Removing the finish on a Tele neck

[tbm]

Hey,

I've a US tele from the late 80's with quite a heavy poly finish on the neck. It never bothered me bofore but I've played a few guitars recently that have satin, or no finish on the neck and they felt fantastic. My P-bass has no finish on the neck and it feels wonderful.

So my question is, can I remove the finish myself or is it a job for a professional? Anybody here attempted anything like this?

[stonevibe]

I'd be inclined to say its a bitch of a job and don't do it.

However you could take a green scouring pad and matte the back of the neck which is an easy job and would not ruin the neck.

[TheGuitarWeasel]

Poly is a total son of a bitch to strip ... especially from a neck where you can't really use heat. A flatting down with this will help http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mirka-Mirl...item337d35910e it's fantastic stuff. Great for relic work too.

[stonevibe]

That is basically what I did to my US Strat and it is smooth and warm to the touch now. Similar in feel to my Musicman which is an oiled/wax finish on the back of the neck.

I tend to matte the necks on most of my gigging guitars as I get the sweaty beer paws...

[bobsbobbackwards]

A bit of fine wire wool will remove the stocky feel and give it a satin finish, that's really easy to do.

Poly can be a pain to remove but I've stripped a strat that was not too bad with a heat gun.

I stripped my allparts Nitro neck a little on the back of the neck and it feels like a Nocaster neck now.
I say if you like the profile of the neck and are definitely keeping the guitar just go for it.

Otherwise you could get an unfinished Warmoth neck and just tru oil it which feels very close to an unfinished neck.

[Basher]

However you could take a green scouring pad and matte the back of the neck which is an easy job and would not ruin the neck.

+1 For a couple of minutes mild effort and almost zero cost you'd be daft not to try the Wiko pan scourer method. Here's my Squier CV neck after the old rub down:

[TheGuitarWeasel]

I make it a point NEVER to take wire wool near an electric guitar. From another post you will see that all the little bits of magnetic wire make a dash for your pickups and are a complete bar-steward to get off ... even with the trusty Blu-Tack. I find pot scouring 'Scotchbrites' to be too vicious.
NEVER NEVER NEVER use a heat gun or similar on a neck ... the melting point of glue on glued fingerboards is easily reached so your board will fall off or at least 'spring' ... you can leave unsightly scorch marks on maple really easily ... and you are simply inviting warping fret popping and all sorts of nasties.

[zenzeypher]

You can get synthetic 0000 steel wool, that's pretty fine.

[Gagaryn]

Two words. Micro Mesh.

[TheGuitarWeasel]

Two words. Micro Mesh.

As I said: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mirka-Mirl...520308&afsrc=1