Guitar Neck Oil/Wax finish

[Systematic Chaos]

As I mentioned in another thread I totally dig unfinished/oil-wax finished necks (à la Ernie Ball Music Man)....
Just found this tutorial which is totally BOSS!!!

[Systematic Chaos]

Weather over here is crappy since thursday and since I alraedy planned to restring 5 guitars I gave all of them the neck treatment as mentioned in the tutorial YT vid....
Holy sh!t!! What a difference...AWESOME feel and playability.
I had already treated the necks on my guitars with oil/wax in the past but apparantly I used a too fine grit sanding paper....
320 grit tops is what you wanna use!!!

[DorsetRatt]

Hey SC,

Why only as far as 320 grit?
Is it to let the oil/wax soak in?
Or to have a nice feel on the neck?

[Systematic Chaos]

Hey SC,

Why only as far as 320 grit?
Is it to let the oil/wax soak in?
Or to have a nice feel on the neck?

I also thought 320 sounded a bit too rough when I first watched that vid... I used 600 and up before and was quite satisfied, but that dude in the vid is spot on with 320 if you wanna achieve that feel of a Ernie Ball Music Man neck
I'll do some close-up pics later

[DorsetRatt]

Thanks SC ... so it's a feel thing.

This may explain where I went wrong ... I sanded one of my guitar necks way past 600 grit, so really really smooth. But it didn't feel like wood after I was finished, more like a paint finish.

[rnolan]

Hey SC, thanks for these posts, I may or may not do it but you've got me thinking  :crazy: , I spose I just have to try it to find out if it's for me, so far, from your take (which I value BTW), I'd probably like it..

[GuitarBuilder]

Hey SC,

Why only as far as 320 grit?
Is it to let the oil/wax soak in?
Or to have a nice feel on the neck?

It sounds counter-intuitive, but if the neck is too smooth it will actually grab your skin better.  That is why some of the highly polished Les Paul necks can feel sticky.

The oil/wax should be used very sparingly, as it will collect dirt and turn into a gummy mess over time.  The very best finish is actually no regular oil/wax at all.  I use Tung oil on my natural wood surfaces, because it tends to penetrate and seal the wood without feeling oily afterwards.

[Systematic Chaos]

I used Tung-Oil on the neck of my old Peavey Vandenberg Series 1....
The B'wood Casey Tru-Oil/Gunstock Wax treatment feels (personal taste) even better and comes closer to the (subjective) feel of an EBMM JP neck (love it).
Benchmark (for me) is a very early model of the ESP George Lynch Skulls&Snakes (had a vintage/modern headstock and offset dots) I used to own in the mid/late 90s.....

That neck felt sooo yummie and the above mentioned treatment gets me closest to that.
YMMV....

[DorsetRatt]

Hey SC and GuitarBuilder,

I've been doing some research on oil finishes, so many different opinions out there, and some confusion too.

Personally, I couldn't decide between tru-oil or tung oil, so I flipped a coin ... heads, tru-oil it is then :thumb-up:
I'm going to redo the neck that I finished too smoothly. This time with 320 grit, just a few coats of tru-oil, then the wax.

I think the guitar body could do with some TLC as well, should I try the wax?

[GuitarBuilder]

What finish does the body have now?

[DorsetRatt]

It looks and feels like an oil/wax finish on a solid koa body, no sign of lacquer.

It was really grubby/gummy when I first got it so I used some surface cleaner to remove the grime and wax, but I haven't done anything to it since then. It's a tricky piece of wood, the finish/grain looks very different depending on which angle your looking from.

I was hoping that re-applying some wax would be a quick fix that would rejuvenate the finish and bring out the grain of the koa a bit more? I'm not after a gloss/shiny finish, but as close to a natural wood feel/finish as possible.

[GuitarBuilder]

I'd recommend a light cleaning with Naphtha (lighter fluid will work).  Following it with Tru-Oil would be a great option.  I'd save the wax until afterwards.

[Systematic Chaos]

+1
Clean it with Naphtha/Lighter Fluid, let it rest/dry. After that work all body surface with a sanding carded web (does the same as steel wool, equivalent of 00 or 000 should be sufficient).
Apply a couple of coats of Tru-Oil (5-8 for the body), make sure to let them dry completely.
Once tha last coat has completely dried, work it over with 0000 steel wool and finish it with a couple of coats of Gunstock Wax.

[DorsetRatt]

Hey SC and GB, thank you for the advice, much appreciated.

I put an order in for some Tru-Oil and Wax yesterday, once it arrives I'll make a start on the guitar.

I'm not sure what "sanding carded web" is? Would wet/dry paper do instead, say 400/600 grit?


HaHa ... there's gonna be a learning curve for me here. I'm comfortable working with metal, but wood is completely new territory.

[GuitarBuilder]

Use steel wool 000