I've noticed the thickness is definitely bigger on my 2500 than many basses I've ever played. It's funny because I remember my guitarist always talking about C necks and D's and Boats, thin and thicker on his Strats compared to Les Pauls..etc. I used to laugh. Who cares "I said". Its true, its has to fit you or you have just get used to different geometry. The newer American Jazzes and Precisions, including the Jazz 5 have 9.25" Radii necks, personally I think, a playing improvement over the 7.25" and that includes the reissues up to the 75. The 12" on Our G&L's feels really good to me. To be honest it took me 2 solid weeks to really get used to it including that fact I moved from an 83 Precision 7.25 radii to the L2500. Woa! The nice thing with the bigger radii, flatter neck, is you can get a slightly better (lower) setup if you like that...you jazz type softer players. I'm somewhere in between. I rock hard but try not to attack too hard. The flatter radii, for me, tends to make 2 Octave showoffs easier to manage without being a garilla!
Steel wool is great for the satin feel. The nice thing is machine rubbing compound (at your local automotive paint supplier and sometimes auto parts store) will bring the gloss right back as these finishes are applied and polished in the same manner as automotive finishes. Laquers and polys rub out beautifully. With the right materials in your hands you can get rid of most wear areas, scratches if they aren't sub surface. I'd have no hesitation to take "00" steelwool to my neck if I wanted. It appears the finishes on the G&l's are quite heavy (thick) to begin with. No worrys with steelwool.
