American Original 70's Tele Custom neck finish

[JBryantfan]

I purchased an American Original 70's Tele Custom new and the pickups sound great. I find the
neck to be less comfortable than my other Teles (83 standard, G & L ASAT Fullerton in Rosewood,
American Professional 2 Deluxe in Rosewood).
The neck has Gloss Nitrocellulose Lacquer on it, which is different than the others. Anyone have a
similar issue or maybe knows something I can do to make it easier to play? I know this post
isn't really specific because the neck is smooth but sliding around just isn't as easy.
There are no other issues with the guitar and it sounds amazing through vintage Fender tweeds
especially. is the neck finish that much different than the others?. I'm not too familiar with neck
finishes in general. Any advice?

 

[msalama]

Isn't the neck finished in poly, rather than nitro? An accurate reissue would be, apart from the headstock face coat which was still nitro during the 70's. Anyway, what you can do is to lightly sand down the back, because for some, that does indeed make sliding their fretting hands up and down the neck easier.

 

[pipthepilot]

I own a Gibson Customshop Les Paul and it had the stickiest neck I've ever played. I fixed this by rubbing the neck down with 00 steel wool.

This slightly takes the shine off but doesn't damaged the lacquer at all. With this method, you can also return to new looking by buffing with polish and a microfibre cloth.

 

[Nick Fanis]

Your neck has a nitro finish.



If you want to make it less sticky "scotch brite" the back of the neck.

It always works

 

[pipthepilot]

Isn't the neck finished in poly, rather than nitro? An accurate reissue would be, apart from the headstock face coat which was still nitro during the 70's. Anyway, what you can do is to lightly sand down the back, because for some, that does indeed make sliding their fretting hands up and down the neck easier.

A genuine 70s would have been poly, either way Poly or nitro will both improve with a light rubbing down. As mentioned above, I advise 00 steel wool but if you choose to sandpaper, make sure you use something like 2000grit or above.

You probably won't like the finish very much if you were to use 80grit

 

[Nick Fanis]

It's not an accurate RI.

The body has a nitro top coat and the neck is finished in full nitro (I own the same guitar)

 

[msalama]

OK, nitro it is then Nick. Rubbing down the finish still works though, provided that one is careful and uses fine-grit paper.

 

[Nick Fanis]

OK, nitro it is then Nick. Rubbing down the finish still works though, provided that one is careful and uses fine-grit paper.

Before doing this try the Scotch Brite method it is less intrusive & works great

 

[msalama]

Yah, might be better since it's gentler.

 

[JBryantfan]

Thanks to all for the help and advice, great forum

 

[JBryantfan]

It's not an accurate RI.

The body has a nitro top coat and the neck is finished in full nitro (I own the same guitar)

The sound on it through my 57 Tweed Deluxe reissue or 59 Bassman reissue is great. Just noticed that
the more I played it the weirder the neck felt in comparrison to my others so I will try what you suggested.
Do you know if the actual 70's originals felt different than the RI?

 

[ponycar]

The original 70s felt different. As stated above they were poly, not laquer. The American Original series were intended to provide a premium vintage feel, instruments that would age beautifully.
For some, such as myself, a laquer finish is preferable to an original 70s era Fender.

 

[msalama]

they were poly, not laquer

This, and many of them have chunkier necks as well. My '75 and '76 both have neck profiles that can be described as "deep C", and that's OK, since it's actually what I prefer.

 

[blue metalflake]

Any sort of abrasive pad that’s non metallic should allow you to take just the top coat off the back of the neck.

 

[Nick Fanis]

Do you know if the actual 70's originals felt different than the RI?







They felt more "plasticky "

 

[FSRCustomTeleHHGT]

The original 70s felt different. As stated above they were poly, not laquer. The American Original series were intended to provide a premium vintage feel, instruments that would age beautifully.
For some, such as myself, a laquer finish is preferable to an original 70s era Fender.

read as "instruments that would damage easily." For some, such as myself, a poly finish is always preferable as it protects the instrument and feels great.

And I wouldn't use steel wool on any fretboard (as I don't want the residue into my fingers for the next several months), nor anywhere near exposed (magnetic) pickups.

 

[pipthepilot]

Before doing this try the Scotch Brite method it is less intrusive & works great

I really wouldn't use a scotch brite, they are still too aggressive and leave scratches. OO steel wool is much better.

 

[pipthepilot]

read as "instruments that would damage easily." For some, such as myself, a poly finish is always preferable as it protects the instrument and feels great.

And I wouldn't use steel wool on any fretboard (as I don't want the residue into my fingers for the next several months), nor anywhere near exposed (magnetic) pickups.

You don't need to use anything on the fretboard, just the back of the neck and there's no more residue from using steel wool than using sandpaper. Agreed, you need to keep it away from the pickups, but as said, you're only rubbing down the back of the neck.

 

[bender66]

I really wouldn't use a scotch brite, they are still too aggressive and leave scratches. OO steel wool is much better.

I'd go a step further and say the same for steel wool too. Although it's great to use theres really no need to introduce metal to a guitar anywhere.

A grey 3M pad is much finer than the green ones everyone is accustomed to having around the home.

 

[pipthepilot]

I'd go a step further and say the same for steel wool too. Although it's great to use theres really no need to introduce metal to a guitar anywhere.

A grey 3M pad is much finer than the green ones everyone is accustomed to having around the home.

Theres a huge different between normal steel wool and 00 steel wool.