Neck Finishing/Staining for Dummies

Greetings!

I'm putting together one of the gear4music kits (the 12 string strat) and I've decided I'm going to jookify the body and cover it with some psychedelic fabric. 

However I'm not sure what to do with the neck (NOT the fingerboard) and the headstock which are basically unfinished maple (or what claims to be maple). 

Any tips on:

1a. Achieving a coloured stain (blue?) 
1b. If that's too hard, achieving a nice non-coloured finish
2. Achieving a nice satin finish 
3. Doing the above without spending big bucks - this is a budget project! 
4. Doing the above without staining my fingers blue every time I play! 

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Comments



  • I used this years ago on the first maple neck I finished, as there was no fancy stuff like truoil etc and you can still get it in B&Q will do a lifetime of necks. Just sand to super smooth then applied first with a cloth then 0000 wire wool and its does the job. Neck is still nice 25 years on if you want to to do a transfer on the headstock you can easily get away with brushing thinned diy  water based varnish think I did mine with B&Q own brand back then, 6 coats and sanding transfer on and 6 more. 

    Alternatively, for the same money, you could get a spray can of Satin Nitro which will probably do a maple neck. Cheapest I have seen is Ebay  £9.99 

    You could easily blue stain before the nitro.  
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    Use a spirit based blue stain. I’m sure Chestnut do one. There are many others. Sand the bare neck to 400 grit. Put one your plastic gloves. Apply stain with a cloth. Let it dry and re-coat. Let it dry overnight.

    Apply a thin coat of Osmo, or a similar oil based finish. Do not rub because it will lift the stain. By the third coat the coat will be thick enough for you to use 0000 wire wool.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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