My new warmoth strat neck is arriving today (yay!) and I’m wondering which direction I should go with regard to finishing this one.
My current warmoth strat neck had the same exact specs, except the 6130 (Gibson size) frets—low & wide, whereas the new one has 6100’s.
I initially finished that neck with 2 thin coats of Tru-Oil, followed a few months later by a thin coat of satin nitro. This worked great on the fretboard—the satin nitro and a lot of finger contact with the fretboard has given it a lot of dark spots from where I chord & bend a lot.
The nitro on the back of the neck was a little sticky after playing though, so I knocked it down w/ 0000 steel wool and did a thin coat of wipe on poly on the back, followed up with some gunstock wax. Now I’ve got the worn look on the front, as well as the worn look on the back, but with the advantage of the back being super slick & fast.
With the 6100’s on the new neck, there probably won’t be near as much finger/fretboard contact, so I probably won’t get that great wear on the front.
Should I follow suit and do the same finish on this new neck, or go with something different since I probably won’t get the same wear on the board due to the bigger frets?
Other options are:
The Ernie Ball route – quick wipe-on/wipe off of Tru-Oil, followed up by wax.
Thin coat of wipe-on poly. Done.
Sanding sealer only – wood is protected, but still feels bare.
My current warmoth strat neck had the same exact specs, except the 6130 (Gibson size) frets—low & wide, whereas the new one has 6100’s.
I initially finished that neck with 2 thin coats of Tru-Oil, followed a few months later by a thin coat of satin nitro. This worked great on the fretboard—the satin nitro and a lot of finger contact with the fretboard has given it a lot of dark spots from where I chord & bend a lot.
The nitro on the back of the neck was a little sticky after playing though, so I knocked it down w/ 0000 steel wool and did a thin coat of wipe on poly on the back, followed up with some gunstock wax. Now I’ve got the worn look on the front, as well as the worn look on the back, but with the advantage of the back being super slick & fast.
With the 6100’s on the new neck, there probably won’t be near as much finger/fretboard contact, so I probably won’t get that great wear on the front.
Should I follow suit and do the same finish on this new neck, or go with something different since I probably won’t get the same wear on the board due to the bigger frets?
Other options are:
The Ernie Ball route – quick wipe-on/wipe off of Tru-Oil, followed up by wax.
Thin coat of wipe-on poly. Done.
Sanding sealer only – wood is protected, but still feels bare.
