Stripped neck help needed!

McToot

Hi guys.  I've had my Yamaha SG for a few years now - acquired from a feller on the old MR forum.  The previous owner had stripped the finish off the neck in a reasonably decent way, but over the years I've been playing it, I've begun to feel the joins in the wedge construction. 

I think having it refinished properly (ie trying to return it to as close to stock as possible) will be very difficult so I'm wondering what options are available to get it feeling (and looking) as nice as possible.  Oil? Wax? I probably prefer a nice smooth satin feel over the gloss it would have originally been, but I'm not massively fussy.  I've recently sold a few bits so have bunce in the pot...

Here are a coupla pics taken with the iPad:

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. 

Ta

xHymnal

Progressively wet and dry paper it down until you're happy with the feel of the neck, taking care to not scuff the neck binding (maybe mask it), then wipe it down lightly with naptha and you're good to go with a finish of your choice. For rub on/ oil type finishes I can recommend either liberon or Tung oil. Tung oil is great as it dries quite hard and protective and is easy to top up/ reapply when needed! 

What a great looking neck though, looks very cool so a clear finish would retain that! 

McToot

Thanks for that @Hymnal. I think I have some Danish oil somewhere - is that the same as Tung oil? I used som on the neck of my Charvel and found it a bit sticky - it needed knocking back with some fine wire wool before I was happy with it. Also, and I know this is a lame question, but where do you get naphtha from in smallish quantities? eBay only seems to have it in 2.5 or 5 litre, which seems excessive unless it's ok with tonic and a twist of lime...

Sassafras

Naphtha is lighter fluid, Zippo,Ronson,Newport they're all pretty much the same.Not the gas,the fluid.

WezV

I would use the danish oil if you have some.   But don't just wipe it on or it will be sticky as you found before

Get some high grit wet and dry paper.   Apply a small amount of oil to the neck and sand it in.  It will make a mess - buff all this off with a cloth and you will be left with a very sleek finish.   do it a few times up through the grades.  i go from 400 to 1200 wetsanding each time

In can be further enhanced with 0000 liberon wire wool and briwax

xHymnal

As above, lighter fluid! It will evaporate off almost instantly too. Tung oil is different to Danish oil, danish tends to feel sticky and tung oil will a bit, but not so much as it dries hard rather than soft. It can be gotten online easily enough for a cheap price and can be gotten in small quantities; I think buying 5l of naptha gas would place you on a government watch list theses days!

TTony

Had you thought about taking the finish off the back of the headstock, and maybe the heel area too?

Looks like a nice neck, could look even nicer if it was fully nuded ...

McToot

Thanks guys - much appreciated. @WezV I like the sound of that, being the frugal 'use what I've got' type. I also have briwax too. @TTony - perhaps for the aesthetics, but the hassle factor would be high and I dodge hassle like some dodge salads :-)

@sassafras - just as I was typing this some cartoon character in the (lousy) programme my girls are watching uttered the phrase "sweet sassafras". Spooky. 

NPP

WezV said:

I would use the danish oil if you have some.   But don't just wipe it on or it will be sticky as you found before

Get some high grit wet and dry paper.   Apply a small amount of oil to the neck and sand it in.  It will make a mess - buff all this off with a cloth and you will be left with a very sleek finish.   do it a few times up through the grades.  i go from 400 to 1200 wetsanding each time

In can be further enhanced with 0000 liberon wire wool and briwax

I can confirm that this has worked very well on my Strat neck - easier to apply in that case, though, as you can do it with the neck off. 

Sassafras

I've found that Briwax acts as a dust magnet. Where have I been going wrong? I only apply it with the oooo wire.

WezV

do you buff it all off afterwards?

Sassafras

Yes, but maybe I don't put enough work into that part. I'll try again next time I finish off a neck.

GuyBoden

I've got good finishes by using the graded synthetic abrasive pads with some Danish oil. (The grey coloured pads are the fine grade.)

These:

McToot

GuyBoden said:

I've got good finishes by using the graded synthetic abrasive pads with some Danish oil. (The grey coloured pads are the fine grade.)

These:

Ooh ta. I've got some of those fellers too.