Warmoth replacement neck: Gloss, satin, or no finish???

[Tonyo1960]

I'm going to order a new neck for my Standard 5-string MIM Jazz bass.
Love the body and electronics, but even with the truss rod fully (perhaps overly) tightened (even with a few washers underneath), I've got a slight front bow in the neck.
Hence, the need for the upgrade.
I can't decide among the following options:
1. Maple (pau ferro fretboard) with vintage tint satin nitro finish
2. Roasted maple (pau ferro fretboard) with vintage tint satin nitro finish
3. Roasted maple (pau ferro fretboard) with NO finish
Has anybody had any experience with any of these woods/finishes?
Any/all insight is much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Steve Slate]

I have a 97 Jazz Bass standard 5 MIA pau ferro board 5 inline tuners. I came with a nice feeling satin neck. I did over time
sand down and refinished the back of the neck. I would not go with gloss though. You could finish the back your self or go with satin. Thats just me. There are a lot of vids on Youtube on the topic.

 

[J Posega]

I have:

1. Maple neck, ebony fretboard, gloss vintage tint. Honestly, the vintage tint is the ugliest yellow. Seriously, it's hideous. It's not a tint. It's *****ng yellow. Like, Simpsons yellow. I don't like gloss either, so I've buffed it down to a more satiny finish with a green Scotch Brite pad. I bought the neck used so I didn't have a choice. I'll be stripping the gloss and tint off of it someday.
2. Roasted maple neck/fretboard, no finish. I love this neck. It feels awesome, smells nice, and looks great. I applied one coat of Howard's Feed n Wax because that's what I finished the body with and even though Warmoth says roasted maple doesn't need a finish to be covered by their warranty, folks in the Luthier's Corner suggested putting a little finish on it to protect it from the elements.

I also have a Harley Benton J bass copy with a roasted maple neck and laurel fretboard which also looks and feels fantastic. If the neck has any finish on it, it's satin.

 

[96tbird]

To me, I would have to see the shaped raw neck to decide. If it’s some wow grain then it’s going gloss. Or the one with nice round edges.

 

[Turnaround]

Despite the hype that is rampant about roasted maple necks, I don't trust roasted maple to be sufficiently stable without a finish of some kind. I have seem too many problems with roasted maple to swallow the hype without a good dose of salt. FWIW, the darker the roast, the more problems I have seen.

I don't mind a gloss neck, but my preference runs to satin. But satin doesn't remain satin - it will gloss up from use over time. You can kill that gloss with some steel wool, fine sandpaper or similar.

 

[aproud1]

Agree with turnaround. If paying for a finish, I’d go satin. That said, I have done many hand rubbed finishes on necks. It’s not hard.