funny but believe it or not most peoples sweet contains acid which can break down a finish over time. Very few have a high dose of acid in there sweet so therefore, your finish may not last long.

You may want to try buffing your neck down again with "0000" steel wool and then applying 3 coats of high quality paste wax, as this will slow your sweet from eating through the finish. You may want to apply 1 coat every week if you choose. Its very easy to apply, just wipe on a thin coat, let dry to a haze and wipe off.

Another thing I would reccomend is wiping your bass off with a clean dry towel after each practice or gig. Moisture is not the friend of wood. My hands sweet quite a bit also and before each session I normally lightly dust both off my hands with baby powder. When I feel this wearing off or my hands starting to sweet more I apply another light dusting. Hope this helps. Good Luck

My hands sweat a lot and I don't have this problem. My neck stripe is Purpleheart. What kind of strings are you using with the baby powder? I'd be afraid the powder would kill my strings.

My hands sweat a lot and I don't have this problem. My neck stripe is Purpleheart. What kind of strings are you using with the baby powder? I'd be afraid the powder would kill my strings.


My neck has never did this either, I was merely trying to suggest somethings. I use any owe baby powered. Now I didn't say cover your hand totally in the powder. When I fill my hands getting wet I just dab some on and brush all the access off. It basically gets rid of all the moisture and keeps it off for a while. You don't have to worry about that small bit of powered killing your strings. Your sweet will wipe out a set of strings far faster than powder will.

But I dont' WANT my sweet to wipe out of my strings :crying:


I like my sweet to stay in my strings, and then come through my pickups.



Sweet! :bassist: ;)

Sha, thanks for the sold advice.

I do have some kind of weird thing with my sweat for sure. I have a satin top Godin guitar that has a huge shiny spot on it from where I anchor my hand.

On the Roscoe, it only does it on the purpleheart strip. I am just more curious about how the neck is finished, with what, etc.. as I have to live with acidic sweat and am still figuring out what finish types are susceptible to the acid sweat. They are not all the same.

I also have a severe addiction to hot foods, related?

Sha, thanks for the sold advice.

I do have some kind of weird thing with my sweat for sure. I have a satin top Godin guitar that has a huge shiny spot on it from where I anchor my hand.

On the Roscoe, it only does it on the purpleheart strip. I am just more curious about how the neck is finished, with what, etc.. as I have to live with acidic sweat and am still figuring out what finish types are susceptible to the acid sweat. They are not all the same.

I also have a severe addiction to hot foods, related?

I believe that its the same finish thats on the body except they just matte the finish using 0000 steel wool. If none of this works you might want to sand down the entire neck grab a few cans of satin (spray can) finish from the home depot and refinish in satin. BTW: I would say that your noticing it more on the purpleheart strip because thats were your thumb or hand is in contact the most as you slide up and down the neck.

I've owned quite a few Roscoe's (14) and only had a similar problem once. The purple heart stringer on one of my Roscoe;s had raised grain and it made it feel a bit tacky. I have done quite a bit of finishing work on instruments and obtained Gard's permission to try correcting the problem with 0000 steel wool. Unfortunately the grain was raised too much and smoothing it out resulted in removing too much finish which left the purple heart looking a bit faded out and dull. Roscoe was more than gracious (as always) and corrected the problem for me though.
I really think that my problem (and yours too) was probably due to the more open grain present on some purple heart (and especially wenge). It takes considerably more sanding sealer to seal out the purple heart (and wenge) than is required for maple. Your purple heart stringer probably needed to be sealed out a bit more prior to the final finish coat.
...of course I could be wrong!:)

Joe, you nailed it. Check this photo:
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x311/ghiadub/DSC03426.jpg
I do some bass building and finishing too, but rest assured, I will not be messing with my warranty. I am selling this bass to (loganpass). I have an incoming 6er with the same neck. We'll see if it has the same issue.

And yes, the center of the neck gets more friction no matter how I play. Mostly with the thumb behind the neck as I started out playing classical guitar. I am not trying to play different, just trying to learn about the way a Roscoe bass is made, and how to keep it playing great.

Sometimes the line can be blurry where user maintenance stops and customer service starts. If it was a huge issue, I would have contacted customer support to ask for more help in resolving the issues beyond hitting it with steel wool.

Maybe loganpass will chime in when he gets the bass with his thoughts.



I've owned quite a few Roscoe's (14) and only had a similar problem once. The purple heart stringer on one of my Roscoe;s had raised grain and it made it feel a bit tacky. I have done quite a bit of finishing work on instruments and obtained Gard's permission to try correcting the problem with 0000 steel wool. Unfortunately the grain was raised too much and smoothing it out resulted in removing too much finish which left the purple heart looking a bit faded out and dull. Roscoe was more than gracious (as always) and corrected the problem for me though.
I really think that my problem (and yours too) was probably due to the more open grain present on some purple heart (and especially wenge). It takes considerably more sanding sealer to seal out the purple heart (and wenge) than is required for maple. Your purple heart stringer probably needed to be sealed out a bit more prior to the final finish coat.
...of course I could be wrong!:)