# Neck has gone all sticky - any advice?



## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

I have an old Norman B20 Folk acoustic from roughly 1991.

It's a wonderful guitar, kinda quiet but very woody and rich. I keep it in an open E tuning and play it regularly.

Lately the back of the neck has got all sticky, especially up near the headstock.

I can't say for sure, but I think maybe something has reacted with the partly worn finish there and turned it into sticky goey gunk.

Could be the wall hanger I've been keeping the guitar on, could be the lemon oil I've used periodically to clean the fretboard, could be sweat from my hands. 

I don't really know what's caused this, but I do know that I need to fix it - the guitar isn't really usable this way.

Any advice? Whatever this goo is, how can I clean it off? 

I'm certainly not worried about keeping it mint or anything - this guitar had already been ridden hard when it came into my hands.

Would something like paint thinner work? Steel wool?

Should I worry about replacing the finish that's come off, or just leave it raw?

I'll try to get some pictures in case that helps.

Any advice appreciated.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

My first try would be with 600-800-1000 grit sandpaper (I'm adverse to steel wool personally, but that might be an option too), see if taking a small surface layer off got rid of the problem. But if it's truly soft, like you can stick your thumbnail into it and get a significant impression, that's not gonna help and I don't know what the answer is.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

You may want to try Naphtha (lighter fluid) will not ruin the wood at all. If its purely a goo type thing that will usually break it down


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

I would be inclined to first try using lemon oil or some other mild cleaning agent - even soap and water. 



Disclaimer: I know nothing about guitar finishes or cleaning agents.


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

Not sure if the pics really help or not, except maybe to show how much finish is already gone.

Top/thumb side of the neck:



Bottom/fingers side of the neck:


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Stop watching those movies before you pick up your guitar. 

I like looking at possible _solutions_ that are outside the _box_ (and yes, that was a seriously disgusting double pun)


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

Trying a tiny bit of dish soap on a damp cloth first, seeing how that goes. Scrubbed for a few minutes then dried and buffed.

I'll try it later on and see how it is now. I've got to wonder if it's my hand sweat reacting with the decaying finish.


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

Greg Ellis said:


> Trying a tiny bit of dish soap on a damp cloth first, seeing how that goes. Scrubbed for a few minutes then dried and buffed.
> 
> I'll try it later on and see how it is now. I've got to wonder if it's my hand sweat reacting with the decaying finish.


It very well could be. It may have also reacted to contact with certain vinyls and plastics. I second the suggestion to wipe it down with naphtha or lighter fluid. It doesn't harm most finishes and dries quickly without residue.

If that doesn't work, strip it with successive finer grits of sandpaper, finish with 0000 steel wool and apply a sealer of tung oil.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

To me it looks like wear from being played and perhaps if you do have sweaty hands (like me) it has turned the finish a bit gooey. Scrape it off with something that won't cut into the wood and then remove the rest with Goo Gone or lighter fluid like Scott said wipe it off and let it dry. It should be good for another 100,000 miles. You might need to give it a light sanding to smooth it out.


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## Erich (Apr 23, 2013)

In the future.. Use Circa 1850 Lemon oil from Home Hardware. The gunk buildup is a common thing with acoustic guitars that get played a lot. I clean it off almost every guitar I get in for repairs. It's basically just dead skin cells, sweat residue and dirt from your hands. The Lemon oil cuts through it in seconds and gives the wood the proper treatment it should get anyway. Be wary of using Naptha on woods that have been lacquered because depending on the type of lacquer used it can cause hazing in the clear coat. Sandpaper will scuff the paint or clear coat and require inordinate amounts of buffing to correct, if it can be corrected at all depending on how deep you sand.


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## Schmart (Jun 7, 2011)

I had the same issue with the Norman I had from that era. I really think the problem was the finish Norman used.

For what it's worth, Martin does not recommend using lemon oil on their fingerboards as the acids in lemon oil break down the finish of their guitars. I used to use lemon oil on my fretboard so maybe this was the cause of the problem on my Norman.


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## Erich (Apr 23, 2013)

Interesting.. Personally I've never seen any guitar with a finish on the fingerboard other than maple necks on electric guitars... I do know that certain chemicals and solvents cause finishes to breakdown and become tacky, I have never heard of this in regards to lemon oil though.. I'll have to look into this.. Thanks for the heads up!


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## urko99 (Mar 30, 2009)

Believe it or not but WD 40 works wonders for breaking that funk down. I'd give that a try.


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

I have a small bottle of "Old English" lemon oil that I've used on practically all of my guitars to clean gunk off the fingerboards and condition the wood.

It's quite possible it was the lemon oil reacting with the finish on the Norman - i remember it taking several days for the back of the neck to stop being sticky after I used it the first time on that particular guitar. I've done my best to avoid getting any on the back of the neck since then.

The soap and water scrub brought some improvement, but didn't really fix it up completely.

I dug up a bottle of Zippo lighter fluid in the garage, maybe I'll give that a try if I get home before it's dark. I'm sure the Zippo fluid doesn't have the same mojo as say.. Ronson, but maybe it will work.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Greg Ellis said:


> I'm sure the Zippo fluid doesn't have the same mojo as say.. Ronson, but maybe it will work.


I'm fairly sure that Zippo Fluid has MUCH more mojo than plain, ordinary Ronson.

Let us know how the cleaning goes, especially all the details about the new mojo!

Cheers

Dave


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## Jimmy_D (Jul 4, 2009)

Beware wd-40 it's chock full of 7 different kinds of silicone, once it's on your guitar a proper refinishing is out of the question.


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## Erich (Apr 23, 2013)

Ok.. I looked into this issue with Martin not recommending using Lemon Oil on their guitars. 

First off, the NEW Martin guitars which they are assembling with PLASTIC fingerboards, of course, don't use lemon oil, it will react with the plastic.

Now, regarding Vintage Martin guitars; there IS an issue with the finishes they used and, YES, lemon oil will react to it. 

But that applies only to the finish on the bodies, not the fingerboards. Martin Fingerboards are fine to use the lemon oil on. The issue regarding the finish often occurs when people use TOO much lemon oil and "soak" the fingerboard, in which case the lemon oil may wick into the seams at the sides and CAN cause the finish to lift where it meets the fingerboard... 

However, That is only ever an issue if you are using too much Lemon Oil. Normally you only put a little bit on a cloth and wipe the fingerboard down. There should not be enough lemon oil to "Float the Frets out" as the saying goes... You shouldn't actually make contact with the sides of the neck while cleaning the fingerboard, thus you should have no issues if you are being careful and doing things right.

So basically Martin Fingerboards are safe to clean with Lemon Oil, just like any other rosewood or ebony fingerboard. But don't use the lemon oil to "clean up" the body of a Vintage Martin guitar.

To clean the finish of a vintage Martin guitar, all the info. I found recommends lightly moistening a microfiber cloth with DISTILLED water.. No Soap, no solvents.. And not Tap Water as apparently chemicals and mineral deposits in tap water can be bad for some vintage finishes that have suffered some wear.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Erich said:


> Sandpaper will scuff the paint or clear coat


That was my idea. This is an old, somewhat, if I may say, beater kind of guitar not a collector's piece. If you've got that kind of mess on the neck, you want to smooth it out and make it easy to play. I light sanding after the gunk is removed will help do that.


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## Guest (Apr 29, 2014)

use 2000 grit wet sand.
you can always lightly buff out the very fine haze that's left.


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## cdayo (Jan 28, 2014)

greco said:


> I'm fairly sure that Zippo Fluid has MUCH more mojo than plain, ordinary Ronson.
> 
> Let us know how the cleaning goes, especially all the details about the new mojo!
> 
> ...


+1 for mojo


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

I finally got some time for this, and some daylight.

The Zippo fluid cleaned it up pretty well, but the neck was kind of lumpy so I lightly sanded with a bit of 00 steel wool to smooth it out and then cleaned it with the lighter fluid again.

It's better than it was, but it still gets kinda sticky as I'm playing.

Best i can figure is that the decaying finish is coming off on my skin. It's my HAND that gets sticky, not so much the guitar. Especially in the palm of my hand and the V between my thumb and fingers.

I think it's alright for now - I only use this guitar for maybe 3 or 4 songs in a 12 song set, so I can live with it for the moment.

I'm guessing I'll have to strip the neck down to wood and refinish it tho, at some point. Any thoughts about that?

Or wear a Micheal Jackson glove while I play, lol.


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## Erich (Apr 23, 2013)

If you don't care about the look of the finish and just wanna play it, You could try rubbing some Talc Powder on the neck.. Don't use baby powder, that is soap, get Talcum Powder, that's rock dust, won't go rancid. That should adhere to the sticky finish and make it smooth enough to play easily.. Not sure how it'll look tho... I've never done it.. I can't see it really hurting anything though.


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

I decided to strip it, going to a new thread


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