How to strip a neck???

moz91

So I really fancy stripping the sticky nitro finish off a les Paul studio... It's not one of the main gigging collection and its already beaten to shit so I'm not really that bothered about aesthetics...
Just wondering If this is something I could do myself; really fancy the project! Although im generally pretty handy; ive never done anything like this before...
Thinking it's as simple as to mask it off, sand using a variation of fine/ultra fine papers and maybe steel wool, then seal with a bit of tung oil??

ICBM

Mahogany isn't a good wood for an oil finish on a neck really - it's quite open-grained and porous. Having once done that to a beaten-up Les Paul and ended up with a neck that was extremely humidity-sensitive, I wouldn't recommend it.

Better to just 'matt' the finish with some steel wool. Remember to mask the pickup polepieces and hoover up very thoroughly before you remove it or they've get covered in fragments.

Sarge

I've just done this very same thing with my Westone prestige 250, mahogany neck.
As ICBM says it's very porous, I used a grain filler first which got most of the grain flat, but a few bits are showing, also tung oil can take forever to dry, better with Tru Oil or another boiled linseed oil.

Chalky

Whenever I use steel wool I use something like a freezer bag with one of those neodynium super magnets in it. Put my hand in the bag, like a glove and then pick up the steel wool with the magnet on top of it. The magnet makes any steel wool swarf stick to the outside of the bag. It won't affect your pickups.

stonevibe

I had my Les Paul Classic stripped and it was excellent!

Use tung oil to seal the open grain of the mahogany and it will be fine. You just have tone prepared to maintain it with a new coat of tung oil every once in a while.

Sassafras

I'd just go at it with 800 grit or 1000 grit wet and dry paper. Start with the 1000 grit to see if you like the finish.

p90fool

I use a kitchen scourer on mine every couple of months just to take the gloss off.

Andyjr1515

I had one of the gloss wine red studios...a thing of beauty...put burstbucker pros in and it sounded sublime...the sticky neck drove me BONKERS...tried polish, wire wool, scourers...still sticky...flogged it...put me off Gibson big time 

moz91

I'm thinking I might start by just going at it with some fine sandpaper; 600grit maybe, then finish with 1000...
Thinking that will be fine enough not to totally strip it, but just remove the top later and hopefully sort that sticky feel.

impmann

Doesn't the Nitro just come off with thinners on these?

ICBM

The stickiness goes all the way through the finish, it's not the top layer. It's caused by the excessive amount of plasticiser Gibson use in the finish to make it less prone to checking. Even if you cut it back slightly and overspray with harder nitro, the plasticiser will ''migrate" from the original finish and soften the new stuff.

Just get it re-done in polyester or polyurethane, much better...

stonevibe

Tung oil.

Was super smooth and felt great!

moz91

Think I remember seeing that for sale once @stonevibe , looks bloody lovely!
How did you do it?

stonevibe

Stripped and then tung oiled. I had Mansons do it, as my old drummer is one of the guys that does this type of work there.

Kept it ultra smooth.

flyingv

Acetone, will take Nitro off without marking the wood underneath' it's cheap and readily available. I stripped the hideous wine finish off of my studio. All you need is plenty of old rag and elbow grease! http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s200/hammer4ever/8b80d43bc5a4e105afba3a9ee04aa061.jpg http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s200/hammer4ever/8ec91a5b6080918076904f61a9f8f313.jpg

Sarge

It baffles me how anybody can be happy with a new nitro finished guitar (gibson)
I understand it will look nice in 20 years playing time, but paying top dollar for something that can't rest on most stands, something that is forever sticky/soft to me is nuts.
Did/do Gibson do poly finishes on their higher end guitars?

stonevibe

My Gibsons both sit on regular stands and their finish may or may not 'go funny' over time. To be honest I don't really care, as they are both guitars I play and so if they mark or dent its not really an issue.

I suppose if you buy for investment or like 'case queens' then you may have issues with this approach.

However both my guitars have been on regular guitar stands for years and neither shows signs of reacting to the foam.

Zodiac51

Stands to reason, those with a poly finished guitar want nitro, those with nitro want poly

There real cause of contention with either is cost cutting by the big 2. Poly is fine as long as it's not super gloopy thick like it is on low end Fenders. Nitro is fine as long as its not the "doesn't set up ever" sort.

BowynMadley

All of the mahogany on my one one studio is done in true oil. Gives a beautiful finish and leaves a slinky fast neck. I've never had an issue with it and if I ever feel like it's drying out or anything I'll just chuck another coat on. Be weary of it though as once isn't on it ain't coming off so refinishing down the road is out of the question

Dalefty

This is stupidly easy, however the parts are a little on the difficult and awkward to come by list, first the tools, or equipment you are going to need:

1, The blood of a dozen black Crevecoeur cockerel.

2, Six Virgins it doesn't matter if they are male or female of a mixture of both, I know in this day and age finding one yet alone six virgins is next to impossible, however I can help you on you hunt for six by giving you the name of one confirmed virgin - @Hertz32

3, A copy of 'Super Freak' by Rick James on 8 track, and the 8 track player tp play it of course

4, A really cool looking sharp knife, a stanley knife will do at a pinch if you are on a really tight bydget or simply have no taste.

5, A herd of goats, a mixture of both male and female goats, and they must be alive and healthy.

Here are the instructions on what you are goiing to need to do:

1.  First off you want to strip yourself off baresrse naked, that's right, right down till you're wearing nothing but your best birthday suit.

2. You want to completely cover every inch of yourself with the blood of the dozen black Crevecoeur cockerels, it must be a dozen, not less, nor more, and they it must be the blood of black Crevecoeur cockerels, no other breed of cockerels will work as a substitute, and you must cover every inch of your body with the blood, ytou can't miss even the slightest hard to reach place, so you may need the help of a close friend for this bit.

3. A full blast using the 8 track player you must play Rick James' amazing anthem 'Super Freak' while slitting the throats and generally sacrificing the lives of the six virgins while preforming the 'guitar neck dance'.

4. While 'Super Freak@ is still playing on the old 8 track you muct shag each and every goat at list twice.

If you follow these instructions to the letter and with a bit of luck, and the planets being in the right alignment, and everything goes right, you will either end up with a nicely stripped guitar neck, if not, you will probably end up on the same list as Rolf Harris, Jimmy Savile and Gary Glitter.  I therefore suggest you read these instructions at least twice before you begin stripping your guitar neck.


DaLefty

Sarge

BowynMadley;644462" said:

All of the mahogany on my one one studio is done in true oil. Gives a beautiful finish and leaves a slinky fast neck. I've never had an issue with it and if I ever feel like it's drying out or anything I'll just chuck another coat on. Be weary of it though as once isn't on it ain't coming off so refinishing down the road is out of the question

Tru Oil comes off with good acetone, not nail varnish remover with its additives.

I made a mess of a sanded maple fretboard once, acetone took it clean off no problem.