Fender neck repair

[Dan]

Hey,
Last week I decided I wanted to sand down the neck on my strat, however, half way through doing it I decided I wouldn’t overdo it. So I stopped but a few days later I noticed a spot getting dirtier, clearly where bare wood is exposed, now that patch is discoloured. I was wondering if anyone knew how to restore the colour and seal the wood?

[Dan]

Fender neck regret

Last week I decided I was going to sand down my neck on my strat. Half way through I stopped as to not overdo it. A few days later I noticed discolouration on a big patch on the back of the neck where the wood is obviously bare. Does anyone know how to cover up/ restore the big discoloured patch on the back of my fender neck? Thanks

[TomCarlos]

How about Gun Stock Finish (followed by GS Wax) or Minwax Tung Oil Finish? Take a look at this video. Guitar Neck Refinishing : Ibanez RG270 Project

[Leo_Gnardo]

What Tom said^^^. Also, what's the source of the discoloration? Is the finish removed from everywhere on the neck, and a patch of dark who-knows-what appeared?

Also, it's not necessary to post the same question in multiple categories. Those interested in your topic will see it well enough with just one posting. If it's miscategorized a friendly mod will move it where it belongs.

[Randall]

This is a Guitar Amp repair forum. Perhaps the Guitar Tech forum is where you need to be.

[Leo_Gnardo]

This is a Guitar Amp repair forum. Perhaps the Guitar Tech forum is where you need to be.

Dan posted here and there. We'll carry on in the Guitar Tech corner & let this sink into oblivion.

[nosaj]

Last week I decided I was going to sand down my neck on my strat. Half way through I stopped as to not overdo it. A few days later I noticed discolouration on a big patch on the back of the neck where the wood is obviously bare. Does anyone know how to cover up/ restore the big discoloured patch on the back of my fender neck? Thanks

At the cabinet shop before we stain stuff if it has gotten water on it , it shows as dark spots when stained. You removed the sealer which allows body oils to get into the wood. To remove it it must be sanded out then sealed.
We use fine grit to close the grain and medium grit to open the grain to accept stains.

nosaj

[Chuck H]

If you were being careful not to over do it, as stated, then you probably still have lee way to sand out the discoloration. It won't be very deep. After that you can apply anything you want to protect it. Gun stock finish, tung oil, nitro lacquer or even a urethane type product, etc. My approach would be to sand the finish and discoloration off the entire back of the neck and then use something like tung oil, teak oil, etc. Most gun stock oil finishes are just some variant of these two, often with added polymers, natural or otherwise. Though gun stock guys get all gooey about natural products too. So most of those products cater to that. Tru Oil gun stock finish has a good reputation here. I haven't used it but I trust the word of members that have and the photos look great. Watco oil finish is basically tung oil and is now a Deft product since they purchased the company some years ago. I trust Deft products more than most because they perform for me on a daily basis in my profession. Watco also has a good rep here.

[Dan]

If you were being careful not to over do it, as stated, then you probably still have lee way to sand out the discoloration. It won't be very deep. After that you can apply anything you want to protect it. Gun stock finish, tung oil, nitro lacquer or even a urethane type product, etc. My approach would be to sand the finish and discoloration off the entire back of the neck and then use something like tung oil, teak oil, etc. Most gun stock oil finishes are just some variant of these two, often with added polymers, natural or otherwise. Though gun stock guys get all gooey about natural products too. So most of those products cater to that. Tru Oil gun stock finish has a good reputation here. I haven't used it but I trust the word of members that have and the photos look great. Watco oil finish is basically tung oil and is now a Deft product since they purchased the company some years ago. I trust Deft products more than most because they perform for me on a daily basis in my profession. Watco also has a good rep here.

Thanks guys,
Sorry I’m a bit new to the forum stuff. I’m going to follow your guys’ advice, I’ll sand the finish off the whole back of the neck then apply some tru oil and gun stock Wax. This will also act as an upgrade in some ways as I have considered removing the thick poly off the back of the neck for quite some time now and I have played necks in the past with oil finishes and really loved them.

Thanks again

[Leo_Gnardo]

I have considered removing the thick poly off the back of the neck for quite some time now and I have played necks in the past with oil finishes and really loved them.

Going back a ways... 1976 I removed a thick lacquer finish from my Guild Polara ('64-65?) then treated the mahogany neck with tung oil, to the point of refusal. Maybe it was the tung available at the time, maybe I should have thinned it, maybe shouldn't have globbed it on so thick, who knows - it took forever to dry. I mean years. Every time I took the guitar out of its case there was orange fuzz stuck to the neck. But there came a point when it started to behave itself and wow does it feel good! Everybody loves that neck. The ol' Polara is my humbuckin' test guitar, constantly in use when auditioning amps during & after repair.

Hope yours turns out terrific!

[Dan]

Going back a ways... 1976 I removed a thick lacquer finish from my Guild Polara ('64-65?) then treated the mahogany neck with tung oil, to the point of refusal. Maybe it was the tung available at the time, maybe I should have thinned it, maybe shouldn't have globbed it on so thick, who knows - it took forever to dry. I mean years. Every time I took the guitar out of its case there was orange fuzz stuck to the neck. But there came a point when it started to behave itself and wow does it feel good! Everybody loves that neck. The ol' Polara is my humbuckin' test guitar, constantly in use when auditioning amps during & after repair.

Hope yours turns out terrific!

I think you can get fast drying tung oils now. From what I hear the tru oil I got dries overnight so I shouldn’t have a problem. And no doubt it’ll feel better than the horrible, thick plastic fender put on their necks now. Don’t understand why fender doesn’t use an oil finish or cellulose like they used to.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Don’t understand why fender doesn’t use an oil finish or cellulose like they used to.

It was nitro, for decades. Even when California gave 'em a hard time, Fender shipped their bodies & necks to Mexico, to be nitro sprayed (meanwhile the fumes cross the border back this way... well some of the time) incurring diesel fuel bills & pollution & cost of driving, loading & unloading besides. I'm not sure what they're up to these days, except scurrying about fast as they can, trying to avoid bankruptcy. Fender's been controlled by the vulture investment guys for quite a while now, and what they're good at is extracting as much cash as they can from the company.

FWIW there was that period in the late 70's when Fender did have very thick finishes, including such wacky things as spatter-painted strats, CBS's last hurrah, before the insider buyout in the early 80's. Strangely enough the new management turned out "bowling-ball" strats & a couple of teles plus some other strange finishes in the mid 80's.

[Mick Bailey]

I've been using Tru-oil lately and have had really good results. A body I did ended up a mirror finish with no grain filling required. It's a little soft, though. It takes time to build up a finish. I apply a thin coat in the morning and one at night - it dries in no time but I leave three weeks before handling or applying wax to allow it to fully cure. I previously used Danish oil with the addition of terebene drier but Tru-oil gives a better finish. I use Koenig stains to colour-match sanded areas. Another favourite finish I use is melamine lacquer which I use to interface with poly finishes. It doesn't melt-in like cellulose-on-cellulose but on (say) the back of a neck it does a good job.

[Dan]

also, my neck has a slight tint to it, although it is very subtle. Would it be worth getting an amber stain or something or would the tru oil create a tinted wood appearance.

[Mick Bailey]

True oil does slightly tint, but not much. It goes a little darker than the wood does when wet. I usually have to do some staining to match an existing finish. Apply a wet finger to your neck and see what the colour change would be with just the oil.