My ugly neck

[Dave Bagwill]

I have a beat-up neck that is pretty nice except for being...beat up. At one time I had tried to stain it, but it's a kind of maple and the stain did not work out well. So I've had it hanging around and now I could really use it for an all-hog guitar that is ready for a neck. It's a 12 fret long scale with a slotted headstock.

Anyway - it will never be a thing of beauty but I'm wondering if painting it could give it some better uniformity. I've never used paint on a guitar. Do you have any suggestions?

[John Parchem]

Rather than paint it, maybe a tinted transparent finish. Given that the neck is already sealed, you would be using the tinted finish as a toner rather than as a stain. You can use something like the rattle can mahogany lacquer that stewmac sells or some equivalent from a hardware store. It would end up a lot darker but still look like wood. Depending what is on the neck now I might seal with shellac before spraying.
https://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_S ... cquer.html

[Dave Bagwill]

Thx.
What's on the neck now is just aniline dye. No sealer other than that. Paint does not appeal to me, but the maple absorbed the dye unevenly - I did not know much about it back then - and gives that mottled unsightly look.
A dark mahogany might work, I'll check it out.

[Hans Mattes]

Sorry, Dave, but "unsightly" is in the eye of the beholder. I think the neck looks really nice. I like the accentuation of the wood characteristic. But then, I don't like the polished, "plastic" look of the traditional nitro guitar finish. So, . . .

[Dave Bagwill]

Hans, you're absolutely right about that, and that's my philosophy as well. I don't want to make this perfect, but also don't want the eye to go straight to it and ignore the work I've put into the box, y'know?
I've put on a couple of applications of Fiebing's leather dye, and the color of the neck is approaching that worn-in, seasoned, well-played look.

[peter havriluk]

That is, to my eyes, one gorgeous neck. I think it would look stunning finished in satin lacquer (thanks, Mr. Minwax rattle can). Any kind of opaque/dark finish would look so wrong to my eyes. I don't see blotches, I see variations in grain, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

[Dave Bagwill]

Well thanks for that! I'm encouraged. I'm done sanding it and will Tru-Oil it and when it is done I will post a pic.