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I was wondering if anyone has any experience sanding down a nitrocellulose neck before.im not too fond of how my guitars neck feels and ive been very tempted after playing guitars with smoother necks.should i just stop whining and sand the darn thing down?

Yeah, why not.

If it's really nitrocellulose, the finish will wear away the more you play it. You can take one of those green side of a Scotchbrite sponge to it to accelerate the wear, but I wouldn't use sandpaper. You risk removing all the finish because, generally speaking, nitro is put on much thinner than poly finishes.

How about if you want to sand down through all the finish and into the wood. I've got an old Teisco with a giant neck that I can't play. I'm used to my Jaguar. I think there's enough material that I don't really have to worry about the the string tension being too much. Can I sand down into the wood to skinny it up? Should I re-coat it with something if I do? Is bare wood a problem?

i went ahead and sanded.its alot smoother now and not so sticky.more woodsy. might have to smooth it out more with some fine steel wool ..but you were right its a really thin coat.i'm not sure how it would work on a polyurethane coated neck though.

Steel wool and patience, then sand to your delight
I've done it, just be careful to keep it even

If you want to get down to the bare wood, steel wool is a bad idea. I've used 0000 steel wool on maple and it stained the wood...green...not sure what that was about, but I've never had that trouble using extra fine sand paper. When I'm done, I put a thin coat of bees wax on the bare wood and pass a heat gun gently over it just enough to get the wax to melt into the grain. Then I wipe off the excess. The result is the smoothest neck you've ever felt and hey, it's water resistant!

RGT wrote:If you want to get down to the bare wood, steel wool is a bad idea. I've used 0000 steel wool on maple and it stained the wood...green...not sure what that was about, but I've never had that trouble using extra fine sand paper. When I'm done, I put a thin coat of bees wax on the bare wood and pass a heat gun gently over it just enough to get the wax to melt into the grain. Then I wipe off the excess. The result is the smoothest neck you've ever felt and hey, it's water resistant!

really? I used steel wool on a maple neck too and it came out fine
regardless, I know this man from another forum and would trust his experience over my own any day

Remove the neck, and use 0000 steel wool.
Makes it super smooth.

MM

Violin scraper. It's what they use on most if not all double basses. If you know how to use it It's faster then sanding it down. Scrape, and lightly sand, then finish, wax, oil or not, your choice.

dmcmahon wrote:How about if you want to sand down through all the finish and into the wood. I've got an old Teisco with a giant neck that I can't play. I'm used to my Jaguar. I think there's enough material that I don't really have to worry about the the string tension being too much. Can I sand down into the wood to skinny it up? Should I re-coat it with something if I do? Is bare wood a problem?

Bare wood CAN be a problem, depending on the climate and conditions where you live. An unfinished (raw) neck is exposed to the elements, temperature fluctuations, the oil of your skin, etc... all of which can encourage warpage.

Temperature fluctuations are especially killer for raw necks. I assume the vast majority of us on ILF live in the Northern Hemisphere, well away from the tropics... In the winter time, we all blast our heaters to keep ourselves warm but we rarely think about the effect that this has on our guitars. The dry heat created in our homes can cause wood to shrink and often does, in fact. Ever pick up your guitar halfway thru the winter and wonder why the frets feel like they're sticking out a little more than usual? The answer: Shrinkage due to the super dry air in your home/studio/practice space/environment.

Even lightly finishing a neck helps to prevent this problem. This is why a lot of manufacturers like Warmoth and USACG won't honor any warranties on raw necks. It doesn't happen often but according to the Warmoth site, about 10% of the raw necks they've sold have had a problem with warpage after a while.

Myself, I prefer the feel of a raw neck... I find it's a bit faster, smoother and has a nice aesthetic. But I know how to fix minor warpage and I can repair fret problems. If you don't have the skills or the tools necessary to accomplish a job like that, it's probably in your best interest to keep a light finish on your guitar's neck.