Making the neck of your bass faster

Jay2U · #1 01-11-2012, 11:47 AM

Last night I came accross this video. I've had similar thoughts, but am afraid humidity could enter the wood, causing expansion and worse. Does anybody have any idea, or experience?

How to make your guitar neck 10 x faster - www.frudua.com - YouTube

briand · #2 01-11-2012, 11:52 AM

I think you may be over-analyzing it; all he's suggesting is "roughing up" the shiny finish a bit, to make it more of a 'matte' finish... you shouldn't continue roughing up to the point where you've completely removed the finish!

Jay2U · #3 01-11-2012, 12:09 PM

Very likely. I was concerned about the permeability of the paint. I gave it a second thought. The paint soaked into the wood as well, so it should stay protected. Thanks.

Pilgrim · #4 01-11-2012, 05:23 PM

Not all finishes penetrate the neck - lacquers and poly finishes do not. And paint doesn't penetrate as much as you think, although stain does.

If all you do is hit the finish with a light abrasive as he does in the video, you're not going to break through the finish. He actually does more scuffing than I probably would.

**Faderoktopus** · #5 01-11-2012, 05:31 PM

How many KM/H are we talking?

Necks don't have speeds, just different levels of comfort, entirely dependent on your preferences.

Anyhow, I removed the lacquer on my 5'er and enjoy the results very much. I clean it up and give it a rub with lemon oil every once in a while, seems to do the trick.

Martin

timmus · #6 01-12-2012, 11:19 AM

I stripped the finish of the back of the necks on my poly finished basses with 600 and 1200 grit sandpaper and then tung oiled them...nice and fast now and keeps moisture out (my hands sweat ALOT and my left hand was always sticking to the poly...no longer with the tung oil)...been doing this since the 80's...no obvious penetration of hand oils or moisture in all those years of use.

Jay2U · #7 01-12-2012, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faderoktopus

How many KM/H are we talking?

Necks don't have speeds, just different levels of comfort, entirely dependent on your preferences.

Anyhow, I removed the lacquer on my 5'er and enjoy the results very much. I clean it up and give it a rub with lemon oil every once in a while, seems to do the trick.

Martin

Speed has a relative meaning here. maybe we should call it stickyness? Anyway, I applied some light abrasive and the result is very noticeable. It can hardly be seen, the feel is much better than it was. It makes one wonder why so many basses and guitars have a glossy finish.

darkstorm · #8 01-12-2012, 05:33 PM

If a neck is kinda draggy feeling, lightly sanding to duller shine, less then he does, and whole neck rather then half at a time can be a fix. Ive done that to a couple painted neck basses. It doesnt make it anywhere near ten times as fast though. Unless bad tacky finish maybe. Still, Id rather take a poly coated neck thats really comfortable and in the fast neck catogory from its neck profile. Rather then having to sand it a bit to improve neck speed.