Recommendations on roasted maple neck finishing - done!

[daizee]

I'm excitedly expecting my first Warmoth neck this week. It will be roasted maple.
I picked roasted maple for stability and low-finish requirements. However, I DO want to seal it up at least somewhat against moisture/liquids. Presumably I could use a basic furniture wax at a minimum. Are there things I should do or avoid? I have BLO, Tru-oil, Classic Wax, etc.

Would prefer to avoid spray finishes.
Would prefer to avoid a long drawn-out Tru-oil process (want to do satin anyway)
Will BLO soak in too much and change it dimensionally?

Thanks for any advice you can offer!

 

[mayfly]

Hi there,

I have several roasted maple necks.  I did absolutely nothing to them and they are great.  From the info you posted, I would just do a wax finish on them.  Test it on a hidden part of the neck first, then have at it.  Note that you might have to renew on occasion it depending on how much you sweat etc.

 

[Steve_Karl]

I thought roasted maple was able to be left raw?
If that is the case then I'd not even wax it.

 

[BroccoliRob]

dont the big W already do a sealer on necks? I read that here somewhere. i say leave it unfinnied (unfinished) and love it til Paul do us Blart.

 

[Lbpesq]

I'd burnish it.  You will LOVE how it feels.

Bill, tgo

 

[mayfly]

I'd burnish it.  You will LOVE how it feels.

Bill, tgo

Totally forgot about burnishing!  I've never done it, but I have heard loads of great things.

 

[Rick]

I must concur with my estimeed colleagues ... No finish.  But if you must.  something wipe on. 

 

[vetteman]

I found that my roasted maple neck was just too dry feeling unfinished.  Decided to go with a pure Tung oil finish that cannot be any easier to accomplish.  You simply thin the pure Tung oil with something such as Naptha and wipe it on, let it soak and wipe it off.  I did several coats over a few days (following directions sorta) and then hung the neck up to dry.  The hard part is the extended wait for full cure.  Then wiped on some paste furniture wax and buffed and it is much better now.  Still much like the raw wood but without the dryness.  Lots of videos on the web to explain in more detail.  Good luck!  :rock-on:

 

[wildbill]

A roasted maple neck needs finish like a canary needs a tuba, IMO.

You might want to read the sticky in Tips and Tricks https://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=19901.0 and invest that time before you smear anything hard to remove on your neck. I have amazed even non-guitar playing folks with the slippery smoothness obtained with just a half-hour or so of work. You can always wax it or Vaseline it or whatever after but I doubt you will want to. I suppose from reading other comments it isn't for everyone but I think it is a worthwhile exercise to find out for yourself if you like it.

Aesthetically, if you want to put something on it, Tru-Oil will make it beautiful and it doesn't take much. I like mine like I eat my oysters, raw. (Only on months with an "R" though. :laughing11

 

[stratamania]

If you wanted a satin finish on Roasted maple and wanted to use Tru-Oil you could just use a thin application and wipe it on and almost off once or maybe a couple of times and then you would be done.

 

[wildbill]

If you wanted a satin finish on Roasted maple and wanted to use Tru-Oil you could just use a thin application and wipe it on and almost off once or maybe a couple of times and then you would be done.

True that, you can also hit it with a 3M pad after it is cured and kill the shine. Striations / fine scratches make a finish flat or matte, lack of stria make it glossy and shiny.
I did a control cover from roasted maple and Tru-Oiled it, Chatoyance divine. But the burnishing process will also highlight that grain to a lesser degree.

 

[daizee]

Thanks, All.
Neck is due today.

I do small-scale wood and metal finishing as part of my hobby, so I have all the abrasives etc. Usually I'm not too worried about dimensional stability in such a precise way, tho.

At the moment, I'm thinking of wiping a few light coats of BLO in there to get beneath the surface, but not a lot of volume. Then either wax or VERY light brushed-off Tru-oil to finish. I do want a satin-feeling back.

If these necks really are only finished to 220, then I will definitely hit it with finer abrasives. Of course the frets will be installed, so I'll have to tape those up somehow or do something else clever.

The Gotoh staggered tuners are in-hand, and unless there are any surprises, I should be stringing it up before the weekend is out.

 

[daizee]

The neck arrived and it is SMOKIN'! :-o
6150 frets are bigger than I realized. The width is right on at 1.75", and the carve feels good. I think this is what I've been looking for. It had better be!

The docs that came with it say to drill pilot holes oversize for tuners etc.. The heel is pre-drilled.

Does anyone know if "standard" neck plate screws should work with those pilots, or if I should be taking some additional precautions? The existing screws are whatever comes on a 2021 Squier CV. I was expecting to re-use them and the plate.

Any recommendations for neck relief before installation? There's currently some relief. I haven't touched the truss rod. ETA: Nevermind, I had overlooked the truss rod instructions in my excitement. I'll set it flat.

Finish is lovely. I can see why people bolt these right on.

Will add pix when it's mounted!

ETA: Wow, this DOES smell good  :icon_biggrin:

 

[mayfly]

1 - wax your screws. 
2 - if they feel a bit tight when putting them in, or if the resistance suddenly increases, STOP!  Take out the screw and determine what the problem is.
3 - regarding the neck screw, check the hole diameter against the minor diameter (the diameter inside the threads) of the screw.  Should be just a tad larger, IMHO
4 - I would set it dead flat and see where that ended up once the strings were on.
5 - use masking tape on the drill bit used for the headstock screws to ensure you don't accidentally blast all the way through the headstock.
6 - Yea!  they smell great!  Smell goes away after some time though... 

 

[raystankewitz]

Just a comment;

WoodRiver is the only source of true pure tung oil that I know of. Most of what sits on the shelves at Home Depot, Lowes, Menards, etc. are at best 5% tung oil or in some cases, no tung oil at all.

Woodcraft sells a pint bottle for $16 USD. Enough for a dozen or more necks. It's thick, takes its ever loving sweet time to soak in, will need to be renewed on occasion.

I know, useless trivia. YMMV.

 

[daizee]

Tung takes forever to cure, in my experience, but I've never tried that fancy stuff!

I waved some 600 and 1000 at the neck, wiped it down, and gently wiped on some BLO. I'll give it another gentle wipe or two tomorrow between things.

The tuner holes will need the slightest of sanding/reaming to accept the collars without excessive force. Then on to measuring screws, bits, etc.

The color with the BLO is fabulous.

 

[raystankewitz]

Tung takes forever to cure, in my experience, but I've never tried that fancy stuff!

I waved some 600 and 1000 at the neck, wiped it down, and gently wiped on some BLO. I'll give it another gentle wipe or two tomorrow between things.

The tuner holes will need the slightest of sanding/reaming to accept the collars without excessive force. Then on to measuring screws, bits, etc.

The color with the BLO is fabulous.

Yeah, real tung oil takes forever to soak in/cure after wiping. Formby's Tung Oil (very common) dries fairly fast but it's mostly solvents, resins and other things to mke it cure reasonably fast. Good for furniture, no bueno for guitars.

The Crystalac Brite Tone clear has been wiped on by some and they have a satin finish that I might try on a neck.

 

[Lbpesq]

I've finished several guitars and basses with Tung Oil.  Absolutely love it as a finish.  Do the first coat with a 50/50 mixture of Tung Oil and Mineral Spirits so it soaks in, then switch to pure Tung Oil.  Just slap it on, wait 30 minutes, wipe it off, wait 24 hours, and do it again.  Wipe off as much as you can, too thick = sticky.    Every third or fourth coat, do a light wet sanding before wiping off the oil.  I usually do 10-15 coats on a body,  Then let it dry for 3-4 weeks.  I don't use tru-oil as it contains Linseed Oil, to which I am highly allergic.

Bill, tgo

 

[daizee]

Got the bushings installed tonight. Needed a tiny bit of sanding inside the holes. Examined the tuners, measured screws and bits. Deferred alignment/setup/jigging/marking/drilling for tomorrow or Saturday.

 

[daizee]

I'm ready to bolt this up, but out of an abundance of caution...:

The neck screws from my Squier measure 0.1295" at the un-threaded shank, and 0.160" across the threads.

The warmoth neck pilot holes appear to be ~7/64" = 0.1093"
A 1/8" (0.125") bit is very much too large to drop into them.

The factory Squier neck appear to have the same size pilots, but it is not ROASTED maple.

The instructions are very clear about pilot hole caution. Has Warmoth accounted for this, or do they drill standard pilots in all neck types? Should I consider reaming these pilot holes to 0.125"?

Thanks!

I did get the tuners installed, and they're not even horribly out of alignment.
And the neck fits the body pocket to a T(elecaster)!  :laughing7: