Warmoth satin neck finish = yuck

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Cliff Notes version: It's nitrocellulose lacquer. Ugh.

So, I have this Warmoth neck. It's a great neck, sounds good, plays good as far as the action and general feel, but, it's is sticky and gummy and gets little balls of crud on it. I wipe it off and 5 minutes later, it's sticky and gummy...

Much to my surprise Warmoth uses nitro lacquer for their satin finish. This is not cool for me, I don't do well with lacquer, I turn it to goo... I expected that this would be a satin poly finish and didn't even think to look before I bought it.

It's three months old, I've played it daily, never been in the case, so I don't expect it's an un-cured finish issue, I suspect it's the same issue I had with my '97 The Paul (sold) and my Explorer, and the LP Studio I have now, which is, that I cannot play on a lacquer neck because my sweat softens the lacquer and it feels crappy.

The neck is Korina... I've considered sanding it down and applying Tru Oil, but I've heard some info that Korina is not to be left natural because it's soft, and splinters will give you blisters/infections.

I've also considered putting a wipe-on poly over the lacquer but in my case this might be like smearing jizz over shit; not really solving a problem, just adding more layers to it. :think:

Third option: Different neck.

Thoughts?

[Tricky]

You can strip the lacquer off with thinner. Then I Suggest tung oil. Its easy to apply. Just wipe on with a rag, let dry for an hour or two, then apply another coat. 4 OR 5 coats should do it. When the last coat drys. rub it down with 0000 steel wool. You can get Tung oil at Wallyworld.

Check it out.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Lissen here, sonny, I was oil finishing furniture 25 years ago, I know how to do it.



I'm concerned about Korina without a hard finish. It's pretty soft, and the idea that the wood is semi-toxic is kind of a turn-off; if it were maple I'd already have it done.

I'm looking for any specific input on that, if anyone has done an oil finished Korina neck... Probably won't get any but it can't hurt to try.

[Tricky]

Ok Pop. No Korina dressers or coffee tables uh.

How about this;
For the first 3 coats use pure tung oil cut down 50% with mineral spirits. Then use a mix of equal parts pure tung oil, mineral spirits and satin polyurethane for 5 coats. You can rub this mix like you would other types of polymerized tung oil. It fills the grain very nicely. For the last 2 coats just use a 50/50 mix of poly and mineral spirits wiped on. This seals everything up nicely.

I'm not that young.
I used Green Stamps, pumped full service gas for tips, & we were still using cabooses when I started working for the Rail Road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAgwe8lSTgw&feature=related

Sorry for my useless suggestion & good luck.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Ha ha... Not useless at all, man, and that IS a nice-looking neck.

Honestly I don't find much info about korina at all, trying at the unofficial Warmoth forums and the web in general.

I did see a couple of guys who did tung oil finishes on bodies, but they did complain it was very soft (it is) so I'm not sure how a neck would fare without the lacquer.

I might go with option three but I figure, it is probably worth a shot because it's either going to get ruined from playing it oiled or it's going to get sold for less than I paid for it, or it's going to not get used... Wasted $$ any way you slice it.

[Tricky]

Found an old recipe.
Check my edited post. Maybe work?

And the Kessel link is cool.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

That could work... I'll give that some thought. I'm not opposed to poly (actually I'd much rather have Scotch-Brite'ed gloss poly than this satin lacquer shit) at all.

I might just hit it with some acetone on the back (in the "playing area") and wipe a couple of coats of poly on it. :think:

[Tricky]

Worked good on Mahogany.

If you haven't already, click on that YouTube link.
Old folks stuff.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

I did... I'm not that old!

Pretty cool, though. Not metal enough for me.

[Tricky]

LOL

[Axewielder]

I've got three guitars with nitro necks, and I haven't bonded with any of them! Why do I keep venturing into those waters?

[Trussrod]

Have you tried waxing it?

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Not a bad idea, Trussrod.

I have not, because it's fairly new (not good to wax "new" paint), and I'm guessing that since I've always had this issue with Gibsons (big part of my "I really don't like Gibsons" stance) it's not going to go away even when they're old.

But a coat of car wax might seal it up & keep my sweat/oil from liquefying the finish. :think:

I don't have a problem with poly painted necks (Soloist) so it's not just the "it's shiny, and doesn't feel as slippery as bare wood" it's really just nasty balled-up gunk, almost like you rubbed it with an eraser or something.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

i called gibson tech support because my flying V neck gets sticky and cruddy all the time. they told me that i should rub it down with a clean cloth with zippo premium lighter fluid. thats what their techs do after working on a guitar. so i did that and its smooth and slick... untill someone with dirty hands plays it. then its cruddy again and needs to be cleaned again. i end up spit shining it before each gig and that works great.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

I think that works for some people, but I'm not one of them.

I clean it with a green Scotch-Brite pad and naptha and it's OK for a couple of days, then it starts getting gunky, and I clean it with a rag. After about a week or less, it starts to get crappy again. That's a little too high-maintenance for me.