boatneck sanding project

[WindsurfMaui]

I'm documenting my boatneck sanding project I have mentioned in other threads that my vintage/modern boatneck has a different  neck shape than my modern build boatneck. The 1 piece vintage/modern starts the boatneck V just under the top of the fret board and runs in an almost straight line, with a little soft arc, to the skunk stripe which acts as the base of the V. The modern build has more of a D shape that starts under the seam of the fret board and has a strong arc to the an almost flat bottom except for the protrusion of a V bottom from the middle of the D shape. This difference was a great disappointment to me.  I love the "hard" V shape of the 1 piece vintage/modern but always wanted an ebony (Black) Strat neck so thought an Ebony over roasted maple would feel exactly the same as the vintage/modern shape. It isn't . So I am taking sand paper in hand and am trying to custom shape the modern build neck.  I will document the phases here.

Since I am not very handy with tools I decided to take a number of days to do this project. Sanding needs to be done cautiously and purposely because I was afraid I would either take too much off or maybe worse sand the neck unevenly and have a low spot some where along the neck. I started day 1 with 150 grit sand paper and a stiff  non wood sanding block. Using full length strokes of the neck on each side. stopping every 10 strokes to feel the neck to make sure no mistakes were being made. I started near the seam between the finger board and the shaft. This would take down a little more of the shoulders. I had hoped to mimic the vintage/modern build profile and start the V just around where the side dots are but this ebony is a very hard wood and no matter how much I sand it nothing seems to be removed. So I took the shoulders down after the seam a little and then tried to flatten the hard arc leading to the bottom of the neck into more of a straight line. After about an hour of sanding it started to feel like the shape was changing. I spend the rest of the night just feeling the neck and feeling I had made good progress. However, when I woke up the next day the neck felt like it had returned to it's original shape and nothing had been removed. Almost like it grew back over night. Although obviously something had been done because you can see in the enclosed pictures the full colored neck and the neck where only the "skunk stripe" of original shading is still on the bottom of the neck.

Day 2 I started sanding the lower part of the neck to flatten the arc more and again with 150 grit sand paper after an hour it started to feel like the vintage/modern build shape.  I was quite happy and thought rather than rush the process to stop there and spend a day just feeling the neck to make a good assessment of how much more needed to be done.

I then decided to try and work on softening the top of the finger board sharp edge.  I decide to do this on the bass side only since that is where the pain is and I won't be bothered by a curled edge there since I don't plan on doing any string bending on the 6th string. I started with sandpaper but didn't seem to get anywhere at all. Then I tried the razor blade edge technique and that didn't seem to get anywhere either. I want to be cautious that I only roll the edge of the board and don't change the shape of the board. Sometimes when I feel those edges I feel they are a little softer and other times they feel as sharp as always. Again I went to bed thinking I had made good progress and woke up to feel that although there is a change in the shape it wasn't nearly as much change as I had felt the night before. I decide to take a day off and will resume the sanding tomorrow.

I have attached a couple of photos. The before sanding and the after sanding where only the "skunk stripe" of the previous finish of the roasted maple is apparent. It is hard to capture the shape differences by camera When I take a measure of the circumference of the neck at various frets along the neck the differences in the before and after are less than a millimetre. But the neck does feel different although it feels like a lot more has to be done.

I want to say that hand sanding is very therapeutic. It makes me forget about the quarantine and all the other issues in the world. After I finish this project I may just buy a couple of very cheap unfinished maple necks and hand sand them down to tooth picks just for the fun of it.  :>)

 

[rgand]

That's an interesting undertaking. Do you have one of those contour guages to help get the shape right?

I want to say that hand sanding is very therapeutic. It makes me forget about the quarantine and all the other issues in the world. After I finish this project I may just buy a couple of very cheap unfinished maple necks and hand sand them down to tooth picks just for the fun of it.  :>)

:icon_thumright:

 

[WindsurfMaui]

No what is it and how does it work? I have been doing it by feel after all that was the whole point of the project. But I am curious about that tool.

 

[rgand]

No what is it and how does it work? I have been doing it by feel after all that was the whole point of the project. But I am curious about that tool.

It has a bunch of sliding 'rods' sandwiched between the flat sides. You just push it against what you want to copy and it becomes a template to let you have a pattern to work to.

There are all kinds of them. Some lock, some just have friction to keep the shape. Here's a search on Amazon to give you an idea.

 

[WindsurfMaui]

So Saturday I thought I had finished with 600 grit paper and would start with 800 grit today. However I learned a couple of things. The first being it takes me about 1/2 hour of feeling the neck in my hands before I can find small patches of wood that still need the previous level of sanding. When I first finish sanding I feel the neck all over and it feel great but after a while I start to feel small patches where it could be better.

The second thing, and maybe I am doing this wrong, is that when I first started the sanding process I took the dark wood skin off the neck and exposed a nice shade of tan.  I thought as I moved up the grit scale the wood would darken but as of the 800 grit level the wood is still tan. So do I have to sand longer to have the wood shade change? Or will it happen automatically when I get to the 1500 and 2000 level?

 

[musicispeace]

Good question. I had thought roasted maple was pretty uniform all the way through.

 

[WindsurfMaui]

OK so I'm having a little melt down in a good way.

First, I stopped shaping the neck with low grit sand paper. I measured the circumference before and after and although I know these measurements are not exact they are fairly close. The neck at the 1st fret went from 5" to 4 7/8 ", at the 12th fret 5 1/4" to 4 7/8", and at the 15th fret from 5 3/4" to 5 1/8". I'm a little surprised I took off so much and the 15th fret measurement could be a little off I doubt I took off that much. But I have to say the neck feels very very good even before the burnishing.  I found that I took off a little more on the base side which is OK because especially up the neck my fingers won't be close to the neck so leaving a little more there is not a problem. I will eventually install the neck and play it for a couple of months to see whether I can call it done or if more needs to be done.

Then I started to burnish the neck. I don't think I spent as long with each level as others who have done this. I sanded at each level until it felt like there was a uniform feel to the whole neck including the head stock. Then I would just hold the neck and run it through my fingers after a while I would find any spots that didn't feel right, like they needed more sanding, and hit them the next day and then move onto the next grit. When I got to the 1200 grit I did that for a few minutes and the neck felt so good that I decided to not go to a higher level. And that is the problem it feels so darn good that I want to put it back on my guitar and play it. It really is hurting me not to be playing tonight. But I need to open the body and check all the solder  connections, possibly replace a pot. It is driving me crazy.

After a while I did hit the neck with the Stew Mac polishing papers. I used the Pink 4000 and then the 6000 paper. But only for a few seconds I started to see a satin shine and I stopped because I don't think I want a shine. To me when the shine started it felt less slippery then before when the shine. That is just me. One of the best things that happened in this process, if anything could be better than the neck shape and the burnishing is the sanding took off the vintage orange-ish patina and it took it back to the tan wood color that let the wood pattern show through which I much prefer.  I never liked the roasted maple color but was willing to live with it to get the burnish slippery feel of the neck. But I seem to have both the slippery feel and a much nicer color.

On the negative after feeling the slippery burnished neck the other satin finished boatneck felt dirty. It wasn't just that the satin wasn't as slippery the neck actually felt dirty like there were bumps of something under the surface. I never noticed it before I burnished the roasted maple neck but it felt so bad I had to hit the satin finish with the 4000 polishing paper. I didn't want to breech the coating but just clean it up and after a couple of minutes it started to feel better. Not as good as the burnished neck but still much better.

So in a couple of days I will open the body make some adjustments and then put the burnished neck on and play it for a month.

My thanks to everyone who has given me the information over time on how to do this process.

 

[rgand]

That came out looking really good. Nice work, there.

 

[WindsurfMaui]

Thanks it looks much more tinted in the photos than it is in real life. More tan in real life.

 

[WindsurfMaui]

Just a small update. I didn't like the satin shine on the neck so I decided to hit the neck with the 1200 grit and take it back to a matte finish. Before I did that as an experiment I wiped the neck shaft down with a wet cloth which immediately made the neck feel fuzzy. I waited it a minute to let it dry and then used the 1200 grit which made it feel super slippery again but with a matte look. Now I have to finish the changes in the wiring and I can finally put it on the body and play it.  :guitaristgif:

 

[WindsurfMaui]

So I decided that I still have too much research to do on what changes I will make on my Strat wiring and I really wanted to feel this neck wired up so I put it on the guitar. Damn it feels great. I stopped at 1200 grit and left the neck with a matte finish. And I can attest that I thought the factory finish was very slick but at 1200 grit it is like glass.

I put on a set of black Hipshot closed staggered tuners which could explain why this modern build neck now feels lighter than it did. I know I didn't take off that much wood to explain the difference. It still feels heavier than the Vintage/modern build but not by that much.  I took advantage of putting the neck on to flatten the relief, lowered the strings and adjusted the intonation.  I can't be happier. Thanks to everyone who offered advise on this project. This neck is quite slippery now and has a much better feel. It isn't quite the same feel as the vintage/modern but it is very close. The idea that I could even get this 2 piece build this close to the 1 piece vintage/modern feel makes me realize I can feel confident if I order a 2 piece Goncalo Alves it will be a neck I can shape to my exact shape.

I've decided when I make the wiring adjustments I will swap the white pickguard and pickup covers for black ones. Same for the output jack cover. But I will leave the bridge silver to match the frets but everything else will be black.