Taking Lacquer off Back of a Neck

[shredmonster]

I have a neck with clear coat lacquer on back.

I was looking at getting some MicroMesh to take it off.

Anybody have experience in doing this?

Was wondering how many grits I am going to need and then do I use soapy water when doing it?

[metalchurch79]

I use 400 grit to knock it down to the wood, then progressively go up from there with 800, 1000, then finally 2000 grit.
I then wipe it with fretboard oil and let it soak for about 15 minutes, then wipe it down and go over it with 2000 once more.
You will have a neck thats smooth as a 13 year olds' ass when you're done.
Remember to tape the edge of the fretboard so you dont accidently scuff it up.

[metalchurch79]

PS don't wet sand it at all. The moisture will cause the grain to raise up causing you more work.
That's why I use fretboard oil before the final sanding of 2000, because it sort of seals the grain from the sweat of your hands while playing.
Sometimes it takes a few applications before the grain quits soaking your hand sweat.
You'll be fine as long as you take your time.

Also sand it by hand only going up and down the neck, not side to side. You want to create a natural feel on the neck, so by sanding up and down sort of recreates the playing process.

I do this to all of my necks and it has worked great for me, others may have different methods though. I hope this helps.

[shredmonster]

Thanks. That sounds like a pretty good method. I will try it.

[metalchurch79]

There are other methods I'm sure, but this is how I figured out how to do it, and it's worked out ok for me.
Over time the neck will smooth out nicely from playing it, and get really fast feeling.

[Nocturne Guitars]

You got a steel wool adversion or something ?

[sully]

are you trying to dull the clear, so it feels like satin, or get it to bare wood?
if you want a satin finish, just take some 000 steel wool to it and be done with it. should take about 10 minutes, start to finish. oh, and make sure you tape your pickups off.

if you're wanting to take it down to the wood, get yourself some 80 grit sandpaper and work your way up to 320, gunstock oil it, and you're done.

sully

[VitaminG]

are you trying to dull the clear, so it feels like satin, or get it to bare wood?
if you want a satin finish, just take some 000 steel wool to it and be done with it. should take about 10 minutes, start to finish. oh, and make sure you tape your pickups off.

on someone here's suggestion, I rummaged around under the kitchen sink for a while and then took a scotch pad to one of my necks. Worked a treat. And no metal filings to get into my pickups.

[metalchurch79]

Sully, 80 to 320 seems kind of rough, I've never tried that method but I might give it a shot next time to see how it feels.
I take mine down to the wood, that's why I use such light grits, and I prefer the bare wood to be real smooth.

Are there different methods just knocking down the clear as opposed to going down to bare wood?

Just like most things, everyone has a certain way that they've done something, and whatever works best is how I look at it.
Both methods are aimed in the right direction so it's not that bad.

I also hear about using gun stock oil, but when I first did this, I only had fretboard oil available and I used that with good results. I'd imagine they have similar qualities? I'm also going to try the g/s oil sometime.
Thanks for the tips.

[sully]

if you have a painted neck and want to remove it to wood, i'd really use a stripper if it's not bound, and is a bolt on neck. if it's neck thru, painted, and bound, yeah, i'd use 80 to 100 grit to get through it. you'll get through it faster and more efficiently than going to the wood with 400 grit. my disclaimer is that i've done it a bunch of times, and there's a feel that you have to have. if you're not careful, it's really easy to reshape the neck with 80 grit. that said, i'm not gonna want to spend a day on it.

if you want to keep it bare, there's not much of a need to take it past 320, imo. that gets it pretty darn smooth. you can add oil with steel wool, which does a nice job of buffing the wood out while oiling it. imo, there's no need to use the higher grits on bare wood; it's main intent is for smoothing out painted finishes.

i used danish oil on the backs of necks until i found some gunstock oil. i'll always prefer it to any other oil finish going forward. i highly recommend it; the feel is awesome.

sully

[Rich#6]

I myself start with 320, 400 and finish with 600. Then I use tung oil. I have never attempted to do a bound neck though. It comes out just as smooth as my charvel san dimas.