Burnishing Raw Necks

Papers have arrived, and I can't wait to get started (going over to my girlfriends house right now, she has this super small, but cozy porch, bottle of wine, polishing papers. girlfriend. guitar  :icon_thumright:

??? Just to clarify, you guys are not cycling through the different grains repeatedly like 600-1200-1800-2400 (repeat) on the same neck.

You are basically going:

600 grain sanding for a chunk of time
1200 for chunk of time
1800
2400
finally when you reach the finest grain of the desired finish kaputsky, yes?
 
You start with the coarsest and end with the finest. You also spend the least time with the coarsest and the most with the finest.  Also, keep in mind that it takes a longer time to see the results the finer you go. Progressively finer papers cut more slowly. You're trying to get rid of the scratches from the previous treatment, which can take while.
 
O.M.G.  :headbang1:

Just amazing. Seriously I wanted to use my knowledge of "Thin Slicing" ("Blink" -Gladwell) so instead of sitting down and sanding/polishing for an hour, I broke the process down into 5 minutes, just to get a taste.

Even with just a few strokes with each cloth, moving up the grain scale as recommended... amazing! I forgot I did this with my first electric guitar (Fender Squire Strat) with a little bit of steel wool, as recommended by an electric blues guitarist friend I met in good ol' community college (if only they had luthier classe$...). He used to just sling his fender strat around without a case, just f----ing heave hoe in the back of his car. He was into that old bluesman legacy. I hope for his health he stopped "dipping" nasty.

??? Anyone else having trouble with the SRV back contour? IDK if I owe my thumb fatigue to more practicing and this was just the straw, but I really feel like the SRV back contour is more pointed where my thumb rests (OUCH!)

So I went to HD and picked up some 60, 180, and 600 and for a few minutes just easing into the melting of the back of that point, where my thumb rests with the 60, 180 and 600. I am pretty n00b at this but those polishing cloths seem to clean up the scratches (I mean, nothing like buffing like that  :tard: crazy guy in the  :eek:ccasion14: stew mac catalogue! ha ha) pretty well. I forgot about what made my neck look so sleek and deep and wet...the forehead grease. I will post pictures of it when I get it more suitable for my hand, its still a little soon to tell (hand fatigue from elbow grease etc. probably take me a week to figure it out).

But until then...this thread earned one of these babies  :cool01:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSIZa1WEEgw
 
Here's another example of what this burnishing does. This is a Canary on Canary neck...

IMG_2813_Sm.JPG

IMG_2815_Sm.JPG

IMG_2818_Sm.JPG

I broke the corners on the headstock with some 220 grit, then everything got treated to a progression of 400, 800, 1200, 1500 and 2000 grits. Thing is slicker'n snot, and there's no finish. Plus, it doesn't mar like satin finishes do.
 
It's just an example of "depth of field" focusing. Or, magic. Notice how the writing on the neck is clearer than the TV that is the source  :icon_biggrin:
 
Yeah, that's depth of field. Your camera is in-focus on the neck, the background images are all blurry.

Looks killer though. Are you sanding dry with those abrasives, or sanding wet using the naptha we see in the pic?
 
anorakDan said:
Looks killer though. Are you sanding dry with those abrasives, or sanding wet using the naptha we see in the pic?
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm sanding dry. The naptha is for cleaning. And the occasional cocktail  :icon_biggrin:
 
Cagey...what are the best neck woods for polishing?  Obviously ones that do not require a finish but do some woods work better than others??
 
No sense in wasting the extra "H" or stinky ol' flourocarbons when you could be putting it to better use - Uhnofficial Wharmoth, anyone? :toothy12:
 
DMRACO said:
Cagey...what are the best neck woods for polishing?  Obviously ones that do not require a finish but do some woods work better than others??
Click to expand...

I've gotten good results from everything I've tried it on, but the most satisfying so far have been denser woods such as Bloodwood (Satine), Pau Ferro and Maple. The Maple still requires a finish, though, so there's generally not much point to it. In fact, you don't really want to burnish a wood you're going to finish because you leave little for the finish to adhere to. However, Tonar's gotten good results from burnishing his Maple necks and then applying Boiled Linseed Oil.
 
Cagey said:
Jumble Jumble said:
Is "naptha" an actual accepted spelling, or is it just one if those UW things, like "shinny"?
Click to expand...

It's the actual spelling. See Naptha.
Click to expand...


I think "naptha" gets a lot more play in the States but "naphtha" is the older and more "correct" spelling.  Anyone wishing to go on a rant about how language evolution (whether spoken or written) is a Bad Thing is invited to go soak his or her head - might as well complain about gravity for all the good it will do.


Carry on...

 
I have the weird feeling that people who are now great guitarists surely spent a lot more time on what was happening on the other side of the neck, the one with all those bumpy "fret" things. And if you tapped John McLaughlin or Jeff Beck or Julien Kasper or Robben Ford on the shoulder in the middle of a guitar solo and asked him -
"Excuse me, what kind of neck finish allows you to play like that, sir?"
Click to expand...
they'd probably (hopefully?) brain you with the thing.

The main reason for needing to move up and down the neck has to do with the bumpy side, still. I don't even notice the other, unless it's WRONG. A little neck ding will drive me crazy, till I can drop-fill it.
 
You're right, of course. But, when you're putting together a new instrument, you want it as good as you can get it. It's certainly not going to stay that way, and it's counter-productive to try. But, why pay $1K - $2K and invest all the time required to have something that looks like a basement project right from the word go? If you're going to do it, do it right. You'll have forever after to terrorize the thing.
 
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