Getting a neck glossed.

[miles'tone]

Originally Posted by C.Linton

He said to use "wet and dry" (that's what it's called) sand paper used wet, not to use wet sandpaper, then use dry sandpaper. Just want to make sure that was clear

That's right! Wet and dry is the black coloured auto sand paper.
One more thing... use both the auto sand paper and t-cut by rubbing in small circles where possible rather than just forward and back. You'll get a much more even finish that way.

Just your basic car paint repair technique really.

Remember not to wet your wet and dry too much!
Good luck and have fun!

[miles'tone]

One last thing...

You'll need a bowl of water to rinse the wet and dry in, as the grit is so fine that it will probably clog up quickly. Just give the sand paper a rinse in the bowl when this happens making sure to shake it almost dry.

My reasoning for saying over and over not to get the wet and dry too wet is that you have to be careful around the area of the tuners as these will obviously have to be removed to get a nice finish. If you get excess water Inside the tuner/screw holes it can get under the finish and "crinkle" it. If you take care here you will be fine.
It pays to give your neck a wipe down as you go to see how you're doing.
Remember that you are only aiming to get a satin finish smooth and that you really don't have to remove much to achieve this.

Sorry if I'm stating the obvious!

Best,

Miles.

[Zooberwerx]

Originally Posted by JLS

I don't think you're getting it; you don't need to add any finish, all you need to do is buff it up to a gloss, or have someone else do it.

Seriously, this is all it takes...no sandpaper, no nuthin. Watch the youtube videos of the guys at Gibson, etc. putting the the final gloss on finished products. They throw some ultra-fine compound on the buffing wheel, crank that baby up, and virtually lean the piece into the wheel with a good bit of body weight.

Can't recall what fellow TBer walterw uses in his shop but another guy, Pete (in Va. Beach), had one and could work miracles with worn, faded, blemished finishes.

Riis

[96tbird]

If you decide to use wax after buffing, use only Carnuba paste wax. Many liquid auto waxes have silicone in them and it is not good for wood if it gets into raw wood like rosewood boards.

[Hopkins]

Get some 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit wet or dry sandpaper, (the black or dark gray stuff) and a bottle of Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #2, fine cut cleaner. Regular car wax isn't abrasive enough to give you a really good shine.

You can get a wool buffer wheel that attaches to a regular hand drill, just make sure it has a low speed, if you spin it to fast you can burn the finish, and don't stay in one spot to long. Its easier to fix the drill to a table or bench and hold the neck instead of holding the drill and trying to buff the neck.

You can do it by hand, but the machine will give you better results faster.

[miles'tone]

Here's my diy wet and dry/auto cut liquid results...
Please excuse the phone camera quality. Hope you can see the shine ok here, looks great "in the wood".

[JLS]

It's not necessary to wetsand a satin finish, you only need to buff it out with compound (s).

That's it. That's all you have to do.

Edit: This can be done by hand, you don't even need a machine for this operation.

[miles'tone]

Originally Posted by JLS

It's not necessary to wetsand a satin finish, you only need to buff it out with compound (s).

That's it. That's all you have to do.

Edit: This can be done by hand, you don't even need a machine for this operation.

Yes that is true and I have indeed tried it this way a while back on a 2001 American Standard jazz I had with a maple fingerboard. It certainly gave that neck a nice sheen and definitely improved the look of that bass (Am. Standards of that era had no tint whatsoever and the satin poly was very dull) but this time around I wanted this neck to be truly glossy so I went with the wet and dry first. Cost me £2 for the sand paper, £4.50 for the T-cut liquid and 2 hours of my time so no biggie. Of course YMMV as I just used what was readily available over the counter where I live. Others on here may have different products available to them.

[walterw]

Originally Posted by Zooberwerx

Seriously, this is all it takes...no sandpaper, no nuthin. Watch the youtube videos of the guys at Gibson, etc. putting the the final gloss on finished products. They throw some ultra-fine compound on the buffing wheel, crank that baby up, and virtually lean the piece into the wheel with a good bit of body weight.

Can't recall what fellow TBer walterw uses in his shop but another guy, Pete (in Va. Beach), had one and could work miracles with worn, faded, blemished finishes.

Riis

I've got the earlier version stew-Mac pedestal buffer; with all this talk, you guys have got me thinking about taking my '96 American standard P neck to it myself! I like old-school glossy necks too, and would definitely prefer a glossy headstock (it's a RW board, so that's not a factor).

[Hopkins]

If you want to keep your Squier logo in tact you will have to put a few coats of clear on the headstock. They are just screen printed on the top. If you start wet sanding or buffing it will come right off.