tinting a maple neck

[Bilsdragon]

I just used my birthday money to get one of those Squire Tele's in butterscotch blonde. With my discount coupon I got it and a set of strings at GC for $165.
I'll have to smooth some the fret edges a little, but the neck is straight and the guitar plays pretty well. I love the wood grain and the butterscotch color.

My question is about tinting the neck. While deciding on which guitar to buy I played several Tele's and really like the tinted neck on a black-out three pick-up guitar. Has anyone tinted a white maple neck? What stain and color was used? I'm sure it's not too big a deal since the neck doesn't seem to have much of anything on it for a finish. You can see the Tele in my pics being guarded by my attack cat Turbo. Thanks in advance for any tips.

Oh, has anyone opened up the nut so you can use 10's? Thanks.

[Katastrophe]

Nice lookin' Tele ya got there!

I've heard of people using shoe polish to tint necks, but the problem is that there is a very tough poly coating on the neck. The polish doesn't get into the wood and will eventually wear off, usually onto your hands.

Sunlight will do it over time, or there is the tried and true method of stripping the protective coating off, spraying on a coat of Neck Amber and clearcoating over that.

Here's a link to the Guitar ReRanch. http://reranchstore.stores.yahoo.net/fennecam.html

I've never had to reslot a nut to go to 10s. I've just put on new strings, tuned, and let 'er rip. Here's a link to Stew-Mac for some nut files, though: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Nuts,_saddles/Special_tools_for:_Nuts_and_saddles.html