Satin vs. Natural

[ThtOthrPrsn]

I love the feel of a satin finish neck but always have wanted a little bit of a faster feel and dislike when the neck starts to gloss up after being played over time.

Which do you feel is better or prefer?

 

[Cagey]

Natural is much better than a satin finish, especially if you spend the time to burnish it, but you can't have it on all woods. Some require a hard finish to keep them stable. Maple is a prime example. In that case, satin's good, but you're probably better off using a glossy finish and just roughing it up with something (polishing papers or 3M artificial steel wool) to get the satin feel on the neck shaft. Your hand will eventually polish it again, but you can stay on that merry-go-round until you wear the finish off.

 

[ThtOthrPrsn]

Alright, so it kinda comes down to the wood of choice and desired tone? Also, what is burnishing?

 

[Cagey]

Right.

Burnishing is where you finish sand the neck with gradually increasing grits of paper until it's essentially polished. Some woods respond to it better than others, but they all respond well. There's a thread on it here if you'd like to see some results. It's time-consuming, but it's inexpensive and returns great results.

 

[ThtOthrPrsn]

Awesome, once the time comes I will definitely keep this in mind. Thanks for your help!

 

[Cagey]

No problem. It's a highly-recommended procedure, if you have the patience. Updown made comment in that thread where he says:

Al thou be very careful when you go to grab it out of the stand. Need to get a good grip.
Or it'll slip outta your hands  :doh:

...and I thought he was kidding. He's not. It makes for a very slick neck with some woods. I did it to my Bloodwood neck on the VIP, and I have to be careful grabbing it. Best part is, it's permanent. You can't wear through it, as there's nothing to wear through.