Gloss to Satin, on an SX neck

[Kentucky Ryan]

i just did this 3 days ago to my CV jazz. i tried 000# steel wool but it didnt work, then i used 400 grit sand paper very lightly and it did the trick. now what once was a sticky neck is smooth as silk.

[Arx]

This is an either/or kind of thing. the steel wool or scotchbrite are good for making your gloss neck less glossy, but you'll still end up with a matte poly finish. That might be good enough, and you don't need the tru-oil.

If you want to do a tru-oil finish, you'll actually need to sand off all the polyurethane, which you're not going to do with steel wool and fine grit scotchbrite.

I would probably start around 200 grit, and see how that goes, quite likely it'll just plug up, and you'll need to go coarser, but if you start with something too coarse you're going to need to do a lot of sanding to take the scratch marks out. Whatever you end up using, just work your way back to finer grits until it's super nice and smooth.

There's probably 100 threads on methods of tru-oil finishes already so I'll let you find those yourself.

If you are going with the simple dulling of the stock gloss, I'll warn you to be super careful if you use steel wool on your guitar. I'd recommend taping some plastic over your pickups so they're fairly well sealed, otherwise little tiny bits of steel wool will stick to the magnets and make a mess. In this case, you're likely removing the neck to do it, so it's not a problem, but don't leave the body sitting on the bench where you're working.

[tastybasslines]

Originally Posted by Kentucky Ryan

i just did this 3 days ago to my CV jazz. i tried 000# steel wool but it didnt work, then i used 400 grit sand paper very lightly and it did the trick. now what once was a sticky neck is smooth as silk.

You used the sandpaper and then tru oil?

[Arx]

No... People don't read the threads carefully. They've all just sanded the gloss off of a neck.

neither 800 grit or steel wool, or scotchbrite white/grey are going to take the poly off.


That said, it might be worth trying first. You might be happy enough with a matted poly, which is a lot easier to do than totally stripping it, and doing a new finish.

[tastybasslines]

Originally Posted by Arx

This is an either/or kind of thing. the steel wool or scotchbrite are good for making your gloss neck less glossy, but you'll still end up with a matte poly finish. That might be good enough, and you don't need the tru-oil.

If you want to do a tru-oil finish, you'll actually need to sand off all the polyurethane, which you're not going to do with steel wool and fine grit scotchbrite.

I would probably start around 200 grit, and see how that goes, quite likely it'll just plug up, and you'll need to go coarser, but if you start with something too coarse you're going to need to do a lot of sanding to take the scratch marks out. Whatever you end up using, just work your way back to finer grits until it's super nice and smooth.

There's probably 100 threads on methods of tru-oil finishes already so I'll let you find those yourself.

If you are going with the simple dulling of the stock gloss, I'll warn you to be super careful if you use steel wool on your guitar. I'd recommend taping some plastic over your pickups so they're fairly well sealed, otherwise little tiny bits of steel wool will stick to the magnets and make a mess. In this case, you're likely removing the neck to do it, so it's not a problem, but don't leave the body sitting on the bench where you're working.

I will most definitely see if the neck after removing the poly is sufficient as is before adding tru oil.

Thanks for the pickup tip...good idea. In your opinion, with the poly off and tru oil on, does it feel like a MM style neck?

[tastybasslines]

Originally Posted by Arx

No... People don't read the threads carefully. They've all just sanded the gloss off of a neck.

neither 800 grit or steel wool, or scotchbrite white/grey are going to take the poly off.


That said, it might be worth trying first. You might be happy enough with a matted poly, which is a lot easier to do than totally stripping it, and doing a new finish.

I posted about removing the poly, and adding tru oil. I assumed that when KentuckyRyan said he did that a few days ago, that he was talking about what I posted, which I why and asked to confirm.

[FretlessMainly]

Originally Posted by tastybasslines

So far in my research, I've basically read that the best way to do this is #0000 steel wool, and Casey/Birchwood Tru Oil. Any opinions on that? Will I get a Musicman feel?

For the first application of steel wool to remove the poly finish, should I do it all the way down to the wood where the entire poly finish is gone?

How many coats of Tru Oil should I use?

I've done this to a number of my basses and I've had great results with 600 grit followed by tung oil applied with 0000 steel wool.

To do this, cut an approximate 4" x 4" square of 600 grit and use broad strokes with your palm curving the paper against the neck. Don't concentrate on small areas, work the whole neck (I avoid going onto the headstock or past where the neck squares up at the body). You'll find that within a minute, your 600 grit is completely clogged with white dust (you need to move the paper around a bit to use its full area). Wear a dust mask!

I don't believe that I take it all the way down to bare wood; just enough to cut down the gloss. If you need to cut a small bit of 600 to finish up missed spots, go ahead, but again, I try to do this in broad strokes to avoid inconsistencies. To remove the residual, I use the 0000 steel wool with just enough tung oil to cover the work area. This takes no more than a minute.

I leave that for about 5 minutes and wipe off the residual. It is said that tung oil is a hardening finish, but doing it this way does not bring back the gloss by any stretch. The result is a nice, satiny finish.

I figure that it's better to remove less than more; you can always go back and remove a bit more if the final product is not to your liking. Sorry, I don't have a Musicman to compare to, but my method sounds like what you're looking for.

[Arx]

Originally Posted by tastybasslines

I posted about removing the poly, and adding tru oil. I assumed that when KentuckyRyan said he did that a few days ago, that he was talking about what I posted, which I why and asked to confirm.

Yeah.. nobody's reading your question, just doing a "Me too" on sanding a gloss finish matte.
none of these people are stripping and refinishing. they're just taking the gloss off.

I was just confirming that for you, since a "light" 400 grit sanding is not going to do it.

It's not a question of sanding it off, then deciding if it's good, or needs oil.

The options are to just rough up the finish, which can make it feel less sticky, and nicer to play (as everyone here is suggesting). I recommend trying that first. It may be good enough. If it's not what you want, then you need to sand it a lot more with much coarser sand paper to take the finish off down to bare wood, then back up through the grits to make it smooth again, and then apply the tru-oil.

As far as I know, putting tru-oil over a matted poly finish is not going to work well. I've never tried it, so I can't be sure, but I'm betting that's not what anyone here is suggesting. :P

EDIT: Except FrettlessMainly, who it sounds like is applying tung oil on an only partially removed finish. Not sure he's right about it being like a musicman, though... I'm pretty sure you'll need to go down to wood for that, but YMMV.

[tastybasslines]

Thanks Arx.

I may stay away from the SX I'm feeling now. I'm worried I won't be able to get what I want and there is a no tolerance policy for me with gloss necks. I wish I could see pics of the process and what the final result is.

[Arx]

Well, I wouldn't count it out just because you don't like gloss necks.

If you matte it out as all these guys are suggesting, it does make it much nicer to play, and is probably sufficient. Just think of your average satin poly neck, and that's roughly what it'll feel like.

It's not going to be the same feel as an oil finish, but it's durable, and won't have that draggy feeling you get sliding your hands on a gloss necks.

[ibateur]

Well removing the poly means going down to the wood. You could do that, sure. I have an unfinished neck that I oiled up. It is satiny and smooth. I also have an SX jazz that I was satisfied with after sanding the gloss to a matte. That was enough. It is also satiny and smooth. I didn't want to remove the poly as I'm afraid letting the wood "out" might make it unstable.

[FretlessMainly]

Originally Posted by Arx

Yeah.. nobody's reading your question, just doing a "Me too" on sanding a gloss finish matte.
none of these people are stripping and refinishing. they're just taking the gloss off.

Just to be clear, I read tastybasslines' post in its entirety and addressed his questions as best I could. My result is a satin finish, and my main point was that you don't really need to strip and refinish to get there. My way works in 10 minutes and it doesn't have the potential for regret regarding over-doing it. He asked this question:
For the first application of steel wool to remove the poly finish, should I do it all the way down to the wood where the entire poly finish is gone?

My response was basically, no, maybe not.

Is it not possible to answer a question without adhereing to the poster's exact specs? One would think that a nugget of experience might suggest that the desired result might actually be obtained through less work that also reflects a minimalist approach that won't result in a regretful experience.

Just my $0.02 from someone who apparently didn't read the post in question.

[wraub]

I used the standard Scotchbrite pads from the grocery store, applied to the neck for a minute or two.
Breaks up the sticky poly without removing it, really makes it slick and smooth.

wraub

[Arx]

Originally Posted by FretlessMainly

Is it not possible to answer a question without adhereing to the poster's exact specs? One would think that a nugget of experience might suggest that the desired result might actually be obtained through less work that also reflects a minimalist approach that won't result in a regretful experience.

Just my $0.02 from someone who apparently didn't read the post in question.

And if you had read my whole post, you would note the edit I made immediately after I posted the message where I pointed out that your post was the exception.

I was just pointing out that the other posts were just talking about a basic sanding as was discussed in the original pre-zombie post. Their wording was a little ambiguous, and it wanted to clarify that they weren't talking about what he was asking about.

Yours described an alternative process which he may not have considered, and that's fine because you explained what you did rather than just saying "I used 400 grit, and it worked great"

[FretlessMainly]

Sorry mate; missed your edit. And I've never played a Musicman, so I could only guess as to how close my method would get.

[Ironfingers]

I own an SX jazz and it did have a very thick poly on it. Steel wool is not going to remove it completely. At least in our lifetimes.

I have never tried it but I'm pretty sure Tru-oil over the poly, even after taking the gloss down will give you what you are looking for.

I suggest you do what I did. I used 1200 grit sandpaper. cut a 1.5 to 1 inch strip from the long side of a sheet and drape it over the neck, pulling down on both sides and sand it like you are polishing a shoe. Do one pass and try it. Keep doing it until you get it where you like it. I ended up doing 3 passes and it's nice now.

[wcoffey81]

the use of 1000-1500 grit wet/dry sandpaper should work very well and it would take quite a bit of rubbing to get through the poly. use a LITTLE" bit of either mineral spirits or water with a couple drops of soap in it to sand with. wipe it down with a clean dry towel after a couple of passes with the sandpaper to see how it's going. get it close to what you are looking for and then dry it with a hair dryer. touch up and place you missed and repeat.