Has anybody else had a rough neck?

[mrpinter]

No, this is not about rednecks. One of my Warmoth goncalo alves necks never felt as good to me as my other one. Finally I figured out that what I was feeling was a certain roughness along the back of the neck - especially in the cowboy chords region. It was glass smooth on the back of the headstock, but definitely un-smooth on the playing surface. So it's now at my tech's getting sanded and finished. I talked to Spike at Warmoth today and he said that with three quality inspections before necks leave the plant he doubted that it escaped with roughness or sanding marks still on it. But my tech said that what he found was in fact sanding marks (artifacts?). I don't think it's me, because I don't have sweaty hands, and besides, my other goncalo neck doesn't have this problem.

Anyone else have this issue?

 

[Cagey]

I've never seen it, and I get to see a lot of Warmoth necks here. Sounds like you got an anomaly. Even quality control isn't necessarily perfect; there are still humans involved. Maybe it passed everybody the day after the company picnic where they all got snot-slinging drunk.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

I have one that had the same "problem". But I have always sanded the necks down so that problem ain't a biggie for me.  :icon_biggrin:

I don't know how to explain this but I _think_ that Goncalo Alves has a varying degree of smoothness* from neck to neck. At least I have two necks which are very dark in the color and also seemed more "rough" than two others that are lighter in colour. But it could be a coincidence.  :dontknow:

* I know Warmoth sand them down to grit 220 - but maybe there is a different structure/growth/whatever from piece to piece.

Anyway - you do want to sand a raw neck using gradually higher grits down to grit 1000-1500. I use a little Dunlop lemon oil with the last passes with the finest grit.

Gives helluva smooth stick to play with.

 

[mrpinter]

Thanks for the info, Sustainer. I got my guitar back from the tech and it's now smooth as glass. And he used a little bit of some kind of oil at the end of his finishing. My other goncalo alves neck doesn't have this issue. I wonder if = and why - goncalo can have this problem and not other woods.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Also there is a lot of unaccounted for time in shipping.  Certainly the necks are packed well in the boxes and so on, but I always wonder if there is a difference before and after from shipping.  Which also brings up, the weather conditions at point A versus point B and their effect on things.  I dunno, but I can find wiggle room conceptually.  Doesn't mean that I am right but...  Also I always sand/polish the necks up after I get them.  The sanding sealer that Warmoth puts on all of their necks feels very gummy to me, so I polish it off.
Patrick

 

[MikeW]

I noticed this on my latest Canary/Ebony neck as well. I just knocked down the roughness with some 220 and then a light brushing with steel wool and it took care of the problem nicely. Very smooth and slick now.

 

[Steve_Karl]

My Padouk neck is somewhat annoyingly rough on the back in some places.
Ever time I pick it up I start thinking about what gauge sand paper to start with.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

My Padouk neck is somewhat annoyingly rough on the back in some places.
Ever time I pick it up I start thinking about what gauge sand paper to start with.

Cagey made a good "how to" here: Polishing Raw Necks

 

[Steve_Karl]

My Padouk neck is somewhat annoyingly rough on the back in some places.
Ever time I pick it up I start thinking about what gauge sand paper to start with.

Cagey made a good "how to" here: Polishing Raw Necks

Thanks!

 

[line6man]

Sounds like a neck slipped through their inspection. That's bound to happen every now and again, with as many necks as Warmoth produces.

I'd second the polishing raw necks suggestion.

 

[stubhead]

You don't have to polish them mirror-smooth to be just... smoothier. There are any number of people who like just a smidgie of texture - that's where the whole
"Steel Wool my Poly" cult came from, right?
In fact, I'm gonna leapfrog a few minor steps in the interest of brevity (my Greatest Cause! :laughing3 and say:

Warmoth's lush, luminous and leading role in the explosion of funky-ass weird mmmeXOTIC woods stuck on guitars owes a goodly chunk of causation to...
icky-slicky-sticky thick poly/acrylic so popular with the 1970's EFFICIENCY chaps.

"finish 1,500 guitar bodies at a time" fellas.

BZZT - SPLAT!

:hello2: :hello2: All done! :hello2: :hello2:

But if you think about it, the "cut the shine mod" for brand new, icky necks is about the easiest, and least terror-driven, "mod" imaginable. But - in a few weeks (3+ hrs a day, yes you can) - play yourself  right back to icky, sticky n'all. Inquiring minds poke about, planning, de-planning, re-planning; set the brain knobs for a slow, meandering spiral pattern. Eddie VH popularized the no-finish-on-maple approach. Eddie gets 'em wholesale at the very least so warps "don't matter." You don't and it does too - warp, so--->--->--->

And away we go, eventually leading to... ummm... right hyar. And one big happy chunk of pau ferro later...

http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/ExplosionsInTheSky2011-05-01FoxTheaterOaklandCA.asx

If I had a neck with a rough spot or two, I would sand them smooth.

 

[Steve_Karl]

"Steel Wool my Poly" cult ...

Yea. I was playing my 1980 G&L F-100 II the other day and since I'm not using Lemon Pledge any more the neck is
annoying (slightly sticky/grabby even when clean) compared to my rougher maple Warmoth finished with Behlen's Master-Gel.

So ... does scuffing the poly with a Scotchbrite (1000 grit) make it less grabby? ... or am I going to be sorry I tried it?

 

[Day-mun]

I have used Mr. Clean magic eraser (which is even finer than 0000 steel wool) with satisfying results.... the 0000 does a fine job, too, but swirls are more visible if the light hits it at the right angle.

My disclaimer is that it is a matter of taste; I wouldn't be sorry, but I don't own your instrument, so...

 

[stubhead]

Well, people do it all the time, I don't know where you stand on the "collectable so I put it in a glass case and worship it" stuff. I know somebody who hit's 'em with a piece of indoor/outdoor carpeting, there was a guy here fairly recently who's using grocery-bag paper, the kind of scratchy brown stuff... I would test any thing on some varnished wood somewhere before diving in whole-hog.

 

[Steve_Karl]

Thanks Day-mun and StubHead.

No "collectable" or resale worries here.
Brown grocery bag! LOL

It sounds like if I just rub it enough with a hand towel it'll eventually get a bit rougher.

 

[Steve_Karl]

Sorry for necroposting but I wanted to update this because I finally got around to satining the G&L neck and I'm very happy with the results.
I used a Grey scotchbrite and it only took a minute or so and it's not "grabby" at all anymore.
It's now nice and smooth with no sticky sensation at all.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Sounds like a ripe candidate for burnishing on your own!

 

[new-killer-star]

Don't knock the brown paper bag, IIRC it is grit 2500 - 3000 or so