Official Luthiers Forum!

Looking for some advice.

Guy brought in a 2012 Fender Jazz Bass, maple neck. He hates the neck finish, says his thumb sticks to it and messes up his hand position. He also plays cello so he's used to setting a hand position and running it up and down the neck. He wants a slick finish. I let him try out one of my guitars that has Tru Oil on the neck and he really liked that - so much so that he said I could sand the back of the neck down on his bass and put Tru Oil on it, he doesn't care what it looks like.

I figured I could sand down the back of the neck, rub on some shellac then put on some Tru Oil. It should look ok and it will have the feel he's looking for.

Before I do that I thought I'd see if some of you have dealt with this before and how you handled it. I'd prefer to do something that doesn't hack up the look of his guitar so appreciate any advice you can provide.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

No need to remove the finish - scuff it lightly with a piece of light gray Scotchbrite, just enough to keep it from being sticky. You can use red Scotchbrite for a really dull look. That way - the neck is still protected by a hard finish...

All the metal guys have this done.... I've been using this technique since the mid-80's, and it takes less than 5 minutes to scuff and wipe with BOSS guitar detailer or lemon oil. I don't even charge to do it..... just call it an investment in "good will".

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Now I remember reading about that - thanks Chris! I agree, that level of work is not worth charging for.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I've done done that exact thing to a strat I own, and couldn't be happier. I sanded the finish off, stopping at the headstock, and the heel. Then I oiled it with a product called Osmo PolyX, its a hardwood floor product, (something like vegetable oil and wax). I like the feel a lot more than a satin film finish. You can feel the grain of the wood, which I find to be an incredibly inspiring experience.

I finished a guitar it TruOil and hated it. Stripped it to bare wood and finished in nitro. Now I like it.

Was it an acoustic or electric? What did you hate about it?

Actually there were two barnwood electrics. I thought the finish was mediocre for the amount of work that went in to it - 20 plus really thin coats one per day, 30 plus days of cure before buff, and kind of lackluster gloss. I can see why it might be OK for a neck, it simply didn't come close to the lacquer that I'm used to for general finish. I left one of them with the oil finish, the owner is happy, I stripped and refinished the other. Maybe for an old Browning skeet gun, but just not what I want on my guitars.

Obviously taste and milage will vary.

If someone complained about one of my lacquered necks (so far no one has) I would just knock it back with a Scotch Brite pad or some 000 steel wool, knowing that it would buff itself back to gloss again.

Tru Oil, in general, does not have a high gloss and it takes a fair amount of time to rub on 20+ coats. In my case I had an acoustic neck with EM6000 that had failed and was chipping off. It was annoying to play it so I sanded the neck down and put on about 3 coats of Tru Oil, been playing it ever since. Neck is ugly now but sure does feel good

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

And that's the incorrect method of using TruOil. The maker recommends a few thin coats per day, with at least 24 hours of drying time before re-application. 20 coats is fine for a finish - but that's over a week or longer. Your finish was poor because it was still soft, and we all know a soft finish will not buff out.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Yeah, I've never used Tru-Oil only this Osmo stuff. I sand to 220, put a coat of oil on and let it sit for a couple hours, then put a second coat of oil on and let it sit over night. Then I sand to 400, another coat of oil, let it sit for a half a day, rub it out with 0000 steel wool, and one more coat of oil that I wipe off. The assemble the next day or two. It's not glossy, but I haven't wanted to go that route over the last little while. I can tint the oil too, the same as if I was tinting lacquer.

Thanks. I was curious why because the last few guitars I've put together with the oil finish all have a similar thing going on with their tonality and resonance when I play them acoustically. They're almost brighter than lacquered guitars. But bright in a kind of cold way. Where a lacquered instrument seems to be a little warmer sounding, almost a little more under control in a way. I've been thinking about a post I read a while ago where someone mentioned something similar about playing a guitar in "the white" vs. fully finished. So anyway, I'm on the fence. I really like the feel and the way the guitar resonates in my hand when I play it, but not sure about this other thing that's going on. But then again, it may just be a brand new guitar that needs to settle into itself.

Sorry about the tangent, I didn't mean to hi jack this thread...

Hijack away, I think we've already answered the original question.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Chris, its been a couple of years but what I remember as the recommendations from people using the stuff was lots of thin coats with sufficient time for each to dry, then a long drying time for the whole job. What I remember was the "experts" saying that too many people put it on too thick, didn't let it cure and tried to buff it too soon. I'll agree that it probably was still soft, but I know that it also had at least a month of just hanging there.

Conor, what I see in your picture is a nice guitar but not what I'm looking for in my finishes. Lots of people like it and lots of people seem to do finishes like that - just not my cuppa.

As you know, lots of people have very strong opinions on the effects of finish on the tone of acoustic instruments (the jury is out on electrics). If you spend much time with classical and bowed instrument builders you'll really get an earful. And yes there are people who string up in the white but that tends to be a hassle when you haven't glued the bridge on yet. Short story, I think finish makes a difference just like everything else, I try to make my finishes reasonable thickness, I'm happy with lacquer, and the fumes will probably kill me.

Steve, I too apologize for the hijack but I think some worthwhile points have been brought up.

Did you end up scuffing up the original finish and return it to the owner. Was he happy with the feel?

_________________
Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Got another job on the bench to finish so I won't get to it till later this week but I'm going do the scuff and wax like Chris recommended.

And guys feel free to discuss the Tru Oil all you want.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Finally got around to doing the neck, scuffed it with maroon Scotchbrite and put some lemon oil on it. Feels good to me, I'll get it back to the owner and see if it works for him.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"