Strat ash build

[Freakystyley]

How are folks finishing their maple fret boards? The last build I did I didn’t put anything on it. Just some lemon oil at the end of the build. I have heard people putting on some clear coat? Are they just spraying the whole neck and fretboard together? Last build I just masked the fret board. Cheers


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[Simon Barden]

I always fully spray my maple necks and I use nitro. But with any sprayed finish you'll remove the lacquer from the frets when sanding back flat and then polishing the finish. The lacquer doesn't adhere to the frets at all well, so it's an easy job to remove it.

If you use oil or wax, you really need to keep applying it at regular intervals. One main purpose of any finish on the neck is to stop the wood from drying out further and shrinking. This can affect the neck's shape in some instances (mainly depending on the cut of the wood - quarter sawn is supposedly the most stable), but shrinkage can also leave fret-ends poking out and the frets can become loose in their slots over time.

[FCD]

I finish my first build with wipe on poly. Both the neck and the fret board was maple. And I did that on both

[RocknRolf]

And I have decided upon arcyllic lacquer, which came out great, nice smooth satin feel after sand/polish.
I tried the Crimson guitar finishing oil that I bought first, but did not like the way this product was feeling.

[Freakystyley]

Haven’t really touched this much due to work etc. After using wipe on sand sealer and poly, I wasn’t impressed. After countless coats(maybe 30) and letting it cure for 3 weeks, I sanded back as usual to polish but ended up sanding through certain spots. For the amount of time and effort, it’s just not for me. I am used to spraying nitro. Spraying in general seems to be way more efficient. But at least I experimented. In that vein I have sanded back the body and I’m now spraying coats of acrylic which I have never done before.



After sanding through the wipe on in small spots this will now have a slightly relic-ed feel. Also added by the slightly blotchy stain job.



Neck sprayed black. Wood filling one small chip that happened when it was dropped.




I do have another problem I’m not sure how to tackle. Maybe due to the layers of paint or the excessive heat, the neck does not fit into the pocket anymore. Are my options just to sand the sides of the pocket a bit or am I gonna have to sand back the clear and paint on the neck and thin it out?


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[Sonic Mountain]

Looking great! I'd just wait on being done with the finishing and it is fully cured before doing any sanding to fit the neck. You may have to take a little off the sides of the neck heel with some fine grit wet and dry. But let it shrink and cure first, it might be OK.

[McCreed]

I like it!
Looks great. I don't see any sand-through though.
That'll look really sharp with chrome hardware on there. Noice!

[Fretworn]

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Pretty! Love the look.

[wazkelly]

Pretty! Love the look.

Yeah, I reckon it's a keeper the way it looks in that photo.

Wipe on process is very slow and labour intensive and prone to those 'Oh $#!?' moments when you inevitably sand through.

I know we all aim for a store bought finish but after 6 - 12 months playing it will have minor surface marks anyways. Need to weigh up what's most important - overall colour shade and appearance or obsession for that perfect glassy finish? On a couple of builds I spent many hours and over 40 coats on each chasing that elusive glassy finish which looks good once finished but it doesn't stay that way for long.

[Freakystyley]

Wise words Waz


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