Unfinished necks

[Ultramagnus]

I love the way the unfinished necks feel on my two promods & I'm thinking of taking the finish off of a couple Jackson's I own with maple necks/fretboards.
I could realy use some advice though, what is the safest & most effective method to do this?

Thanks

[algeriet]

I recommend that you lick the finish off of the neck. I do that. Honest to God. Takes quite some time though.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

There is no safe/effective way to remove the poly finish from a neck. If it's lacquer, get some acetone and go to town. However fi the frets are seated with cyanoacrylate they will come off with the finish if you are not careful.

The "unfinished" necks are actually Tru Oil. It feels like raw wood, but it's not. It's a hard finish.

Basically, "I wouldn't."

[dg]

The best thing to do with those poly finished necks is to scuff the back of the neck with fine steel wool or a Scotch Brite pad to get the gloss off & make it more of a satin finish. It'll feel less sticky and a little closer to what an oiled neck is like, plus it's totally reversible with a little buffing.

[Axewielder]

In the time it would take to do this, you could master 3 new scales. Wouldn't that be time better spent?

[tcwil8]

I've only removed the finish from necks that were on 'cost effective' guitars that I really didn't care about. I used a similar process like dg states above and added varying grades of sandpaper to the mix as well. After removing the finish, added tru oil to protect the wood. All turned out okay after a lot of effort but I wouldn't recommend doing this with any guitar you care about. Just my opinion.

[john.w.lawson]

So what are these pro mod necks?

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

They're Tru Oil.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

The best thing to do with those poly finished necks is to scuff the back of the neck with fine steel wool or a Scotch Brite pad to get the gloss off & make it more of a satin finish. It'll feel less sticky and a little closer to what an oiled neck is like, plus it's totally reversible with a little buffing.

That is one approach and that works pretty well.

I also could recommend never cleaning them, but making sure your hands are relatively clean before playing them. You don't want peanut butter and motor oil all over them, but once they get a nice coat of the natural oil of your skin on them from your hands, they feel much slicker... But when they are clean, they feel "sticky" for sure.

Lacquer is the opposite though, I have to clean those really well with naphtha and a paper towel or they ball up and get gummy.

[Grandturk]

I scraped the finish off a Model series neck with a big knife and then sanded it "sorta smooth." It took less time than mastering three scales.

[wilkinsi]

In the time it would take to do this, you could master 3 new scales. Wouldn't that be time better spent?

... or fighting Galvatron?

[tcwil8]

... or fighting Galvatron?

Took me a second. Nice.

[john.w.lawson]

They're Tru Oil.

sooo, youre supposed to oil them?

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Tru Oil isn't really an oil finish, it doesn't need to be maintained like one.

It actually makes a hard finish and AFAIK you don't really have to maintain it outside of re-applying some to protect it, if you scuff it off down to the wood or whatever.

[The Rossness]

there's my method- Use a power sander. It'll get the job done quick!



...No, I'm not kidding.