I’m kicking this thread because it’s one that I think should stay near the top. It should almost be required reading for any 1st time raw neck buyers. And for those of us that have been around for a while but haven’t caught on, we should read it every morning until it sinks in!
I remember when it 1st posted & I read it with interest. I have a rosewood neck on my tele that I absolutely love. I had sanded it to 600 grit when I 1st put it on, after that it has hand polished as I play to a smooth shimmer. I’ve been really happy with it. When I read this, I figured it was neat, but I was already in pretty good shape.
So this weekend I’m stuck in the middle of waiting for the hardware truck to bring my goodies. Usually that’s a real down time for me. I mean it doesn’t matter that I bought the body back in June, I‘ve got the neck now and I’ve made the decisions. I'm ready to go. I need my stuff! Yesterday!
This should not reflect badly on any of the companies I ordered from, all 3 had the orders shipped the day I said I do. Nor is it a complaint about the shippers, it’s just logistics, space and time and all that shoot.
So I was noodling around on a guitar when I remembered this thread. Then I thought that Canary would make a good candidate to try it out on. I dug out the sandpaper box and went to work with 320 to get the goo off. Then I went up the list, 400, 600, 800, by now it’s really smooth & can see a shine. Alright! This is great! So I went to 1000 and just grinned.
I am using auto body wet or dry. I use a 1/8th sheet piece that I back with ¼” open cell foam. It’s soft enough to wrap the neck but stiff enough to keep my fingers from coming through.
I like to time this sort of stuff because it gets boring quickly & I tend to think I’m done too soon. 15-20 minutes with each grit worked pretty well. I use a little water every 5 minutes or so to raise the grain & clean out the dust. I let the neck set for an hour or so in between grits to make sure I didn’t over wet the wood. Once I got to the point where water didn’t bring up any grain I just used dry paper and wipe with naphtha to clean the pores.
So I get to 1000 and am really happy.
Time to quit. I’ll go look up that thread and brag a little about my great neck. So I dug around for a while until I found it, but when I read it I realized that wasn’t even half way to what Tonar & Cagey were talking about. So Sunday I started over. 1200, 1500, 2000, 30 minutes each. WOW! What a difference a day makes. It was like going from very smooth to glass. Hard to describe, you need to try it to understand.
So this morning I kick this thread. I need to get some of those fancy smancy micro fiber thingies to get any more than I have, but even the difference from 800 grit to 2000 is enough to make a person say.
That’s incredible!
Many thanks to Cagey, Tonar and Updown
:rock-on:
