slimming a finished neck

[vtpcnk]

if i ever do this i will not be doing this by myself. i have a friend who makes guitars and so he will probably do it. but i would like to know what is involved.

i have a maple/maple warmoth neck which slightly thicker than i want it to be and so want to slim it up a bit.

the fretboard is wider by atleast .1 of an inch, than a couple of other warmoth necks i have.

so i would think that if it needs to be slimmed, the back of the neck would have to be sanded a bit.

if the back is sanded all around, then at the edges it is going to get a bit small/short as well - so wouldn't the frets stick out then?

if so would the frets also need to be worked on to get them to fit well with the fretboard?

or can the back of the neck be sanded and flattened a bit without touching the edges so that the frets are not affected?

and after the sanding is done how many coats of clear coat would be required to refinish the neck? any idea how many coats warmoth uses for its finish?

appreciate any insights and inputs.

 

[-CB-]

If you alter a necks profile, you open up the risk of relieving stresses in the wood that will allow it to bend like a New York pretzel.

If you make the neck less wide, well... yah, the frets will need to be less wide too.  It will be difficult to keep the wood and frets the same width if you just sand the neck slimmer with the frets on it, and you'll most likely get a wavy edge, even on a belt sander.

My 2c worth is - if you have to re-profile the neck, you'll be better off, and have a better neck, if you sell what you have and use that $$$ towards a neck that suits you.

OTOH, if you must.... go right ahead.  Maple is probably less likely to curl up in a ball like a Texas doodle bug when you re-profile it, but ya never knows till ya tries.

 

[vtpcnk]

=cb=, thanks for the input. so i guess i have to put it up for sale soon.

 

[vtpcnk]

btw i plan to unscrew the necks and take a look at the actual nut widths over the weekend.

hopefully the maple/maple one will have a marking larger than the other two, and with that info i should be able to get a more suitable neck in the future.

 

[stubhead]

Before you even start getting all crazy on stuff   :toothy11: , I would recommend that you pick up a a set of inexpensive vernier calipers. In order to know how big things are, and how to get them to a different size, you want to be able to measure stuff. You can get a set of metal ones under 10 bucks, or even the plastic ones would help. You don't need ultra-zoomy absolute digital accuracy, just decent enough for comparative purposes. With a cheap tool, you'll be able to write down the neck dimensions of necks that are appealing to you. Measure the width at the nut, 5th, 1th, 19th fret say, draw/notate the contour.... the foldover or angle at the top of the edge of the fretboard is really important, in some ways as important as the back contour, be it C, D, U, V, soft V etc.

To just start sanding away until it seems "better" is asking for trouble.

http://cgi.ebay.com/General-MG-Vernier-Caliper-Stainless-Steel-5-375-15mm_W0QQitemZ120513493187QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1c0f29f8c3
http://cgi.ebay.com/6-Vernier-Caliper-Jewelers-4-Way-Measuring-Gauge-150mm_W0QQitemZ350301107767QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item518f92b637

You may find some at the 99c table in a hardware store, garage sales etc. Cool guys have gone digital, but it's overkill for what you need. :hello2: