Unfinished neck...finishing..

Jetfire

So i do like a satin style finish on a guitar neck but how would you do this at home without spraying etc? Ive seen videos for tru-oil but that seems a little shiny. Any thoughts? 

GavRichList

Definitely truoil and gunstock wax. Feels great, and very close indeed to a well worn in vintage neck. It's not shiny. 3 coats of truoil at least, with 24hrs drying time in between each + fine wire wool sand before next application, then gunstock wax after that. Have done it to all 3 of my non vintage guitars. 

guitarfishbay

Agree with Gav - I think the finish on a musicman is even less coats of oil than that though they suggest re-oiling every year or so.  

It is incredible feeling as a finish, probably the nicest I've ever felt.  I think the shiny tru-oil finishes you're referencing have a lot more coats.

Jetfire

I do like a finish on a musicman neck... ill do some googling/youtubing

NPP

GavRichList said:

Definitely truoil and gunstock wax. Feels great, and very close indeed to a well worn in vintage neck. It's not shiny. 3 coats of truoil at least, with 24hrs drying time in between each + fine wire wool sand before next application, then gunstock wax after that. Have done it to all 3 of my non vintage guitars. 

this. Did my Strat neck in the early 90s, feels great and it held up well over the years, only redid it when I took the bold step of stripping the whole guitar of its poly finish and refinishing in oil and wax. 

Lebarque

For my latest partscaster, I got a roasted maple neck - no finish needed. I just put a bit of Fret Doctor on it for protection. It's so smooth, fast and comfortable to play. Love it!

Jetfire

Where did you get your neck from @Lebarque ;

Lebarque

I got it from USA Custom Guitars, which I have used a few times and can highly recommend. However, the dollar exchange rate is doing us no favours at the moment. I've not used him yet, but @GSPBASSES is highly regarded and i am looking to get a Jazzmaster body and neck from him in the near future.

paulnb57

2 coats of Tru-oil 24 hours apart works for me......

jimification

The last USACG neck I finished (awesome guys but dollar clobberage ordering from UK, as mentioned above) I did in nitro and sanded back to age it. I then rubbed it with some graphite powder (£2 off ebay) to grey it a little. The nice side effect of the graphite is it's really smooth and slick to play - not a hint of stickiness (though your hands will get dirty on the first few plays!).

MtB

The rosewood neck that Graham (GSPBASSES) made for my strat build (http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/95291/ngd) is super smooth and didn't need any finish applied.

victorludorum

I'm using Wudtone at the moment and it's a very easy process for the neck. I've done Tru-Oil before, but found it a bit sticky, although I didn't sand it back to a satin finish and use wax.

GavRichList

victorludorum said:

I'm using Wudtone at the moment and it's a very easy process for the neck. I've done Tru-Oil before, but found it a bit sticky, although I didn't sand it back to a satin finish and use wax.

The latter part of that is essential 

Marktigere1

I wet sand this http://danish-oil.com/

Food safe and the best finish I have found for my homemade guitar.

Drys in 4-6 hours and I can get five coats on in a couple of days.

It also ages well if that is your thing.  I suggest trying on scrap wood first to see if you like it