# sanding an over laquered neck



## whammybar (May 7, 2008)

I might have asked this a while back but I did a search and found nothing so I'll ask again and this time not loose the answer...duh.

I bought a beautiful 30 year old Ibanez Roadstar II Comet series guitar a while back and although the tone was spectacular, the frets were shot. I shipped it to be refretted by a master luthier (it's a maple neck) and the 'master luthier' sent it back with so many coats of laquer on the neck it looks like an Eric Johnson strat. Some of the laquer even laps up the side of some of the frets. While this might look good, i can't play it worth a hack with all that gloss. The guy said he 'restored' the neck and in doing so covered and destroyed 30 years of beautiful vintige wear. NOT what I had requested.

In any event I'm stuck with it now and am in search of some very needed advice on how to get some of that finish reduced. I have thought of using a really thin vinyl (the kind lower end sign shops use to make signs) to tape off all the frets, and then start sanding, but with what? How do I take just the right amount off and how do I get each piece of the wood between the frets to look exactly the same? Any ideas? I know there are a lot of knowledgeable people on here and I would really appreciate any input on how I can do this puh-leease.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Huh? you don't like the gloss or the amount of lacquer? If it's just the amount of gloss you can knock it back with some steel wool. For too much lacquer .. sorry to say you probably will have to strip it all and start again. I could give you a bunch of advice on using a cabinet scraper to take some of it off but that means you would have to learn how to sharpen them and use them.


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## TimelessInst (Apr 4, 2012)

We used to oil necks and then blend them into a lacquered finish on the headstock and heel. This took a bit of care and never really had a good uniform look. Also, oil wears off and you don't get a great seal with it. David changed his technique and now laquers the whole neck, then rubs it with a fine scratch pad (I'll try to find out where you can get it) for a little tooth, then oils on top of the lacquer. This gives all the benefits of having a lacquered neck but keeps the speed of oil. This might be a solution for you if playability is the main problem. If it's about look, then yeah, you're looking at stripping back to wood and finishing the way you want. Hope this helps, let me know if you need any more info.


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

it's tricky to remove the exact amout on all spaces. like Shoreyus sais, be better off stripping it and getting it thin laquered again unfortunally.


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## whammybar (May 7, 2008)

Thanks for the help guys. In my case it's not about the look of the heavily laquered neck, it's about the 'playability'. My hand sticks to the high gloss laquer finish and renders he guitar unplayable. Seeing I had a refret done at the time the 'luthier' refinished the neck, does this mean I would have to have another refret done if I wanted to remove the high gloss because that would present a big,big problem. It's a maple neck so refrets are, as you know, limited. And I simply couldn't afford to do it all over again. Any way I can reduce the gloss so that it's playable? Shoretyus mentioned steel wool but the frets are still there and even though they are taped off, won't that be a bit harsh? I heard 3M makes a product that is like sandpaper but is in reality a type of plastic. Has anyone used something like that to reduce the finish of their neck?

_Just a littler off topic that is only for anyone thinking of refinishing their 30+ year old neck after a refret. In my case, it completely changed the sound of the guitar. It went form sweet and glorious to 'honky' sounding. I lowered the pickups until they were level with the pickguard and it helped, but this guitar will never be the same. I just thought I'd add that from my sad experience._


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## TimelessInst (Apr 4, 2012)

sanding with Micro Mesh then oiling over top of the laquer would work for you then. You could get away with 3 coats of oil, thought 6-8 would be better. This is the least destructive option you have and gets you to a state of playability fastest.

I don't see a need to refret the guitar if you strip the finish, just tape off the fingerboard and go easy on the sides, you don't want to be removing any wood from anywhere so just be careful about that. just reducing the finish won't really improve the stickiness either, you need to get a different surface on there. so straight oil, or oil over laquer is best for you in my opinion.

pretty amazing how much sound the neck contributes eh?


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

You could try 1500 - 2000 grit sandpaper - can be used wet or dry. It really won't remove much material (lacquer) but should make it feel more slippery. Takes the gloss off and leaves a slight matte finish. Wipe down with a clean cloth, test, repeat light sanding if necessary. And, if you happen to hit the frets, once again you will remove so little material that you couldn't measure it in hundredths of an inch.


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

wammy bar..if it's PLAYABILITY....not the tickness per say..then you're fine. get "0000" steel whool. it's a pain in the ass to do....will take you about 30 minute to do properly but will give you what you're you're looking for. Use the steel wool to basically remove the shine and some lacquer as well. rub gently, no need to mask the frets also.....do one section at a time...and once it's done...you'll love the feel.


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## RobQ (May 29, 2008)

If you use steel wool, put masking tape over your pickups first. Otherwise tiny bits of the steel wool will stick to them and you will have a bitch of a time getting rid of it.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

RobQ said:


> If you use steel wool, put masking tape over your pickups first. Otherwise tiny bits of the steel wool will stick to them and you will have a bitch of a time getting rid of it.


Something easily forgotten........... or not known about at all.

Cheers

Dave


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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

GONE


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## whammybar (May 7, 2008)

al3d said:


> wammy bar..if it's PLAYABILITY....not the tickness per say..then you're fine. get "0000" steel whool. it's a pain in the ass to do....will take you about 30 minute to do properly but will give you what you're you're looking for. Use the steel wool to basically remove the shine and some lacquer as well. rub gently, no need to mask the frets also.....do one section at a time...and once it's done...you'll love the feel.



Many thanks for this (and all the suggestions). If I can save this guitar it will be a big deal to me so out comes the '0000' steel wool. Will I need to apply anything after I remove some of the gloss? I don't intend to take it anywhere near down to the wood but as I live in the humid east, I was wondering if the neck will need any further protection after I take some of the finish off.

PS. al3d Nice work on the handmade guitars. I've always wanted to do that but after getting all the costs down I realized I can buy a strat for less that the cost to build one from scratch.


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## TimelessInst (Apr 4, 2012)

how did this turn out?


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

I've done both, and I still say 1500-2000 sandpaper is the way to go. 
1) you can work it wet, to keep the dust down
2) no risk of steel particles on your pickups' magnets or in your fingers. Blow away residual dust with compressed air, after wiping down with a soft cloth.

Does a lovely job of taking down the shine and stickiness, leaving a real slick fast surface.


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

But you don't get the same quality for sure.



whammybar said:


> Many thanks for this (and all the suggestions). If I can save this guitar it will be a big deal to me so out comes the '0000' steel wool. Will I need to apply anything after I remove some of the gloss? I don't intend to take it anywhere near down to the wood but as I live in the humid east, I was wondering if the neck will need any further protection after I take some of the finish off.
> 
> PS. al3d Nice work on the handmade guitars. I've always wanted to do that but after getting all the costs down I realized I can buy a strat for less that the cost to build one from scratch.


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

whammybar said:


> _Just a little off topic that is only for anyone thinking of refinishing their 30+ year old neck after a refret. In my case, it completely changed the sound of the guitar. It went form sweet and glorious to 'honky' sounding. I lowered the pickups until they were level with the pickguard and it helped, but this guitar will never be the same. I just thought I'd add that from my sad experience._


Did you get larger frets installed?


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

so..what have you decided to do?


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## itf? (May 27, 2009)

Sand it down with 400 grit sand paper. Then polish with 600, 800, 1200m then rubbing compound. If you sand through just sand the rest of the neck down evenly and finish it with spray can lacquer then polish as mentioned earlier.


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## whammybar (May 7, 2008)

Thanks for the interest guys. So far I haven't had the time to do it...MUCH came up to get in the way and I'm running on pretty much no sleep.

I was all set for the steel wool thing yet so many recommend sandpaper but I have a question on the sandpaper thing. Since this is a 22 fret guitar and the width between frets changes every fret, (duh) how do I get an even reduction between every fret? I planned to tape off the frets in any event, but with the steel wool method, the steel wool remains a constant. With the sandpaper (and please have patience here) on fret 22 it's really skinny and the sandpaper is brand new. Then by fret 12 it is much wider and the sandpaper has done a whack of frets so then I'm essentially looking at a slightly diffferent result on every fret am I not, unless I use a new piece of just the right sized sandpaper on each fret? And how do you get sandpaper really close to the frets? Seems easier with the steel wool no?

Sorry if this sounds idiotic. I just want to get rid of the gloss so I might get some of the old tone and smoother playability back. (I'm never going to get the 30+ years of wear back, the bottom side of the neck by the frets had the finish worn right off and it was only hand oil that was protecting it). I'm taping off the body in plastic so either way no harm will come to the pickups. I'm just really timid about starting this job and messing it up.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

My mistake. I thought you were wanting to take the gloss off the BACK of the neck.


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## TimelessInst (Apr 4, 2012)

Wait...he laquered the fretboard on the face surface?


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

TimelessInst said:


> Wait...he laquered the fretboard on the face surface?


Yes, haven't you ever seen or played a '70's maple board Strat? That's how they were done.


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## whammybar (May 7, 2008)

TimelessInst said:


> Wait...he laquered the fretboard on the face surface?


Yup he sure did. 30 years of wear gone. I'd say there are several coats not just one. In his defence he 'restored' the neck. Not something I had asked for but it certainly is in every way restored. Only thing is as I said before, now I can't play it with all that gloss on there so it's gotta go. I wish I could post pics...


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

As far as playability goes, yes, steel wool is the solution I have used in the past.

That's not going to undo what's been done however. If as you say, the tone of the guitar has been affected negatively, that's a drag.

I started taking a few guitars to a tech recently and I made sure I defined in writing exactly what I wanted done. I think it was helpful for both him and me.

I got exactly what I asked for.

I can understand why you're unhappy. If all you wanted was a refret and he brought the neck back to factory specs, that sucks.


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