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i hate fake relicing but...

exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
edited February 2007 in Musicians and Gearheads
my telecaster's neck is all maple with that horrible thick gooey poly finish.

thanks to a crappy tech who chipped off a bunch of finish from the back around the 12th fret whilst touching up the frets and the fact that this finish generally sucks, the neck felt horrible and looked worse thanks to the giant patch of missing lacquer.

so i finally had enough and was looking for new necks and figured that, since i'm looking to replace it anyway, might as well try to sand the back down and see if i can get it feeling good again. refnishing this one would cost as much as a neck on ebay anyway.

so this is the result of a bunch of sanding and then oiling. it'll darken up as it gets dirty but it feels awesome now. i wasn't really trying to to anything with it but get the ridges from the missing lacquer out and trying to make it somewhat consistent across the neck.

did i do ok? it doesn't look great but it feels nice so i'm no longer looking for a new neck

neck1

neck2

neck3

i'm waiting for a set of SCNs for it and the pots and everything to wire it back up.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • seanw1010seanw1010 Posts: 1,205
    i would say it could use some more sanding to even out the finish. i sand all my necks(except the les pauls of course)
    they call them fingers, but i never see them fing. oh, there they go
  • pearljam7pearljam7 Posts: 447
    im thinking of buffing down my neck just a little bit
    is there any way i could screw up the tone
    or would i rly have to sand it down alot

    i just wanna take a little bit of the laquer off

    p.s i like ytour relic job
    5/4/2006, 5/12/2006, 5/13/2006, 6/1/2006, 6/3/2006, 6/24/2008, 6/25/2008, 6/27/2008, 6/30/2008, 8/4/08, 8/5/08, 8/7/08
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    i wouldn't advise anyone to take sandpaper to any guitar. i was desperate.

    that being said, there isn't any tonal impact with taking a bit of lacquer off. it's just a feel thing.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    seanw1010 wrote:
    i would say it could use some more sanding to even out the finish. i sand all my necks(except the les pauls of course)

    i might. basically just take everything off from the 12th fret down but i'll live with it for a while. there is a microscopic thickness of lacquer left in those areas it still exists. wouldn't take much more to do it.

    the fretboard is still fully lacquered apart of chipping here and there around the frets (they finish them after they're fretted...grumble). it sort of looks stupid in that regard but i'm not taking grit to the fretboard. 1 i don't want to and 2 i'll destroy the frets.
  • who's_pearljam?who's_pearljam? Posts: 2,104
    exhausted wrote:
    i might. basically just take everything off from the 12th fret down but i'll live with it for a while. there is a microscopic thickness of lacquer left in those areas it still exists. wouldn't take much more to do it.

    the fretboard is still fully lacquered apart of chipping here and there around the frets (they finish them after they're fretted...grumble). it sort of looks stupid in that regard but i'm not taking grit to the fretboard. 1 i don't want to and 2 i'll destroy the frets.


    Nice job!

    I've sanded a lot of necks and that's a great job you did. I can't stand that sticky poly finish.
    You could even take the sandpaper to the edge of the frets if you wanted. You won't hurt them. Just finish off the edges with some 400 - 600 grit paper, then some 4/0 steel wool and you're good to go. I just filed the fret edges on my neighbor's guitar because the neck shrunk in the dry heat and the edges were sticking out.

    I took a sander to an old Les Paul neck once for a guy. His hands were too small for it, and I trimmed it down and it worked great. Haha,,, the vintage people would cringe at that, but he still makes his living playing that thing!
    Be kind, man
    Don't be mankind. ~Captain Beefheart
    __________________________________
  • lucylespianlucylespian Posts: 2,403
    who's_pearljam? wrote:
    Nice job!

    I've sanded a lot of necks and that's a great job you did. I can't stand that sticky poly finish.
    You could even take the sandpaper to the edge of the frets if you wanted. You won't hurt them. Just finish off the edges with some 400 - 600 grit paper, then some 4/0 steel wool and you're good to go. I just filed the fret edges on my neighbor's guitar because the neck shrunk in the dry heat and the edges were sticking out.

    I took a sander to an old Les Paul neck once for a guy. His hands were too small for it, and I trimmed it down and it worked great. Haha,,, the vintage people would cringe at that, but he still makes his living playing that thing!

    Hey, I'm told that Page did that to him famous LP. BAck then it was just a guitar he played, and it was a 1958, so would have started wiht teh chunky neck. The re-issues apparently have skinny necks to copy it.
    Music is not a competetion.
  • seanw1010seanw1010 Posts: 1,205
    i really dont consider it relicing anyway...
    they call them fingers, but i never see them fing. oh, there they go
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    looks great to me, hey whatever works anyway, the only thing that would suck is splinters so as long as you seal it ok you should be great and I guess you already used some oil or something. Cool. It should be comfy now.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • JofZJofZ Posts: 1,276
    Pacomc79 wrote:
    looks great to me, hey whatever works anyway, the only thing that would suck is splinters so as long as you seal it ok you should be great and I guess you already used some oil or something. Cool. It should be comfy now.
    The real relics are not sand jobs FWIW. There is a great forum for this stuff. Check out the Tele or Fender forum, so a search on Relics and you will find the forum. I am not going to post it for numerous reasons, plus the hunt is 90% of the fun.
    Old school techniques will get that neck back into playing shape.
    I will give you one hint, french polish!
    WHAT IS THAT NOISE?
    Hanging at www.TheGuitarHub.com
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    Playing Les Pauls, Teles, Hubers, Gustavssons, Kolls through a Mad Professor amp with a Bob Burt Cab.
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  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    the relics don't start with a thick poly finish either.
  • JofZJofZ Posts: 1,276
    exhausted wrote:
    the relics don't start with a thick poly finish either.
    some did ;)
    A relic is any guitar made to look old!
    WHAT IS THAT NOISE?
    Hanging at www.TheGuitarHub.com
    The only Forum for players by players.......

    Playing Les Pauls, Teles, Hubers, Gustavssons, Kolls through a Mad Professor amp with a Bob Burt Cab.
    BJF powers my Pedal Board
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    ok, well i'm talking about the real fake relicing then.
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