Sanding off the finish from the neck?

[rocksoldier]

How much would it change the necks stability to sand off the finish from my rhoads concept 94 ? which has a satin finished neck, i really like the feel of a unfinished neck, but how durable would it be to warping, temperature changes and so on? I know that it´s possible to just take off some of the finish, but how do i know how much that is enough?

I would also like to know if it is possible to sand the neck on my epiphone sg, which has a painted mahogany neck, would it be extremely sensitive even if i didn´t take all finsish off?

Sorry for my bad english and a lot of questions, but i would really appreciate some help on this, and i doesn´t wanna mess up my guitars.

// Henrik

[White]

Re: Sanding off the finish from the neck?

Well, un unfinished neck can eventually look like an grey old wooden fence.

Thats one problem.

The second problem is that its protection is obviously decreased.

Is a "rhoads concept 94" a rare/desirable guitar? you will severly dent the resell value by shaving the neck.

I wouldn't leave it completely naked, probably at least 1 coat of tunq oil. I think it will still feel unfinished, but will be protected as well.

The epiphone would be fine too, i would think. It might need an extra coat of tunq oil, I think mahogany is very porus and would absorb the first layer of tung oil.

[rocksoldier]

Re: Sanding off the finish from the neck?

No, its not a expensive guitar, is worth like 200-250$. I doesn´t really care about the resale value, as long as the neck stays straight and is not to much of a pain to keep clean.

I had thought about oiling it as well, which i guess would protect the neck from getting to dirty, but what i really wanna know is if there will be a major risk that the neck is gonna warp or something.
I also think i might just leave the paint on the epiphone, i play my rhoads most of the time anyway =)

[fett]

Re: Sanding off the finish from the neck?

This is the famous "Use a razorblade" method. Be gentle and peel the finish off . Use the blade as a fine scraper. It works great and you won't take off any wood. A utility knife blade is the way to go.

[rocksoldier]

Re: Sanding off the finish from the neck?

Ok, thanks for the help, but i still wanna know how sensitive the neck would get, how likley is the neck to warp if i sand all the finish down and then tung oil it?

[Budman68]

Re: Sanding off the finish from the neck?

<font color="aqua"> Do yourself a favor and before you sand ALL of the finish off. Get yourself some "0000" Steel Wool at a hardware store (four zeros which tells you how fine of a grade of steel wool it is. It's used for furniture refinishing and such) and lightly go over the finish that's on the neck now. There is a VERY good chance you'll like the feel and you won't have to go through with refinishing or re-oiling the neck. Just try it, I bet you'll like it, and it's a heck of a lot less work too [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] By the way, cover your pickups so the steel particles don't get stuck to them through magnetism.</font>

[fett]

Re: Sanding off the finish from the neck?

The whole trick with wood, is that with age, the moisture level will get down to about 10%. If the neck is, at least, 10 years old, don't worry. It has already figured out what it is going to do. That is why old wood on guitars is better wood. Just scrape the finish off. Let it sit around for a few days, now that it has its coat off, and oil it if you want. But. if you don't protect the neck, with a lot of play, it will pick up all the cruddy dirt and oils that are on your hand. Then your neck will develope blackheads and zits. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]