Sanding Maple Necks

[Tim]

I have a maple neck on my Strat copy. It has a clear coat over the entire neck. Whenever I get sweating hands, I stick to the back of the neck. I have read where some guitarist sanded the back of the neck with 400 grid sand paper to remove the clear coating. Has any body performed this on any of their guitar necks?

[Spudman***]

Tim

What I've used with good success is steel wool. It's not quite as abrasive as sandpaper so you can go slower and just take care of the clear that's giving you the problem. It works great for touch-ups too in case the problem returns.

I have 2 Ibanez necks that for some reason are just a sticky clear coat. So from time to time I just get out my steel wool and give them a buff. Eventually I'll be totally down to bare wood, but I'm sure there is sealer on the neck as well. If I'm worried at all I'll just rub in a little tung oil on the back of the bare neck, let it dry for a day and then lightly polish with some steel wool and wipe with a soft dry cloth. The neck will be sealed and not sticky.

[M29]

Hello Tim,

Spudman has the answer as far as I can tell.

From what I have learned over the years, if you ever notice the arms of some wooden chairs, (grandma's rocker maybe) the area around your door knobs on your doors and other places where your hands and fingers touch are sort of sticky. This is from the oils and acids in our hands and fingers which tend to eat into or soften the paint or especially varnish on the doors and what not over time. This also happens on our guitars. I think the newer poly coatings are less troublesome but the other finishes tend to get soft with the oils and acids in our hands.

I wrestle with this every time I go to paint a darn door in the house, the area where our fingernails hit around the knobs chips off the paint because I didn't clean the oils from our hands off good enough before I painted it the (last) time and the paint is not adhering very good.

Just some thoughts IMHO.

M29

[Tim]

Thanks for the information guys. M29's statement about hand sweat and such makes sense. Steel wool and tung oil are on my shopping list. I am sure both can be purchased at the local H. Depot store.

[LagrangeCalvert]

Now I go a different route from here and sand the neck...I start with 600 grit dry...then move to 1000 wet then go to ~1800-2000 wet....it gives you a buttery finish that you cannot get hung up on...if any neck I have hangs my hands up it gets this treatment. You don't have to take it down to bare wood to do this either...you can do it just to the clear and it will help.