Giving color to a light neck

[Bahoda]

I'm putting together a cheap guitar for a coworker.  I bought a "strat" neck from China, which was a cheese grater with a headstock. I fixed all that, but the neck just looks too "white" to me. Is there a way to give it more of a vintage tone? I'm sure it has a polyurethane finish on it.

 

[bagman67]

Hit it with a one-pound cut of blonde shellac.

 

[Bahoda]

Sorry, you lost me. Are you saying to just put amber shellac on it? If so, is there a certain method? I don't mind taking the time to do it right. Thank you, I really appreciate your knowledge.

 

[bagman67]

When you want to do is apply to a light coat of shellac. Go very easy with it, and simply add another coat if you want the Amber to get darker. After that, apply lacquer or some other clear coat to suit your taste.

 

[Bahoda]

Thank you. Lovely Tele btw

 

[AirCap]

Aniline stains.... cheap to buy, mix with water, apply with a rag. I'm a pro, and I bought mine off eBay. They look GREAT.

 

[Ace Flibble]

Aniline stains.... cheap to buy, mix with water, apply with a rag. I'm a pro, and I bought mine off eBay. They look GREAT.

Not applicable since OP implies the neck already has a finish of some kind.



OP, if your neck is indeed already finished, it almost certainly has a poly-based finish. You can paint over that with nitro spray paint for a really simple and authentic-looking 'aged' top coat. You can get spray cans of nitro in all kinds of 'aged' tints, with yellow, amber, and light brown all being common. What you go for is up to you and which look you prefer. Warmoth use a more yellow version; Fender use an amber tint top coat; Gibson, PRS, and many others use a light tobacco/smoke brown top coat.

Simply sand the existing finish a very, very light amount (I usually use 600 grit wet-dry paper, dry) and mist on one light passing of the tinted top coat nitro. Leave that for a few hours, then mist on another. Repeat until you have the colour depth you like. Misting on the coats creates a better 'aged' look than spraying on a normal consistent layer; remember that you're trying to give it a "vintage tone", not a thick gloss.

Nitro can be sprayed over poly, but poly can't be sprayed over nitro. So whenever you do this, make sure you get it the right way around. Also be sure that the paint you buy is indeed just a lightly tinted top coat, and not a full colour coat!

 

[Logrinn]

On the other hand, you could leave it as it is.
I can't remember ever seeing a yellow Fender neck back in the day (the first time I worked in a music store was back in -72). They were all white as I recall.

Of, course, age will have yellowed them, but so will your neck yellow ...

 

[Axkoa]

On the other hand, you could leave it as it is.
I can't remember ever seeing a yellow Fender neck back in the day (the first time I worked in a music store was back in -72). They were all white as I recall.

Of, course, age will have yellowed them, but so will your neck yellow ...

That picture is so cool. Something about Ashtray bridges...