Finish options for partial neck re-shape

[marciero00]

I am considering a reshape of a maple neck with nitro finish. If I do just a partial thinning just on the shoulders, only that portion will be bare. My question is what are the refin prospects/options? Can I just rub oil into the bare spots? What about partial nitro finish? My guess is that the entire neck would have to be sprayed? The person doing the work is quite competent will have answers but I wanted to check here first. At this point its just an idea.

 

[bumnote]

Can I just rub oil into the bare spots? What about partial nitro finish?

Yes, you can reapply oil or nitro back on the bare spots. Compatibility with the old finish could be an issue, I've never encountered it myself, but it happens.

How you want the neck to look will also determine how much work is needed.

I reshape a lot of my necks and I can make mine look either almost seamless or close enough. My necks are played in and my bodies are far from mint, so close enough is usually what I'm happy with.
This in my '02 57RI neck, love it but it wasn't "V" enough and to my hand it feels like it's tapering to a "C", so I changed it to my liking and since it didn't need to look new so light tinting and 3 passes with spray lacquer, which works for me but I know the downside of that, and I'm happy. I used StewMac and masked off every other inch of neck, on this neck it's obvious where I removed and replaced nitro to give you a idea.

Cosmetically it only need to look something like this.

 

[Boreas]

Depends if you want to blend into the original finish - and if that original finish is tinted or aged. After the reshape, it will likely be a very light spot on the back of the neck and look bizarre. Oil will darken it some, but it will still look bizarre. But that may be the look you are going for!

I would talk to the person doing the work and see what he feels most comfortable with doing. Total match/respray or just try to get close with stain/oil/nitro/airbrush. With an existing nitro finish, it might be easier/better to strip the entire back and respray with tinted nitro.

 

[marciero00]

Okay thanks.

It might be acceptable to me to have visible transition on a partial respray, similar to bumnote's neck near the headstock, if that is what I am seeing.

As far as a light spot from re-shaping- it already has that as the result of wear from playing. In fact there is still finish there- you can see the gloss- but I guess the tint wore off. So having a similar bare on the shoulders look would be fine. I'm not open to doing a complete stripping of the finish. Would like to keep the intervention minimal, perhaps even if the blend spots arent perfect, say at the headstock. I can imagine doing a spray on the rest of the neck. I should probably mention that this is not a tele. (Is that allowed?)

 

[bumnote]

Okay thanks.

It might be acceptable to me to have visible transition on a partial respray, similar to bumnote's neck near the headstock, if that is what I am seeing.

As far as a light spot from re-shaping- it already has that as the result of wear from playing. In fact there is still finish there- you can see the gloss- but I guess the tint wore off. So having a similar bare on the shoulders look would be fine. I'm not open to doing a complete stripping of the finish. Would like to keep the intervention minimal, perhaps even if the blend spots arent perfect, say at the headstock. I can imagine doing a spray on the rest of the neck. I should probably mention that this is not a tele. (Is that allowed?)

Based on that photo, I think I could easily blend tinting in that spot back to very, very close to excellent and I'm not a pro, I just happened to have modded most of my guitar necks. It's a good looking neck and appears to be in excellent shape, most of mine has seen rougher use.

 

[Boreas]

I should probably mention that this is not a tele. (Is that allowed?)

GASP!! Just don't tell anyone.

I just want to caution that finished removed from wear is not the same as exposing bare wood by shaving/sanding. Play wear usually does not remove patina from the wood. Tools will.

 

[Freeman Keller]

I am considering a reshape of a maple neck with nitro finish. If I do just a partial thinning just on the shoulders, only that portion will be bare. My question is what are the refin prospects/options? Can I just rub oil into the bare spots? What about partial nitro finish? My guess is that the entire neck would have to be sprayed? The person doing the work is quite competent will have answers but I wanted to check here first. At this point its just an idea.

The nice thing about lacquer is that new lacquer will melt in to old lacquer and form one uniform film. Oils or poly or anything else on top of lacquer won't, you have two different finishes on top of each other. with the possibility of different colors witness lines and ever poor adhesion.

Stains, tints, aged finish can make color matching more difficult but its still possible (I don't see any problems with your picture).

You don't have to finish the whole neck, mask the fretboard, head and heel and feather the new finish into the old. I would sand to 320 after you've done your reshaping, shoot 9 to 12 coats with very light sanding every couple of coats. If you want gloss wet sand and buff, it you want semi gloss hit it with 0000 steel wool .

Oh and if you don't know for sure that it is nitro run the test before you start

 

[Beachbum]

If the fingerboard is other than maple my take on it is to strip the entire neck and refinish in satin lacquer. That's what I did with my G&L head stock reshape. Why worry about matching spots when you can just do it right.