Neck FInishing Questions, Noob

[cosman]

Hi Guys,

I did a search a few times and did not find exactly what I was after so I'll just ask.

First new Warmoth neck maple FB out for deliver to me.  My first Warmoth product.  (U9 sold me, that Project Orange guy).

Ok the questions:

1)  The Paint Your Own Guitar Guy scared the daylights out of me about lacquer finish damage and sesitivity.  If I do Deft finish on the neck and put the guitar in a regular guitar stand is the foam on the stand gonna melt into the finish?

1a)  Should I use that new Satin poly instead?  If so can someone who has used it give any tips?  (I'd really rather not go this way as I know the lacquer melts ito itself and is much easier to apply but I don't want stand "burn-in" either)

2)  Can I clear over the metal Warmoth decal?  If so how many coats till it's smooths out?  Apply the metal decal to the bare wood first? 

3)  If I ordered a metal decal (I did) do I get the water slide too?  I ask cause if it take 1000 coats to cover the metal decal I'll just do the water slide one.

4)  If I waterslide decal do I do it to bare wood?  Or laydown a base coat or two first?

5)  How sharp are the edges of the fingerboard?  Are they WAY sharp and if they are any tips on giving them the Fender like custom shop rolled edge? (I f I try this I don't want to FUBAR it)

6)  I had them route for the Floyd nut.  Will I need to lower that some if I like a low action, or are they usually right on?  (I know there is procedure for getting that to just the right height, I have it in a Dan Erlwine book)

That's about it.  Only other question I guess is, has anyone put a Warmoth neck on a MIM strat and had any issues I should know about?

thanks

 

[vanhagar]

I can answer a couple of these.
#1 Yes the deft clear is sensitive to the black rubber type stands, not sure about the clear goldish colored stuff.
#1a I have used the minwax satin finish in a spray and it works great on the neck, kinda hard to get it real smooth, just don't put too much on at once and you can wet sand it a bit with #1000 grit automotive wet dry paper
#2 I tried to clear over the metal decal, not a good idea, It is very thin anyway and looks great without a clear over it.
#3 There is no waterslide decal, it's a peel and stick, and no they don't clear over well either, I tried that too  :sad:
I'm not gonna touch the rest of your questions, but I hope I helped in some way.

Paul.

 

[cosman]

Thanks Paul,

I did put the peal and stick down and I cleared over it.  I sanded after a few coats and took the "Made in" off of Made in USA but no biggy.'
I did get it covered after about 10 coats on the headstock.
I found a link here to roll the edges using a razor blade and sanding and it came out awesome!  The edges are very comfy now.
I'm letting the neck cure for a few days before smoothing with some 0000 steel wool.  I did a test buff on the finger board and since I have SS frets the overspray comes off real easy.
For my first time it seems it was not too hard to do.

 

[-CB-]

1)  The Paint Your Own Guitar Guy scared the daylights out of me about lacquer finish damage and sesitivity.  If I do Deft finish on the neck and put the guitar in a regular guitar stand is the foam on the stand gonna melt into the finish?

All lacquer needs stand protection - Gibson, Fender, Deft on Warmoth....  Just use a safe stand, or lay a towel over your stand's rubber.  Its not good to use stands for "storage" anyway... they're for temporary use.  A LOT of guitars get fubar'd from being on stands and tripped over, kid sistered, dogged, mom'd, you name it.

1a)  Should I use that new Satin poly instead?  If so can someone who has used it give any tips?  (I'd really rather not go this way as I know the lacquer melts ito itself and is much easier to apply but I don't want stand "burn-in" either)

Deft is good

2)  Can I clear over the metal Warmoth decal?  If so how many coats till it's smooths out?  Apply the metal decal to the bare wood first?

It wont smooth out, its really thick.

3)  If I ordered a metal decal (I did) do I get the water slide too?  I ask cause if it take 1000 coats to cover the metal decal I'll just do the water slide one.

Water slide is better.  After a few Deft coats, cover the decal lightly with two or three coats of clear shellac.  That will prevent the decal from curling up and dissolving like the Wicked Witch of the Whatever.

4)  If I waterslide decal do I do it to bare wood?  Or laydown a base coat or two first?

See above

5)  How sharp are the edges of the fingerboard?  Are they WAY sharp and if they are any tips on giving them the Fender like custom shop rolled edge? (I f I try this I don't want to FUBAR it)

Take metal rod about 1/4 inch diameter and iron out the sharp fretboard edges.  Its easy, just go light and see how its doing on your wood, its really pretty easy though.

6)  I had them route for the Floyd nut.  Will I need to lower that some if I like a low action, or are they usually right on?  (I know there is procedure for getting that to just the right height, I have it in a Dan Erlwine book)

Mask the area for the nut before finishing.  After you're done, you're gonna have to see how it all fits.  I would think there's a little bit of room to adjust a FR nut string elevation based on shimming/filing.  This you wont know until you get ready for your first setup.  At that point, once its together, if you dont feel you have the ability, it might be worth it to take it to a local tech for setup.

 

[-CB-]

#3 There is no waterslide decal, it's a peel and stick, and no they don't clear over well either, I tried that too  :sad:
I'm not gonna touch the rest of your questions, but I hope I helped in some way.

I stand corrected... my directions are ok for waterslide, not for peel and stick.  Sorry, I have, but never used, the W decal/sticker

 

[cosman]

well I got r done!