Has anyone here ever finished a maple neck? I ordered a maple Strat neck, and I asked for a flame figured piece. I had originally planned on leaving it all straight up raw, unfinished. I've sanded the finish off one of my other necks and I love it. But now I find myself reconsidering for a couple of reasons. Firstly, a gloss finish provides excellent protection for a solid maple neck, especially in a humid place like SF. Also, I was thinking maybe a gloss finish will bring out the figuring in the wood better than raw or an oil or stain.

The luthier making my neck does not do finishes, but I will have plenty of clear acrylic lacquer left after finishing the body. If I want to spray it with gloss lacquer, should I mask the fretwire? My first thought was to just spray the whole thing over and then polish the lacquer off the fretwires. My luthier buddy seemed to agree that that would work fine, but again, finish is not his specialty. Any thoughts?