New 80's Superstrat build project (Non-PBG Kit).

[Andyxlh]

Is it a finished neck? I presume so. I don't know the answer, sorry, but a closer inspection should reveal what has happened. A look at the pic seems to show a neck with a lot of wear, I can see wear marks on the frets even on that scale. What are they like? If they are very worn you will be up for a refret.
I wonder if the stain is where the original finish has worn through, allowing the players fingers to mark the fretboard with sweat and dirt. I'd avoid using anything with water in that case, as you don't want damp in the wood. Although maple is very dense so the water penetration would be low.
I have no idea. I might try wax and grease remover. But I'd guess you will have to remove all of the finish from the fretboard, possibly lightly sand it and reclear it for it to be gone.
I'd be interested to hear what people in the know might say.....
Last word... I like the aged look of the neck as it is!

[DrNomis_44]

Is it a finished neck? I presume so. I don't know the answer, sorry, but a closer inspection should reveal what has happened. A look at the pic seems to show a neck with a lot of wear, I can see wear marks on the frets even on that scale. What are they like? If they are very worn you will be up for a refret.
I wonder if the stain is where the original finish has worn through, allowing the players fingers to mark the fretboard with sweat and dirt. I'd avoid using anything with water in that case, as you don't want damp in the wood. Although maple is very dense so the water penetration would be low.
I have no idea. I might try wax and grease remover. But I'd guess you will have to remove all of the finish from the fretboard, possibly lightly sand it and reclear it for it to be gone.
I'd be interested to hear what people in the know might say.....
Last word... I like the aged look of the neck as it is!

The fretboard doesn't feel like it has any finish on it, on the other hand, the back of the neck might have been finished in a Satin Clear-Coat, but it has been worn through, the tops of some of the frets look like they have some wear, and pretty much all the frets hve had their crowns flattened, I personally think that they could do with a good fret-leveling and re-crowning.


Cheers Simon, looks like I'm going to have to have a serious debate to myself about whether to get rid of the brown stains or leave it as is and call it custom relicing, even though it is genuine relicing.