evol04gt Posted October 12, 2008 Posted October 12, 2008 the g400 neck is killing me... just feels cheap. whats the best way to get the more silky feel of a gibson neck? steel wool? if so- what rubbing method? "wax on-wax off"? "paint the fence"?
TWANG Posted October 12, 2008 Posted October 12, 2008 There's a couple of things you can do.. ranging from really easy to some effort. First, wax it. break out the car wax and wipe it on.. let dry wipe it off. that makes it slick until you wear the wax off. second you can steel wool it.. all this does is take the tendency for a sweaty hand to grip the smooth surface. it's a kind of squeegee action that happens and just having that finish barely roughed out can get rid of it. You can take the thing all the way down to wood, too.. and use a satin finish. or you can remove a lot if not quite all the gloss finish and use satin clearcoat...just make it thin. There's no reason not to use min wax wipe on satin poly for this.. wont react with your finish and wipes on with a paper towel.. practice on something and you'll see how it works. other ways too.. TWANG
mrjones200x Posted October 12, 2008 Posted October 12, 2008 Is there a difference between the g400 and the lp in the way there made as a lot of people on here think the g400 neck is sticky but ive never heard complaints about the lp? My lp is fine with the neck
Demigawd Posted October 12, 2008 Posted October 12, 2008 First' date=' wax it. break out the car wax and wipe it on.. let dry wipe it off. that makes it slick until you wear the wax off. TWANG[/quote'] Any particular car wax to use or ones to avoid? I would like to make the neck on mine a little slicker.
Bender 4 Life Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 I've used grade 0000 (ultra fine) steel wool on everything from gunstocks(used to be a gunsmith) to guitar necks. Ultra fine won't hurt the origional finish, just "break" the glaze that makes your hand stick. Keep it dry though...it will remove more finish if wet. Long, slow strokes, the length of the neck, are best.......and don't be afraid to change pads out often, as they load up rather quickly. This is the method I always used when a customer wanted "rough spots" buffed out on their expensive custom stocks.......never a complaint.
ef_in_fla Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 Any particular car wax to use or ones to avoid? I would like to make the neck on mine a little slicker. I use Meguiars "Step 3" carnauba wax. Works great and a bottle lasts years, even with a lot of guitars. Just make sure to use pure wax, no silicone.
Dave Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 Buy a can of finger-ease. It won't hurt the finish, isn't sticky even if you use it liberally, and makes your fingers slide like silk.
Demigawd Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 I use Meguiars "Step 3" carnauba wax. Works great and a bottle lasts years' date=' even with a lot of guitars. Just make sure to use pure wax, no silicone.[/quote'] Thanks, I have some Meguiars wax around here some where I 'll have to give it a shot.
joeymetro Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 Buy a can of finger-ease. It won't hurt the finish' date=' isn't sticky even if you use it liberally, and makes your fingers slide like silk. [/quote'] I like finger-ease on the back of the guitars neck.
charlie brown Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 I've used grade 0000 (ultra fine) steel wool on everything from gunstocks(used to be a gunsmith)to guitar necks. Ultra fine won't hurt the origional finish' date=' just "break" the glaze that makes your hand stick. Keep it dry though...it will remove more finish if wet. Long, slow strokes, the length of the neck, are best.......and don't be afraid to change pads out often, as they load up rather quickly. This is the method I always used when a customer wanted "rough spots" buffed out on their expensive custom stocks.......never a complaint.[/quote'] +1 CB
ef_in_fla Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 Thanks' date=' I have some Meguiars wax around here some where I 'll have to give it a shot.[/quote'] Just don't use that cleaner/wax stuff. You want just wax.
TWANG Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 turtle wax.. you know.. most waxes have silicones.. even lemon oils, and bore oils do. the basic idea is two fold as to concerns. first that the silicon gets into the wood.. on the board this is important in that it can make your frets loose and that makes repair harder. on the other hand, I've been using the same bottle of lemon oil on my blondy for fifteen years.. that's right.. same da*n bottle. no problem at all. frets are perfect. why? I don't goop it on. Sorry to say many lutheirs will recommend agains finger ease for just that reason.. people spraying it on. .sometimes several times a gig!.. drenching that board. that's a no no. secondly, some ingredients react with finishes producing, typically, a haze. gobs of finger ease may have that effect over a long period.. I dunno. haven't seen that so.. it's a guess. You really can't go wrong with Meguiers or any good wood product wax... but there are some that are chemically incompatible with some finishes. there's no standardization here... and we're talking china and usa and korea and on and on.. all with different chemical formulas. For me.. whatever wax I have for the car, goes on my guitar if I want it. No problems at all yet. lemon and bore oils don't soak into the board for more than a few minutes.. the wood doesn't need to be soaked. In fact, it's not a good idea. spot check somewhere.. and let that tell you. It only takes a day for a chemical reaction, and I doubt like crazy that you're going to have any problem at all. It's just all worth knowing so you don't choose wrongly.. but there's scads of leeway. TWANG
TheX Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 Tru-oil after stripping, the best neck finish ever. Not tung-oil, that's different.
taxman Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 This may sound too simple, but what about baby powder? Every single time before I pick up one of my guitars to play, I just splash a little baby powder on my hands (you can get one of those travel sizes and keep it in your case). My hand glides up and down any neck with complete ease. You'd be surprised how well it works.
charlie brown Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 This may sound too simple' date=' but what about baby powder? Every single time before I pick up one of my guitars to play, I just splash a little baby powder on my hands (you can get one of those travel sizes and keep it in your case). My hand glides up and down any neck with complete ease. You'd be surprised how well it works.[/quote'] You and Jeff Beck! If you watch his section of the last "Crossroads" fesitval DVD, you see him do that exact thing. So, you're in good company, BeatleNut... CB
JefferySmith Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 You and Jeff Beck! If you watch his section of the last "Crossroads" fesitval DVD' date=' you see him do that exact thing. So, you're in good company, BeatleNut... CB[/quote'] I was going to suggest powdered graphite. It will make your hand black, but it sure is slick. I'm afraid that if I used baby powder and my hands sweated, it would turn to paste.
taxman Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 You and Jeff Beck!..... you see him do that exact thing. Whoa, didn't know that. Thanks for pointing that out. I know I got a few of my friends to do that little baby powder thing before playing. Once you try it, you'll always want to do it. I know guitarists are very particular about equipment and strings and picks and all. Well, I'm actually getting particular about what baby powder I use.
evol04gt Posted October 13, 2008 Author Posted October 13, 2008 i am not totally sold on wax idea.. its not about it being faster- more so something about the hardness of the finish or lack of it being porus is what i am reconning.... who knows.. i should for sure try SOMETHING.
Demigawd Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 Never thought of the baby powder thing. I play pool and I use baby powder so the cue stick glides better never even thought of trying it on a guitar, makes sense though.
charlie brown Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 Whoa' date=' didn't know that. Thanks for pointing that out. I know I got a few of my friends to do that little baby powder thing before playing. Once you try it, you'll always want to do it. I know guitarists are very particular about equipment and strings and picks and all. Well, I'm actually getting particular about what baby powder I use.[/quote'] Yeah, I'm not sure it's actually "Baby Powder," but some sort of talcum powder, no doubt. CB
Steven Lister Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 Jubilee brand kitchen wax - comes in a spray can. An old timer clued me into this for my acoustic and I've used it over the years with good results. Seems to glide better, last longer than carnauba car wax -- which I use on the bodies of my guitars. Hit every BLUE NOTE baaaby..., I'm going to play on:-"
Bender 4 Life Posted October 16, 2008 Posted October 16, 2008 I completely forgot to mention a "trick" i've used for several yrs. now, because its been about a month since i've done it. Every ridge on your palm print causes friction against the neck, the cure, simply........sand them off !! About once a month (or so) I take medium grade sandpaper and thoroughly sand the palm of my neck hand, including the fingers. Callouses will not be totally sanded down, and it'll make your hand feel "slicker than owl sh*t" against the neck. Crazy? absolutely.....Work? totally.
Dave Posted October 16, 2008 Posted October 16, 2008 Finger-ease on a nitro finish will probably affect the finish, as twang said. I have a Gibson Studio with nitro finish and the back of the neck is a little flat looking, maybe from finger-ease use. I hadn't thought of that, but maybe it's true. On my poly finish guitars I haven't noticed any efects from years of use. As far as frets loosening, wouldn't the barbs hold the frets in, even with silicone usage? If lemon oil doesn't loosen them, then why would silicone? Lots of luthiers don't like silicone base products because they believe that silicone can prevent refinishing jobs from sticking to the wood. I'm not sure I agree, but I haven't experienced that problem myself. You'd think that after removing the finish and using a chemical stripper and sanding the finish, as any good refinisher would do, you'd also remove any major traces of chemicals used to finish the guitar and the residue from silicone based product use.
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