A first kit for Christmas: JMA-1L

[Volgar]

Hi Maxence,
If you have masked off the fretboard you can go ahead with sanding,unfortunatley its a bit hard for me to give advice on what product you could finish with because i'm not sure what you have available to you there in France. However I'm certain there would be someone here that could give you some better ideas on what to use.

Somebody told me about lemon oil or tru oil, Can It work ?

[Simon Barden]

I'd certainly use lemon oil on the fretboard itself, though if that's one of the 'blackwood' synthetic fretboards, rather than real rosewood, I'm not quite sure if it will benefit it much.

For the rest of the neck, you can certainly use Tru-Oil (which a lot of people like the feel of on the neck), Danish oil (similar to Tru-Oil) or you could spray it with a clear or slightly amber tinted lacquer (which could be nitrocellulose, acrylic or polyurethane). It's a personal choice and they all have their plus and minus points. Certainly in cold weather, a wipe-on finish is easier to apply inside than spraying.

[Volgar]

I'd certainly use lemon oil on the fretboard itself, though if that's one of the 'blackwood' synthetic fretboards, rather than real rosewood, I'm not quite sure if it will benefit it much.

For the rest of the neck, you can certainly use Tru-Oil (which a lot of people like the feel of on the neck), Danish oil (similar to Tru-Oil) or you could spray it with a clear or slightly amber tinted lacquer (which could be nitrocellulose, acrylic or polyurethane). It's a personal choice and they all have their plus and minus points. Certainly in cold weather, a wipe-on finish is easier to apply inside than spraying.

The site indicated a rosewood fingerboard when I bought it, I'll buy some lemon oil soon so


Apart from leveling the frets, what should I do on the neck?

[Simon Barden]

Sanding to smooth the neck, round off any rough edges and get it feeling comfortable in your hands. After that, mask off the fretboard and apply your chosen finish. It is quite common to apply any clear finish to the sides of the fretboard (not the top) but you can mask that off as well and just put the clear finish on the maple parts of the neck.

[Volgar]

Frets are leveled !
There was just 3 high frets that I leveled with my fret crowning file !



Did I need to sand the neck before the finish ? if so, with what grade?

[Volgar]

I found this Tru-oil, is this working ? 88 mL would be enough ?
This one or This one ?

[Simon Barden]

The 90ml bottle of Tru-Oil should be more than enough to do the neck. Each coat is very thin, so you need to use between 10-30 coats depending on how thick and how shiny you want the neck to be. If you want a satin finish, then you can apply less coats and leave it unpolished. For a gloss finish, you'll need more layers so that you can sand the finish flat and then polish it.

I notice that in the photos, the frets look quite rough with lots of file scratch marks on them. You'll need to get them smooth to get the guitar playing well. I normally start with 400 grit and 600 grit sandpaper to get the deep scratches out, then use Micro-Mesh sheets and run up through their grits from 1500 to 12000 and then use some metal polish for a final shine. I normally test each fret with a short length of top E string. If you drag it across a fret, then it should just glide over the surface without any resistance. If it's not smooth enough, you'll feel it catch in the small scratches still left. Keep using the sandpaper until each fret is smooth, then swap to the Micro-mesh to polish.

The Micro-mesh (it's a trade name) can be used or both polishing the neck and body finish and polishing the frets

If you don't have any, then you can find it on eBay. I've done a quick search page for you.

https://www.ebay.fr/sch/i.html?_odkw...h&_sacat=14339

It comes in 1500, 1800, 2400, 3200, 3600, 4000, 600, 8000 and 12000 grits (it's a different grit size to normal sandpaper) and I suggest you get a 9 sheet kit so that you've got all the grits for a better finish. You can get pads or soft sheets. Pads are good for paintwork, but the sheets are better for smaller items like frets as they are more flexible. You can use them wet or dry.

Unless the fretboard itself feels very rough, then I wouldn't normally sand the fretboard. I would tape up the fretboard itself when using the sandpaper on the fret, then take the tape off when using the Micromesh which will help give a nice smooth finish to the board at the same time you are polishing the frets.

I hope that all makes sense!

[Volgar]

The 90ml bottle of Tru-Oil should be more than enough to do the neck. Each coat is very thin, so you need to use between 10-30 coats depending on how thick and how shiny you want the neck to be. If you want a satin finish, then you can apply less coats and leave it unpolished. For a gloss finish, you'll need more layers so that you can sand the finish flat and then polish it.

I notice that in the photos, the frets look quite rough with lots of file scratch marks on them. You'll need to get them smooth to get the guitar playing well. I normally start with 400 grit and 600 grit sandpaper to get the deep scratches out, then use Micro-Mesh sheets and run up through their grits from 1500 to 12000 and then use some metal polish for a final shine. I normally test each fret with a short length of top E string. If you drag it across a fret, then it should just glide over the surface without any resistance. If it's not smooth enough, you'll feel it catch in the small scratches still left. Keep using the sandpaper until each fret is smooth, then swap to the Micro-mesh to polish.

The Micro-mesh (it's a trade name) can be used or both polishing the neck and body finish and polishing the frets

If you don't have any, then you can find it on eBay. I've done a quick search page for you.

https://www.ebay.fr/sch/i.html?_odkw...h&_sacat=14339

It comes in 1500, 1800, 2400, 3200, 3600, 4000, 600, 8000 and 12000 grits (it's a different grit size to normal sandpaper) and I suggest you get a 9 sheet kit so that you've got all the grits for a better finish. You can get pads or soft sheets. Pads are good for paintwork, but the sheets are better for smaller items like frets as they are more flexible. You can use them wet or dry.

Unless the fretboard itself feels very rough, then I wouldn't normally sand the fretboard. I would tape up the fretboard itself when using the sandpaper on the fret, then take the tape off when using the Micromesh which will help give a nice smooth finish to the board at the same time you are polishing the frets.

I hope that all makes sense!

Micromesh is mandatory ?
I did’nt have 25€ for this now ://
Normal sandpaper doesn’t work for this ? :/

[FrankenWashie]

Hi Maxence,

Micro Mesh is not mandatory, but it does make the process easier and gives a better result. Some have used higher grades sand papers, 0000 steel wool and then polish and buffing and have gotten very good results.

[pablopepper]

I got this finish with regular wet and dry 800 up to 2000.