Fender CS unfinished necks?

[J-Bass RMR]

It feels like bare wood

My last CS felt like it had raised grain - especially at the transitions.
A light rubbing with 3m white synth steel wool remedied it.

On the Floor Traveler, it lists NECK FINISH twice; NCL for the 1st line and the second line is blank.
Is lacquer compatible with the poly?

And while I like my custom shops, frankly, the neck on my RW Flea looks almost identical to the 40 years of relic'ing I've put on my '66 Jazz. (which, admittedly, I've always babied.)

Which is which? (the headstocks in the photo have been touched up to protect their identities)
(clue; there is one dead giveaway....)

 

[ole Jason]

The partscaster guitar I built has a raw neck, similar to what you see on Nash or CS guitars. I have pretty dry hands and it has held up just fine. If it ever gets gunky I'll use a scotchbrite pad to clean it up. The maple does get pretty discolored, obviously. That's just part of it.

 

[Freekmagnet]

The main thing is to clean the slime off of it regularly. Don't let the wax and grease build up on the surface. And don't just wipe on more Tru-Oil over the wax and grease. If you feel you need to recoat it, it has to be cleaned thoroughly first.

Yeah, I gotta say the oil/wax finish wasn’t one of EBMM’s better ideas. I don’t know if they’re using it any more. The oil/wax “finish” gets dirty really fast and offers virtually no protection from the elements. Cleaning the FB - ugh. Plus, when you clean it, the process removes part of the finish, which needs to be replenished. If you’re actually playing and gigging regularly like I do, the maintenance cycle is an expensive and time-consuming process I don’t want to be bothered with. I’d rather just have a polyester finish and not worry about it.

 

[dmk]

The '66 Jazz is on the left. The giveaway is the tuners. It's interesting to see where a player hangs out on the fretboard. Fender always assumes a player is using almost all of the fretboard, especially on their custom shop basses.

 

[Moogmelt]

Thanks for all the great info, love me some TB!

 

[Moogmelt]

What about Murphy’s oil soap? Read that it’s recommended by EB as well as some woodworkers on different natural finishes…