I finally found a fool-proof finish... and it's a wax!

[RavageTheEarth]

I'm a huge Tru-Oil fan. Seriously. I put it on everything. Lately, I've been playing around with some light relicing and in my ventures, I came across Montypresso's Relic Wax. It smells like crayons and it is magic. I applied it to a couple of maple necks and was very impressed.

My current project is routing out a humbucker in the bridge position of my player telecaster to put a Red Dually Lace Sensor in the bridge and a Blue Lace Sensor single-coil in the neck. Jonny Greenwood style. I have a roasted Flame Maple neck for it that I got from Warmoth a couple of months back that I Tru-Oiled and ever since I started using the relic wax I've been eyeing this neck.

So I finally cracked and sanded the Tru-Oil off and layered on the relic wax. And when I say layered, I mean LAYERED. The great thing about this stuff is that it rubs right off your frets. It only penetrates bare wood so you can put it on liberally and wipe it off.

I wrapped it in a trash bag and put it in a cool place for 24 hours. I wish I had a before picture, but unfortunately, my excitement got the best of me and I forgot. Before applying the wax, the neck flame wasn't too visible and the neck was a light reddish-brown color. After sitting for 24 hours with the wax on it this is the result.

HUGE difference. The flame is holographic and looks like a AAA piece of wood and the grain is extremely pronounced. To me, it looks better than the Tru-Oil did and the neck still feels like it's unfinished and silky smooth. I've also used the wax to darken rosewood fretboards and it does a hell of a job doing that as well.

So I just wanted to share this and hopefully, it helps some of you out there. I'm not paid by Montypresso for this post, but I definitely deserve a sponsorship after the number of guitars I've used it on. Maybe it's just brown shoe polish, but maybe, just maybe, it's magic.

 

[Beebe]

Nice.

Do you know what's in that stuff?

It looks like paste wax with some pigment in it.

I like using Hard Wax Oil (HWO) on necks, including rosewood fretboards. Which is basically paste wax with more oil and solvent. So I'd agree that some form of wax is the way to go.

I'd be a little hesitant to put pigment directly against the wood as it could get blotchy if absorbed unevenly, but it looks like it worked out great for you.

 

[knockeduptele]

I'm a huge Tru-Oil fan. Seriously. I put it on everything. Lately, I've been playing around with some light relicing and in my ventures, I came across Montypresso's Relic Wax. It smells like crayons and it is magic. I applied it to a couple of maple necks and was very impressed.

My current project is routing out a humbucker in the bridge position of my player telecaster to put a Red Dually Lace Sensor in the bridge and a Blue Lace Sensor single-coil in the neck. Jonny Greenwood style. I have a roasted Flame Maple neck for it that I got from Warmoth a couple of months back that I Tru-Oiled and ever since I started using the relic wax I've been eyeing this neck.

So I finally cracked and sanded the Tru-Oil off and layered on the relic wax. And when I say layered, I mean LAYERED. The great thing about this stuff is that it rubs right off your frets. It only penetrates bare wood so you can put it on liberally and wipe it off.

View attachment 988636

I wrapped it in a trash bag and put it in a cool place for 24 hours. I wish I had a before picture, but unfortunately, my excitement got the best of me and I forgot. Before applying the wax, the neck flame wasn't too visible and the neck was a light reddish-brown color. After sitting for 24 hours with the wax on it this is the result.

View attachment 988639
View attachment 988640

HUGE difference. The flame is holographic and looks like a AAA piece of wood and the grain is extremely pronounced. To me, it looks better than the Tru-Oil did and the neck still feels like it's unfinished and silky smooth. I've also used the wax to darken rosewood fretboards and it does a hell of a job doing that as well.

So I just wanted to share this and hopefully, it helps some of you out there. I'm not paid by Montypresso for this post, but I definitely deserve a sponsorship after the number of guitars I've used it on. Maybe it's just brown shoe polish, but maybe, just maybe, it's magic.

Ive been using it on the body of this one actually over nitro - the wax brings it out the depth

 

[Super Locrian]

I assume the black "pickguard" covers a swimming pool route. From a practical standpoint, that really should be the standard for all solidbody electric guitars. Would make it so much easier to swap around pickups of all types and sizes.

 

[jrblue]

Glad it worked. I like Tru-Oil followed by a gunstock-type wax for the back of the neck; that's what Ernie Ball/Music Man does and their necks are as good as it gets. For other surfaces, Tru-Oil and waxes are not acoustically favorable (not always a big deal, but still...) or durable and effective over time. They need to keep getting renewed. I would not do a body, headstock, etc. with that material because it will look great until it doesn't. But cared for, I'm sure it will stay attractive. Super bonus points for following your own inclination.

 

[knockeduptele]

I assume the black "pickguard" covers a swimming pool route. From a practical standpoint, that really should be the standard for all solidbody electric guitars. Would make it so much easier to swap around pickups of all types and sizes.

yip - a big square hole in the middle - got Jack's Instruments up in Manchester to custom cut a Bakerlite plate for it

(most of my Teles have swimming pool routes on them now partially for weight but i like the extra resonance it seems to provide)

 

[Tele-Meister]

Woah, that's incredible! @RavageTheEarth, where do you get it? I'm from Canada, you're from Massachusetts, USA, it seems, and the wax is from UK. Did you just buy directly from the site, or is there a North American dealer? Thank you! Congrats on the beautiful neck!