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Gloss to Satin, on an SX neck

Zooski

Zooski

Jul 11, 2006
327
0
Say Yes! to M!ch!gan!
#1
Hey guys, i picked up an SX bass awhile ago just as a junker to keep around the dorm room and so far its been great for the $. The neck has always bugged me though. The gloss finish on the back of the neck just feels too sticky--its like too glossy, and my hand doesnt slide well on it. I want to change this, and with it being an SX im not worried about messin it up so i figure its worth a try. Whats the best way to do it?

Could i just work on it with some kind of sandpaper to take the gloss off? If this will work, what type of sandpaper will be best? Will I have to refinish it with like a satin finish to seal it??
Does anyone have any input? thanks!
 
#2
Zooski said:
Hey guys, i picked up an SX bass awhile ago just as a junker to keep around the dorm room and so far its been great for the $. The neck has always bugged me though. The gloss finish on the back of the neck just feels too sticky--its like too glossy, and my hand doesnt slide well on it. I want to change this, and with it being an SX im not worried about messin it up so i figure its worth a try. Whats the best way to do it?

Could i just work on it with some kind of sandpaper to take the gloss off? If this will work, what type of sandpaper will be best? Will I have to refinish it with like a satin finish to seal it??
Does anyone have any input? thanks!
Click to expand...

Well, seeing as you're not worried about screwing it up, I'd give it a try. Probably go quite a bit finer than you think you need to on the sand paper, or use very fine steel wool. Maybe even one of those 3m abrasive scrubbies (don't know what colour you would want though. most are probably too coarse)

I don't really know what I'm talking about, but I'd just grab a sheet of 1500grit sandpaper and see what happens. If it doesn't work, I guess you'll have to sand it the rest of the way, and refinish.

My bet is that it'll be fine, as long as you sand lightly with very fine paper. The finish will probably be quite thin though, so just do the minimum to take the gloss off..
 
#4
Steel wool, very fine steel wool, just take the shine off, if you go lightly you will only texturise it, which is what you want, you dont want to strip the protective finish.
 
#7
i've been using the steel wool trick on the back of my warwick neck to make it play faster. just rub some 00# steel wool along the grain and it takes off just the perfect amount of wood so it plays like you would never imagine!

that trick worked on my warwick which had a satin finish i do believe. now i just got rid of it and switched to a 6 string that has a maple neck with a gloss finish. the steel wool trick doesnt work AT all on my gloss finish neck. doesnt take a single thing off of it. period! i just leaves some scratch marks on the finish.

what do you have to say for that?
 
#9
I bought an SX strat just to dink around on. They have very heavy poly on the neck. I know the bass necks also have very heavy poly finish. I wouldn't recommend doing this, but when I removed the poly on the guitar I used a dremel and alot of 120 grit paper, followed by finishing it with 800 and 1200 grit paper. Its was smooth like buttah. But took about 2 weeks.

They have way to much poly on the necks. Far too much.
 
#10
flakeh said:
I bought an SX strat just to dink around on. They have very heavy poly on the neck. I know the bass necks also have very heavy poly finish. I wouldn't recommend doing this, but when I removed the poly on the guitar I used a dremel and alot of 120 grit paper, followed by finishing it with 800 and 1200 grit paper. Its was smooth like buttah. But took about 2 weeks.

They have way to much poly on the necks. Far too much.
Click to expand...

I don't think he's looking to strip the neck though... Just wants to matte out the finish so it's not so draggy on the fingers.

I'd have to agree with byoung that one of the 3m pads is probably the best if you can get one in a really fine grit. I don't think it much matters as long as you go wit something with a very fine, very sharp abrasive. Poly is pretty hard to sand normally anyhow.. you just want the scratches you put into it small enough that they don't look like scratches anymore. ;)

Yeah... be wary of the whole magnet+steelwool thing if you end up using steelwool.
 
#11
I use steel wool, 000 or 0000 if I can remove the neck. It's a pain to have to mask off the pickups. But the green or maroon abrasive pads sold as a substitute for steel wool in paint stores work too and don't shed pieces of metal. Poly is very hard and takes a bit of work to dull the finish. The pads wear out quickly.
 
#14
scotchbrite1.jpg

This is all you need really. Theres not much risk at all.
 
#15
TeeMartin said:
scotchbrite1.jpg

This is all you need really. Theres not much risk at all.
Click to expand...

+1

I use nylon scour pads (the cheapie generic ones) ALL the time on my Yamaha necks (my RBX170 bass and Pacifica 112 guitar)...it works GREAT!...

I won't apply it to my nice poly mahogany Carvin neck...but I never had an issue with that puppy, anyway.

by the way, a worn nylon pad also works great on the fretboard for giving the frets a shiny touch up before conditioning prior to a new string set.
 
#18
Zombie threading this one...

I'm about to order an SX jazz and I am planning on removing the gloss finish from the back of the neck. I'm looking to get it to feel as much as a MusicMan neck feel as possible. Satiny/oily I suppose.

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?

Anyway, if it is a good way to do what I am looking for - I have a few questions:

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?

After applying a coat and letting it dry, should I steel wool it again to what level? Take the last coat visibly all the way off? Or just a little rub?

What should I do after applying the last coat? Buff? If so, what should I use and how should I do it?

Thanks in advance..
 

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