Unfinished Necks

[Jx2]

Recently I was watching a interview of Tom Maxwell of Hellyea and Nothingface. He was talking about his Dean Soltero's and mentioned all of his have a unfinished neck. Im not much of a shredder but it made me wonder. I have a Squier Jagmaster that has a few small imperfections in the neck thought about giving it a go. But figured first Id ask to see if anyone has done this and what they think.

 

[Bloozcat]

Recently I was watching a interview of Tom Maxwell of Hellyea and Nothingface. He was talking about his Dean Soltero's and mentioned all of his have a unfinished neck. Im not much of a shredder but it made me wonder. I have a Squier Jagmaster that has a few small imperfections in the neck thought about giving it a go. But figured first Id ask to see if anyone has done this and what they think.

I don't know what the climate is like where you live, but an unfinished neck here in Florida is a formula for disaster.

Wood absorbs and sheds moisture from the air depending on degree of humidity, time of exposure, and type/density of the wood. Even finished wood will experience this to a degree. Without a finish to protect and minimize the exposure the neck could easily twist and warp from exposure. This is why most companies that make necks void their warranty if an approved finish is not applied before installation on a guitar.

Where I live the humidity can be as high as 90% in the summer months and as low as 30% in the winter. It's not just the humidity or lack thereof that's the problem, it's the swings from one extreme to the other that caused the damage.

 

[Jx2]

I see your point. Tom Maxwell said he treats his with lemon oil. I stopped in a local shop today and just asked if any of them had. And they had a custom fiddle builder there and he said he use's steel wool to knock the finish off and then use's tru oil...a gun stock oil...to seal the wood. It seems like a heck of a idea.

 

[Tig]

Consider just using some 0000 steel wool to knock down the glossy finish, yet retain the protective finish. This will get rid of the stickiness that glossy necks can have when your hand starts getting moist. I'd be sure to mask off the edge of the fretboard, the top near the pegboard, and bottom near the guitar body.

 

[hubberjub]

I have stripped all the paint off my Gibson Les Paul. I just have a tung oil on it and it feels great. It feels much quicker than the original glossy paint. A Squire sounds like a good candidate to try it out on. Do it.

 

[Bloozcat]

Both Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil and MinWax Rubbing Poly will give a good, thin finish that feels slick to the hand. Both are easy to apply as well.