Neck Finish HELP!!!

[Johnny Crab]

Picked up one of these for next year's high school bassist(not selected yet):


One problem:
the neck finish is not smooth and feels like it has small micro-bubbles in it.

How can I smooth the neck to feel normal without wrecking the finish color?


I've thought of wet-sanding it with super-fine(600 or emory cloth) cloth OR some sort of automotive compound super-fine polish. I do have until July(marching band practice starts) to get things right. I've never had a bass come with such a poor finish on the back of the neck in my decades of gear....even Gibson with their unique quality control hasn't done this to me. Two other Music Yo Steins have never had this either.

PS:
The platinum looks like ordinary silver paint IMO with no gloss but simply a little brightness. They are NOT fine metal flake like the red and blue Epi-Birds NOR or they gloss clear coated. The white one looks MUCH better IMO.

[raytsmith]

If you don't care about it remaining shiny, start with some 0000 steel wool or an equivalent grit of the 3M sanding pads and lube them with wax. If that doesn't smooth it enough you could go with a rougher steel wool or sandpaper.

I'd use wax as the lube rather than water, the wax pretty much stays on the area you are working on and is easy to wipe off. It helps make the neck clean and slick too.

[Johnny Crab]

Thanks!

[Nitto]

i'd probably use 1200-2000 grit at the coarsest, be careful!