Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi all,
So this is my first project and first post. Please be gentle.
Anyway, I've had this bass laying around for years and have decided to redo the finish.
I come here in hopes you can give me some friendly advice.
I'm unearthing more work as this project goes but before I go any further, I'd like your opinion on the neck. I removed the paint and sanded it some and I love the feel of the maple. I don't want to cover it up with paint or sealer. The problem is....I want the headstock to match the body, which I intend to paint gray. Sooo...it would be a hardstop on the paint from the back of the headstock to the back of the neck...which I can foresee eventually peeling, etc.
Any thoughts? Feather out the clear coat from the headstock just to the beginning of the neck? Add a face plate to the headstock? What ya think?

Here are some pictures to help convey what I'm talking about. I love the bare maple for the neck but I think the headstock would look odd if it didn't match the body. A plate on the headstock might be odd too as it is really rounded. Anyway I'm open to suggestions

Hi Fingers,
Welcome to the forum.

Just tape off the neck where you want the paint to stop and call it good.
The paint will last longer than your love for a grimey dirty bare maple neck that can't be cleaned at which point you will be sanding the neck down and refinishing it properly.

No offense intended, that's as gentle as I could be.

Steve

Check out Tru-Oil or other similar polymerized oil finish, easy to apply, nice feeling and will negate the risks of gumming up the neck, which as Steve pointed out is sure to happen with bare maple.

Thanks for the welcome and advice, Steve and Johny. I really appreciate it. I think I was so thrilled at how the neck turned out after a few hours of sanding I failed to think about the long haul and got the idea of leaving it bare stuck in my head. Thanks for pointing that flaw in thinking out. Now that I think about it I had an Ibanez that had just as smooth of a neck and I'm sure they all have a finish....so I'll just need to do it right.
But now I'm wondering why that ibanez neck was so smooth. It seemed better than any painted neck I've played but if it has a finish I wouldn't think it would matter if it was on wood or paint. Huh