Hi, first time posting here. I have a Warmoth strat maple neck with rosewood fretboard, the finish is vintage tint satin nitro. I would like to make the headstock face gloss (for aesthetics, and it would match the body which has a semi-gloss finish) but keep the rest satin as is (for playability). I have an American Professional Tele that has a neck like this and I love it. I was wondering if you guys had any recommendations for me on how to achieve a gloss look using basic tools. Not looking for a factory gloss, I would be happy with a semi-gloss. I have heard good things about Virtuoso polish from others but on their official website they say it's not recommended for satin finishes? Thanks!
From satin to gloss
- Thread starter finyo
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The back of your neck is going to polish up to a semi-gloss just from playing it. I think when it does that it's about the best feeling neck in the world.
Before you install tuners or string trees you could buff up the face of the headstock too, if you like. You could probably do it with just a buffing disc on a hand drill, but some Maguires polishing compound would speed things up. Just get whatever the finest grit they have is. Heck....you could probably do the same thing with toothpaste. LOL.
Before you install tuners or string trees you could buff up the face of the headstock too, if you like. You could probably do it with just a buffing disc on a hand drill, but some Maguires polishing compound would speed things up. Just get whatever the finest grit they have is. Heck....you could probably do the same thing with toothpaste. LOL.
Yes, the back of the neck has been polished by my hands to a nice semi-gloss after years of playing, actually that's kind of the semi-gloss look I'm aiming for for the face of the headstock. Good news is that it still feels as slick as ever. I have already tried buffing the headstock by hand with Music Nomad's "The Guitar One" product and a polishing microfiber cloth, but after hours of elbow grease it has only gotten a tiny bit glossy. I'm going to try with Virtuoso polish compound next.
Waraxe
Senior Member
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Pop the tuners off and rub that sucker with just your fingers for a while.
Polish it like you did the neck shaft.
My first build had a satin neck that took 10 years or so to slick up/not be sticky. I paid like 30 bucks or something like that in '99 tobget the peg had glossed.
The back of the head was and is still mostly satin, except for the area between both sets of 3x3 tuners. That area was friction rubbed to a gloss by me because it didnt match.
You can also pop the tuners and use fine cut glazing compound and some elbow grease.
Stratolorian
Junior Member
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I semi glossed up a whole new satin Warmoth neck with stewmac polishing compound and the polishing pads they sell that mount on a drill. It didn’t make it look like a glassy mirror finish but close enough
