Finish my neck?

gtrman911 · February 12th, 2004, 09:19 PM

Just got the Squire Custom II, and it has that lite satin finish on the neck & maple FB. Now, while i like the feel of the satin, the fretboard immediately is turning grey/black from the strings making my fingers dirty and then making my FB dirty. If it's dirty after 1 day of play, what's it gonna look like in a year...or 10...or 20?
I have another Squire and i'm having the same problem.
The finish is so smooth that it actually seems as if there is NO finish at all on the FB. Is this possible? Does Fender/Squire do this? Seems unlikely, but stranger things have been known to happen.

So....can I clean the FB w/ just a little soap and water?

Then, should I just poly the FB?

Suggestions welcomed.

z8894 · February 13th, 2004, 01:55 PM

I don't own a Squier but I've looked at them pretty good. The necks look and feel like they have no finish at all. I always thought if I got one I would put about 6 coats of Poly U on the neck but what about the finger board? I suppose you could do the FB too and buff it out really good. Taping up all those frets would be a real pain though.

gtrman911 · February 13th, 2004, 05:55 PM

i think they just spray right over the frets.....
i think that's what they mean by *overspray*!

can someone verify this?

rebelern · February 13th, 2004, 06:27 PM

thats called overspray, the term refers to frets on maple boards, you can carefully scrape it off , thats a long job, and you've got to be careful not to chip it off, the maple board itself!, or leave it and the overspray, will in time just wear off with playing use!.

Ernie.

skip62 · February 13th, 2004, 07:23 PM

If I'm not mistaken. If you don't clean the overspray off the frets, they will sound weak, fretting over plastic instead of metal.

I have one of those new Squier Affinity's. My was doing the same thing the first couple of days, but I don't seem to have that problem now. The neck is coated with polyurethane. It's pretty thick, compared to laquer, and very very tough. Again, I may be mistaken, but think over a the Reranch site it says 1 coat of poly is about .015" compared to nitro laquer at .003" Cleaning it shouldn't be a problem.

Just my $.02.

gtrman911 · February 13th, 2004, 09:51 PM

i've had oversprayed guitars....i usually just take and exacto/razor and carefully score the fret where it touches the FB and the poly usually cracks-off the fret.

it works well!

rebelern · February 14th, 2004, 02:05 AM

Quote:

skip62 said
If I'm not mistaken. If you don't clean the overspray off the frets, they will sound weak, fretting over plastic instead of metal.

I agree it really is worthwhile, taking the time to do it, the improvement to sound, especially up the neck is amazing!.

Ernie.

gtrman911 · February 14th, 2004, 07:53 AM

oh, btw, thanks 4 verifying that 4 me Rebelern!

February 12th, 2004, 09:19 PM	#1 (permalink)
gtrman911 Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Camelot Posts: 1,168 7 Photos	Finish my neck? Just got the Squire Custom II, and it has that lite satin finish on the neck & maple FB. Now, while i like the feel of the satin, the fretboard immediately is turning grey/black from the strings making my fingers dirty and then making my FB dirty. If it's dirty after 1 day of play, what's it gonna look like in a year...or 10...or 20? I have another Squire and i'm having the same problem. The finish is so smooth that it actually seems as if there is NO finish at all on the FB. Is this possible? Does Fender/Squire do this? Seems unlikely, but stranger things have been known to happen. So....can I clean the FB w/ just a little soap and water? Then, should I just poly the FB? Suggestions welcomed. __________________ My opinion is worth what you paid for it.

February 13th, 2004, 01:55 PM	#2 (permalink)
z8894 Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Alpharetta, Ga. Age: 43 Posts: 116	Good question I don't own a Squier but I've looked at them pretty good. The necks look and feel like they have no finish at all. I always thought if I got one I would put about 6 coats of Poly U on the neck but what about the finger board? I suppose you could do the FB too and buff it out really good. Taping up all those frets would be a real pain though.

February 13th, 2004, 05:55 PM	#3 (permalink)
gtrman911 Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Camelot Posts: 1,168 7 Photos	i think they just spray right over the frets..... i think that's what they mean by overspray! can someone verify this? __________________ My opinion is worth what you paid for it.

February 13th, 2004, 06:27 PM	#4 (permalink)
rebelern Tele-Holic Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Swampyville, Australia. Posts: 896	Yep! thats called overspray, the term refers to frets on maple boards, you can carefully scrape it off , thats a long job, and you've got to be careful not to chip it off, the maple board itself!, or leave it and the overspray, will in time just wear off with playing use!. Ernie.

February 13th, 2004, 09:51 PM	#6 (permalink)
gtrman911 Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Camelot Posts: 1,168 7 Photos	i've had oversprayed guitars....i usually just take and exacto/razor and carefully score the fret where it touches the FB and the poly usually cracks-off the fret. it works well! __________________ My opinion is worth what you paid for it.

February 13th, 2004, 07:23 PM	#5 (permalink)
skip62 Tele-Meister Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 337	If I'm not mistaken. If you don't clean the overspray off the frets, they will sound weak, fretting over plastic instead of metal. I have one of those new Squier Affinity's. My was doing the same thing the first couple of days, but I don't seem to have that problem now. The neck is coated with polyurethane. It's pretty thick, compared to laquer, and very very tough. Again, I may be mistaken, but think over a the Reranch site it says 1 coat of poly is about .015" compared to nitro laquer at .003" Cleaning it shouldn't be a problem. Just my $.02.

February 14th, 2004, 07:53 AM	#8 (permalink)
gtrman911 Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Camelot Posts: 1,168 7 Photos	oh, btw, thanks 4 verifying that 4 me Rebelern! __________________ My opinion is worth what you paid for it.