How to unfinish a neck?

[ripley156]

Hello...
I have a parts project I am working on...It has a Warmouth Radius neck that has a light coat of some type of sealant/finish on the fretboard and back of neck.
How can I go about taking this off? Although I haven't played one in forever, I remember really liking the feel of unfinished maple necks and fretboards. My main guitar has a rosewood neck and I am hoping for something with more of an older Charvel-feel. (The Warmouth neck is maple, btw.)

Finally, are there any look-outs/downfalls to doing this?

Thanks everyone!

Dan

[MetalGrasshopper]

Re: How to unfinish a neck?

Yea...if you unfinish the neck, it won't have as much protection against warping due to moisture.

[fett]

Re: How to unfinish a neck?

I decided to strip the finish off, an otherwise, very nice Jackson neck. One of the reasons I did this is the joint between the neck and the fretboard was uneven on the edges, I used a very sharp Swiss Army knife and shaved the finish of the neck and also matched up the board to the neck. It's kinda like peeling a carrot. Very lighty run the knive in a scraping motion. If you are careful, you will get the feel and you will love it.

[sully]

Re: How to unfinish a neck?

leave the finish on there, but scuff it with some steel wool. you'll get the satiny feel of an unfinished neck, but you'll keep the protection.

[lockenload]

Re: How to unfinish a neck?

[ QUOTE ]
leave the finish on there, but scuff it with some steel wool. you'll get the satiny feel of an unfinished neck, but you'll keep the protection.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll do that. I heard that before a couple of times and keeping the protection is a BIG PLUS!

[Shawn Lutz]

Re: How to unfinish a neck?

Try sanding lightly with 400 gt wet/dry sandpaper and leaving it if you can. If you must go to the wood you need to do more sanding and then apply either tung oil or linseed oil .

I can't stand the feel of lacquer finish on the back of the neck. I always do the 400-600 grit sanding to smooth it out. I don't take it down to the wood and it leaves a great feel and has plenty of protection.