Staining the Neck for a Novice.

[Maxivorarcher]

So I have come to the point where the neck on my 2005 highway one is looking a bit too pale for my tastes. I have no experience of re-finishing/finishing but wondered if there was a quick and easy way of making it look that little bit darker without having to remove the finish completely and starting again?

[Wally]

Some folks advocate rubbing shoe polish on it. I have never tried it.
IF I were in your position, I would simply get me some amber nitro and spray over what is there. Google REranch or do a search locally for finishing supplies.

[tcarp]

Before I tackled my first attempt, a Musikraft neck, last summer, I practiced on an MIM neck. I scuffed the entire neck with 220 grit.....didn't have to remove a whole lot, just enough to give the finish some bite. The scuffing took about 20 minutes. Then I shot a couple of very light mist coats of Mohawk amber.

Since the original neck had a thick coat of poly already, I didn't want to load it up with a ton of new clear, so I shot a just few coats of Mohawk clear nitro...enough to protect the amber toner. After 2 weeks drying time, I lightly buffed it with 0000 steel wool. The neck isn't glossy...more of a satin...but it's smooth and looks very nice.

It was actually a very easy process despite never having done this before. The only drawback is that you'll have a neckless guitar for a short while.

Even if you go the shoe polish route, you'd still have to scuff the neck...otherwise the polish will come off immediately. Might has well do the toner thing for a more permanent/professional look.

Tom