Darkening satin maple neck?

[Beast_of_Burden]

Any way to darken these pale satin necks?

This is my brand new American Performer Telecaster with a humbucker in the neck. I wanted something with a humbucker in the neck and big jumbo frets so this guitar ticked all my boxes. I love it except one thing: the pale satin neck.

I think the really pale maple necks look kinda ugly and cheap and much prefer the look of darker yellow necks. Will these necks darken and age over time or is there a stain or something that can be put on it to make it darker? Anyone ever done something like that to a neck before that was lighter than they liked?

 

[badinfinities]

Play it lots, and you'll wear the finish down and get some finger grit in the wood.
Otherwise you could:
- refinish the neck
- buy a replacement neck with a vintage amber tint.

 

[Holy smokes]

did you do a search. I’m sure I’ve seen this question and answer many times before

 

[tedtan]

Leave it out in indirect sunlight and the wood will darken and the finish will probably yellow some. How much depends on the wood and the finish, but they will darken.

 

[PixMix]

There are many ways to do darken a pale neck. Since this is a poly finish, my first choice would a couple of very thin coats of wipe-on poly that was tinted with some amber Trans Tint wood finishing dye.

 

[flapjack]

Leave it out in indirect sunlight and the wood will darken and the finish will probably yellow some. How much depends on the wood and the finish, but they will darken.

This has worked well for me only I have put the necks in direct sunlight. I would be careful about too much heat, too little humidity, etc. so you don't warp the neck.

 

[willietheweirdo]

Cool site. What you might expect in 7 years out in the open: https://www.scherrs.com/contents/en-us/d53_ColorShift.html

 

[Greenstreet]

I've used brown shoe polish, which worked much better than I expected, but it won't get a lot darker, just warm it up a bit- I think I still have the neck that I did it on, I'll see if I can't dig it up and take a picture.

Another option is to mix Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil with a small dab of Raw Sienna artist's oil paint, depending on the color you want you could warm it up a bit with just a small amount of burnt sienna, and/or darken it just a little more with some umber.

The key with Tru-Oil is to get the coats as thin as humanly possible- I wipe it on with those blue paper towels from the auto parts shop, and immediately wipe off hard. Keep adding coats until the color is where you want it, then follow with 2 thin coats of straight (clear) tru-oil.

Each successive coat will be just a little glossier than the last, if you want the satin finish, you can knock the sheen back down with some 800 wet/dry paper or a Scotchbrite pad.

 

[newminglewoodblue]

Play it! Specifically, practice the major scale in all 7 modes in at least 2 keys EVERY Day; you'll wear the neck nicely with a natural patina. Nothing beats the natural look, play it hard and it will look old in no time!

She's a great looking tele btw! Congrats!