New neck day: Regal for my SG

[el_duberino]

With the recent blowout sale on Regal necks, I decided it was time to try something new on my SG. The guitar is a massive slab of mahogany with 3 P90 pickups. Previous neck was rosewood on mahogany, clear gloss, 24.75" conversion scale, SRV contour, 6230 frets, pearl dot inlays. I found this beauty in the showcase and decided to take the plunge:

New neck specs:

• Roasted maple back
• Rosewood fretboard
• Standard thin contour
• 25.5" scale
• Trapezoid inlays
• Cream binding
• 6105 frets

Why a new neck? Partly for the bling factor of the inlays and binding, and partly to try roasted maple, with the hopes of a brighter tone and smoother feel. What do I miss? I miss the SRV profile. I've really grown accustomed to that shape. The standard thin contour is ok, not bad at all, but I wish there was a little more to hold onto. I also miss the ease of playing the shorter scale, but I am really enjoying the snappy tone of the longer scale. The 6105 frets are nice, I would use these again.

Question for the group: what do you think about adding a Tru-Oil finish to the roasted maple? My thinking is that this would protect from dirt a bit, while also imparting a darker, deeper finish. Would this mess with the lovely feel of the unfinished maple?

 

[stratamania]

Well done.

On the tru oil as far as I am aware Musicman uses a tru oil, blend also on roasted maple. The ones I have seen looked pretty good. I didn't play one but I would suspect the feel is similar to maple with a tru oil finish.

Should you do it. At the risk of being contradicted by my erudite forum members I'd say there's no reason not to. Perhaps put a bit on the heel area to see how it comes out. If you like it then you could do the rest and if not it should sand off reasonably easily.

 

[dmraco]

Some some oiled the maple.  I would leave it raw.  If you are concerned about dirt you can clean it with an orange or lemon oil.  However you will lose the sweetness of the baked maple smell.

I have used orange oil for YEARS to clean rosewood and and now using it to clean oiled necks on my EVH guitars.  It works REALLY well and darkens with wood a bit, especially the rosewood.  Howards is the best.

BTW...I am digging the p90s.  what does the mini toggle do?

 

[el_duberino]

what does the mini toggle do?

Ah the wiring. I scratched my head for a long time before building it to figure out exactly how I wanted to organize things. This new setup eschews a middle volume in favor of a mini-toggle. So the main toggle controls the neck and bridge, standard SG wiring. However, the middle pup and the output from the main toggle are routed through the mini toggle. "Down" cuts out the middle pup. "Middle" adds the middle pup (at full vol) to whatever is selected on the main toggle. "Up" gives you just the middle pup (at full vol). All output is routed through the tone control.

With this arrangement I can get any combination of one, two , or three pickups together. The middle is reverse-wound, so you can get something like those "2" and "4" positions like on a strat. The main reason I didn't want to use strat-style wiring was that I like the option of having the bridge and neck combo. If I were to do it all over, I'd probably try one of those Freeway switches from Stewmac.

 

[treyhaislip]

Sweet man! I love Roasted Maple! Awesome feel and look.  :guitarplayer2:

Warmoth warranties Roasted Maple without a finish while Musikraft does not. I don't see any reason not to use Tru-Oil.

 

[Cagey]

what do you think about adding a Tru-Oil finish to the roasted maple? My thinking is that this would protect from dirt a bit, while also imparting a darker, deeper finish. Would this mess with the lovely feel of the unfinished maple?

I think putting any kind of finish on a roasted Maple neck borders on the criminal, especially any kind of "oil" finish. Just get yourself a stack of abrasive papers ranging starting about 400 and ending at 2000 grit in 200-400 grit steps and burnish it. You'll be so happy you did. The results are phenomenal.

 

[el_duberino]

Awesome, thanks for the tips. My plan was to at least leave it raw for a few weeks anyway and get some playing time in.

 

[musicispeace]

Two things. 1) that is one sweet SG  :hello2: (and I am generally not an SG guy) 2) I'm in the leave-the-neck-raw camp. I do wash my hands before playing sessions and my raw neck is looking fine thus far about a year and a half in. I know some folks hands distribute more deposits and such than others but you don't lose anything starting raw and seeing what you think. I just recently spoke with a luthier in my area who's response to satin finishes and oil finishes on necks was that eventually they all wear thin or more so and you eventually end up with raw or close to raw and guitars are not falling a part. Think of the overpriced vintage Fenders that have been rubbed raw and people aren't going anywhere near putting anything on them.