Finishing the back of the neck

[METAL Rulez 4ever]

Out of curiosity, what are you legends using to finish the back of the neck ? Not the fretboard / fingerboard, the back of the neck so its hardened and smooth and not just oiled wood. I use both Tru Oil on some necks and Scandinavian Oil on others. But not getting the hardened finish I am after. They work better on the bodies instead of the necks, in my experience anyway !

[Sonic Mountain]

At the moment my favourite neck treatment is Cabots Exterior Poly in satin. Very forgiving to spray. I normally do one pass as per instructions let it dry out, sand it back and do another application. It's great for getting a smooth neck that doesn't grab your hand like a gloss one might.

[DarkMark]

I also liked the Tru Oil on the body, but didn’t like it on the neck of my first guitar. I gave the neck some steel wool treatment to make it feel better. On my second guitar I’m using wipe on poly and I liked the feel of it after two coats. Next time I’ll do two wipe on poly coats (satin) and leave it at that.

[corsair]

The last three guitars I finished, I left the necks unfinished and sanded to 2000 grit, and they are absolutely sublime to touch!! Because I'm not playing these out, and because no-one else will ever play them regularly plus the fact that I wipe everything down when I'm done means that they shouldn't get too dirty, and if they do, a quick sanding will set that right very quickly!!

[FrankenWashie]

The last three guitars I finished, I left the necks unfinished and sanded to 2000 grit, and they are absolutely sublime to touch!! Because I'm not playing these out, and because no-one else will ever play them regularly plus the fact that I wipe everything down when I'm done means that they shouldn't get too dirty, and if they do, a quick sanding will set that right very quickly!!

I did the same on the neck of the FrankenWashie, then hit it dry with some worn micro mesh polishing pads it is silky.

[BuffaloGhost]

ooh glad I saqw this thread. I LOVE the unfinished neck as it feels SOO good but was worried about the dirt. if it turns out ok this axe may gig. I was wondering if i DID stain the neck does the stain grab at all our would you oil over the top..? Id like the neck dark in colour but still as smooooooth

am I asking for the sun?

[FrankenWashie]

ooh glad I saqw this thread. I LOVE the unfinished neck as it feels SOO good but was worried about the dirt. if it turns out ok this axe may gig. I was wondering if i DID stain the neck does the stain grab at all our would you oil over the top..? Id like the neck dark in colour but still as smooooooth

am I asking for the sun?

My FrankenWashie doesn’t get gigged (cause I don’t gig!) but it cops a fair bit of play, I make a point of wiping it down it doesn’t seem to gather dirt. I say it doesn’t SEEM to but that’s not to say it wouldn’t if it were regularly gigged.

i ran the micromesh pads right up to 12000, perhaps that helped?

[Adam Barnes]

the fretboerd on this has been sanded to 2000 grit and dingo waxed , it feels as nice as any i have just my skillz on the neck are a bit to be desire, but i wonder could you do a whole guitar sanded to 2000 grit or more and just ad some wax to polish, mmm might be worth a try

[Andy40]

Dingobass said that he used to sand the back of necks to 1500 (or 2000?) and leave them unfinished (preferred) or dingowax them if there had to be some finish.

I don't. I just tru oil all my necks as I refer it. I can't imagine you would want a harder finish than tru oil?

In saying that, I intend to use dingotone neck finish on my current Jazz bass build.

[Andy40]

i wonder could you do a whole guitar sanded to 2000 grit or more and just ad some wax to polish, mmm might be worth a try

I think thats what Sazzrandom did when she built her GRSF, except she did stain it before waxing.