Non pitbull neck

[dozey05]

Hey guys.

First project related post since I signed up so sorry if it's abit full on.

Just accidentally bought a neck off eBay... *handy tip. Don't let kids play on your phone after you've been looking on eBay lol*

I picked up my phone and seen that I won the bid of a neck I was looking at on eBay and being only 20 bucks I thought stuff it, it's only 20 bucks. It came from a kit where the guy didn't require the neck. What's the worst that could happen? Maybe I'll learn a thing or two. I haven't received it yet so i am unable to comment on its quality just yet and I'm just planing a head

So now I have to think about how I'm gonna Finnish this neck, how I'm gonna shape the headstock and how I'm going to level and dress the frets.

I was thinking about spraying the neck in a vintage yellow/Amber nitro but not 100% certain on that, wouldn't mind seeing some examples of some other ways to go i.e stains, tru-oil etc

As for the tools I'm planing to use or purchase for this job is probably a fret leveling tool from als and maybe a fret end file. What are people using to level the frets? I'm more than likely going to need buy a fret rocker which is no stress and could I just use my 1 foot aluminium strait edge with some sand paper stuck to it as a leveling tool?

Also, what are people using or who are they using to make up their custom logos?

Sorry for the 20 questions and thanks in advanced

*will post some pics when I figure out how from my phone

[dozey05]

Pics uploaded from my phone after they were cropped massively to be able to work

[Dedman]

Hi Dozey
I've been using a 300mm long sharpening stone as a leveler, works OK but I'm sure the right tool would do it better. For logo's people tend to use decal paper in a printer mostly if doing it themselves. So far I've used auto acrylic and tru- oil, both have given good results.
Test fit it to the body and make sure your tuners fit the holes before starting, nothing worse than scratching a finish trying to fit things.

[stan]

a spirit level makes a great leveling tool, perfectly flat edge, inexpensive, use double sided tape to attach some sandpaper and you are away

[dozey05]

So after a long few months I have finally pulled my finger out and have started to make some progress on this. After a lot of weekly searching on here for a neck finished in dingotone 'acacia' and not having much luck, I decided to just then pull the pin and order a kit myself.

So far I have cut out a rough outline with my jigsaw from 62 template, which I have also done with a peice of mdf that I will then use as a router template and then cut the final shape on there.

One mistake I did make however was that I should have left the bottom curve as is, but instead I cut it to follow the lines of the template and now I am scared that it will not line up properly with the rest of the neck. Hopefully it turns out tho.

So in the mean time over the weekend why I wait for my stain, I will attempt to fix some of the sharp frets I have (there is only 3) and give the great a polish.

One question why I'm here is what are most people sanding their necks to? Will 400 be plenty or are people going higher? Sorry if I dragged on and thanks in advance.

[Simon Barden]

Dingotone needs a keyed surface to stick to and penetrate the wood. 400 is probably too fine, especially on maple, so maybe no more than P240 if you want it to take well, P320 at the most. You can sand to a higher grit number once it's finished.