The Accidental Telecaster...

[Cagey]

The neck is definitely salvageable, but it's not going to be a trivial task. Polyurethane is pretty tough stuff and repairing it is difficult at best. Judging by that failure, I would question repairing it anyway. It sounds like more work, but it would probably be easier to strip and refinish it than to repair that damage.

 

[Cagey]

I just checked the online discussion of finishes and there's no mention of nitro any more, so I'm guessing that's not an option. You got poly.

The tape you used looks right, so I gotta think they're gonna make good on the failure. They recommend getting the frets set up, and there's no way to do that without taping off the 'board, so it's not like you did something wrong/abusive.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

The neck is definitely salvageable, but it's not going to be a trivial task. Polyurethane is pretty tough stuff and repairing it is difficult at best. Judging by that failure, I would question repairing it anyway. It sounds like more work, but it would probably be easier to strip and refinish it than to repair that damage.

Good insights Cagey, thanks. I'll see what they have to say and go from there. I'd hate to see the neck get scrapped.

The tape you used looks right, so I gotta think they're gonna make good on the failure. They recommend getting the frets set up, and there's no way to do that without taping off the 'board, so it's not like you did something wrong/abusive.

That's kind of where I'm at as well. I'm the first person to say "Hey, I screwed up" when I screw up, but I just can't see where anything I did would cause this. Again, I'll see what they have to say.

 

[dmraco]

I was not sure if WARMOTH finished it or not.  I think the only nitro they offer is a satin nitro.

They should stand by that.  I have never heard of painters tape taking off the finish.

In all my builds, I have NEVER had a finished fretboard.  I always go for the woods that be left unfinished.  I guess I just never wanted to deal with it.

Would it just “play off” if you never did anything with it?  Would it cause fret buzz or muted tones?

They may be able to just re-do the fretboard. 

I know in the past poly does not like to stick to ebony.  When I would spray a neck with an ebony FB, it would always wear off the sides but remain perfectly intact to the rest of the neck.  Things that make you go Mmmmm.... :icon_scratch:

 

[Verne Bunsen]

The reason I opted to scrape the frets rather than play it off is that I imagine fret interference would probably be horrendous as the finish wore off of the lower frets first, rendering them shorter than the frets further down the board. And the action would be inconsistent from place to place. Also, it seemed a shame to be playing on finish when buried underneath was my first ever set of stainless frets! It's also my first aftermarket neck with a finished board, so it's my first time dealing with it. All of my other aftermarket necks have been unfinished boards. I have two Fender Teles with finished maple boards, but I don't ever remember contending with the finish-on-the-frets issue. Could be that I just didn't know any better at the time, it's been 22 and 10 years respectively since I brought them home...

 

[Cagey]

I've had to remove finish from frets a number of times on Warmoth necks, and it's never been a problem. I tape the 'board off so I don't inadvertently scratch it, then use a single edge razor blade...

...to scrape them off. It usually takes three passes per fret. You hold it at about a 60 degree angle, slide it along the fret, and the finish comes off in a strip. Once on the top, once on each side, and you're done. Some frets might want a little more attention, but for the most part you can clear the whole 'board that way. Of course, then you have the fun of trying to clean up all those little strips that think .0003 vdc is enough static to stick to anything, but they're no match for a shop vac.

I use the blue painter's tape to mask fretboards, and have never pulled anything off with it. It's the standard stuff to use. Not what I'd call "low tack", but certainly not aggressive

To have it that easy, you do have to do it on a fresh neck. If there's any play on it, getting the finish off is going to be a fight as its surface is broken up. At that point, you may as well just play it off using the abrasion of the strings. It'll just be slightly uncomfortable until it's gone.

 

[stratamania]

Hope you get it sorted out. I wonder if it is catalyzed poly whether it was mixed in a way that made it too brittle.

 

[Cagey]

The reason I opted to scrape the frets rather than play it off is that I imagine fret interference would probably be horrendous as the finish wore off of the lower frets first, rendering them shorter than the frets further down the board. And the action would be inconsistent from place to place. Also, it seemed a shame to be playing on finish when buried underneath was my first ever set of stainless frets!

You did the right thing, don't beat yourself up over it. Although, on a new neck like that, to get it to play with reasonable action and no buzz would have required a setup that wouldn't have cared about loss of finish. You could have played it off, then readjusted once everything was bare, but I don't know if you'd have noticed much improvement. Still, I'd have wanted to feel the stainless as well, especially if it was my first set.

 

[Cagey]

Hope you get it sorted out. I wonder if it is catalyzed poly whether it was mixed in a way that made it too brittle.

That's a good question. I'm guessing if that's the case, this won't be the first neck they get some kickback on.

I remember when I used to do catalyzed finishes on cars, it was actually a 3 part thing, and they were pretty demanding about ratios. The other thing was since it was catalyzed, you only had a brief window in time where you could use it. Catalyzed finishes don't dry, they cure. It's a chemical reaction, so it starts doing its thing as soon as its mixed. But, that was a long time ago. I think they're all 2 part now, and possibly more forgiving.

 

[stratamania]

I guess we may find out in due course.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

...Although, on a new neck like that, to get it to play with reasonable action and no buzz would have required a setup that wouldn't have cared about loss of finish...

Well, depending on how things transpire, if it should happen that another finished fretboard with stainless frets is in my future, I may reach out to see if you know a guy who knows a guy...

 

[Cagey]

You may rest assured that I do, and I'm told he's a human Plek machine  :laughing7:

 

[Verne Bunsen]

I heard from Jeff at Warmoth this afternoon and he had this to say:

"Hello Vann,
We’ve seen this once or twice before.  Always with the blue tape, which is high tack tape and tends to pull the finish off.  That being said, we’d like to have you send the neck back in for Warranty inspection.  If it is a finish issue, we’ll cover it under Warranty.  If it is determined to be caused by the tape by our shop foreman, we can likely make a one-time exception and make the repair outside of Warranty coverage.  We want you to have a good experience and having something like this happen can be very disheartening."

So that is a promising start, can't ask for more than that. I am quite interested to know their assessment. I am happy that they are evaluating it as a warranty repair item rather than a credit or replacement as I am quite taken with this neck. If I didn't already get that across. I'll update here when I know more.

Also, I did ask him if they had a recommendation of a more suitable product for this kind of masking, as I've been under the impression that the blue painter's tape was the stuff...

 

[Cagey]

That does sound promising.

I'm interested in hearing what their recommendation for masking tape is. If painter's tape is too high-tack, what are painters using? When 3M advertises it, they show people using it mask off walls/moulding/doors/etc. in houses, which are typically painted with latex, which is about the weakest paint extant after watercolor. Polyurethane ought to just laugh at it.

 

[stratamania]

There are fingerboard guards that could be used as an alternative to tape.

 

[Cagey]

I have some of those. Rarely use them. They often require a 3rd hand, and I was only born with two.

 

[stratamania]

I have some of those. Rarely use them. They often require a 3rd hand, and I was only born with two.

You need the Acme Octopus Luthier Helper. 1,999 USD at Stu Hacks. I find they work a little better than the suction cups.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PLiGQw9iKU[/youtube]

 

[Verne Bunsen]

This from Warmoth:

"Hi Vann,
We use the Green 3M tape.  It’s a lower tack so it doesn’t stick as hard but gets the same job done.  We’ve seen the blue tape cause this a few times.  It might react differently for house paint but we’ve found that it can stick too much for our products."

Looking into it there are a couple of varieties of 3M green tape: 2060 which is a high-adhesion "hard-to-stick surfaces" (advertises brick, concrete, stucco) tape which does say it is safe on lacquer, and 401+ which uses a solvent-free rubber adhesive and boasts high temp resistance for automotive applications. So, clear as mud...

 

[Cagey]

You need the Acme Octopus Luthier Helper. 1,999 USD at Stu Hacks. I find they work a little better than the suction cups.

I recently got the ad for that ill-conceived item from StewMac. Been a long time since I've seen such a Rube Goldberg device. Looks like something you'd sell on late-night infomercials to brain-damaged insomniacs...

Whoever green-lighted that project had to have been snot-slingin' drunk, and whoever set the sell price had to have been on some kind of hallucinogenics.

 

[Cagey]

This from Warmoth:

"Hi Vann,
We use the Green 3M tape.  It’s a lower tack so it doesn’t stick as hard but gets the same job done.  We’ve seen the blue tape cause this a few times.  It might react differently for house paint but we’ve found that it can stick too much for our products."

Looking into it there are a couple of varieties of 3M green tape: 2060 which is a high-adhesion "hard-to-stick surfaces" (advertises brick, concrete, stucco) tape which does say it is safe on lacquer, and 401+ which uses a solvent-free rubber adhesive and boasts high temp resistance for automotive applications. So, clear as mud...

I have a roll of that green stuff here, but I rarely use it because it's too aggressive. I mean, it's wicked sticky. Warmoth has taken to using it to secure the styrofoam wrapping on necks/bodies, and there's no peeling it off; you have to cut it.

To be fair, as you pointed out, 3M has a wide variety of products that look the same, but aren't. So, you can't just say "use the [insert color here] tape". You have to know which product is the one that's designated for use in helicopter airlifts vs. teasing your cat.