Scuff Sanding the Back of a Guitar Neck- Increase speed while playing

[@lulu5243]

best tutorial out there super detailed idk why hasnt this vid got many views. anyways very helpfull thank you so much

[@southeastguitarrepair1456]

Glad it helped!

[@eohippusone]

I did this to an Epiphone LP. Pretty much the same method shown here. Worked great, plays better!

[@southeastguitarrepair1456]

Excellent!

[@DJSmith67]

Thanks for this! Have wanted this done to two of my guitars but didn’t want to pay for it and was worried I’d mess it up. Surprised to see how simple and straightforward it really is. Just some patience and care. I’ll be doing this soon!

[@southeastguitarrepair1456]

Let us know how it comes out!

[@TAVMANIAN]

​@@southeastguitarrepair1456 could not see where to comment so will add a response to you to ask my question. So I am building a LP kit and the body is painted but the neck was just lightly clear coated not painted so you could paint it stain as per Solo guitar. So I sanded it down to stain (tested color on other wood) and after 3 applications it looked pretty good but the red color was light still and wanted a little darker so put on a light mahogany red (which was like a dark brown). Did not do much so just decided to put on another red and leave it. When sanding with 600 grit parts of it looked lighter as if it was stained uneven and likely too hard on those spots. So hit it once again with the red and looks ok. So here is my question. How can I get this to not be sticky and make it smooth if sanding exposes areas that are lighter? 800, 1000 grit? Am I just not giving the stain enough time (usually couple days) What I was thinking is sanding very lightly with say 1000 to make smooth and then applying some tung oil (pure) and then letting that set to see if it is smooth. Any input is welcome. By the way your KZbin on scuffing a finished neck was excellent. Subscribed as I plan to build guitars (just starting) and work on them so input like yours is useful. Thank you.

[@strumlord]

I got a new guitar for Xmas with a super sticky gloss neck. This video was just the ticket. I’m in business now. Great step by step instructions and tips. Thanks for sharing. 👍

[@michaelmcnamara9919]

Thanks man…I feel confident I can do this on my own now…Great video

[@southeastguitarrepair1456]

You can do it!

[@BluesVerne]

You may not have noticed, but right below the volute is the scarf joint of this guitar's neck (i have this same Ibanez model, satinized) and that's why there are those dents which need more sanding.

[@caguitarrepair]

Really useful tutorial. I like the way you marked out the extremes with masking tape.

[@southeastguitarrepair1456]

Glad it was helpful!

[@willb1157]

Lovely job. I do this to my double basses. It stops heating fatigue in It’s tracks! Best example I jave seen on KZbin.

[@willb1157]

Heating = hand 🤷‍♂️

[@hermannmaier0]

thank you.

[@INeverWanted2010]

Final product looks great. I have a Dean Cadillac and it's neck looks exactly like that, love how it feels. I'm about to try the same thing with my Harley Benton Flying V copy, only thing I don't like about it is the sticky neck.

[@JoeB-c5d]

Looked for a pro video for a while. Didn't come up in search, yet was eventually recommended. 😅 Amazing work. The following is me ASKING, not QUESTIONING - hopefully the difference makes sense: 1. Would you recommend a novice to tape off the pickups too? 2. It was all 800 grit, right? 3. What's in the bottle for the last cleanup? Cheers and thank you. I'd just bring them to you if it was close!

[@homergump3]

800 grit only?

[@danafoxx6587]

You can use 600 too, but just dont get too skookum with it.

[@garygiles2473]

Nice neck through

[@mrodelabass]

Really nice work. That looks great.

[@jonasulfsfalt4451]

I use to take off the painting material. Pure clean wood is amazing to play. Amazing playability. Easy to just sandpaper off the dirt when it becomes dirty.

[@TeleCaster66]

And leavimg the wood open to moisture can cause the neck to warp, at least oil it. There is a reason a finish is put on.

[@spiccolirocks3580]

Use tongue oil. It penetrates the wood fibers and also waterproofs it. It buffs out nice! I use it on my EVH Wolfgangs about once a year to clean it up. Just a light sand and reapply.

[@ikigai47]

I just got a $3700 guitar and here I am. Amazing I even have to do this after paying so much (well, I didn't pay that much, that is the sale price at retailers). Especially considering my $400 Revstar already has it done, and beautifully.

[@MetalHeadMarc]

I love my Revstar, especially how Yamaha did the neck. Too many players are sleeping on Yamaha

[@ikigai47]

@@MetalHeadMarc - agreed. I've never been blown away over a guitar my entire life like I have been with the Revstar. Mine felt like a custom shop model. Lowest action I've ever felt, fast neck, great sound. Amazing. I'm glad not everyone and their mother is buying one

[@christhompson5553]

Agree, love the neck on my Revstar and will use this technique on my Epi 339. I’m removing the tuners and will sand the entire back of the neck like the Revstar.

[@ikigai47]

@@christhompson5553 - Nice. Yeah man Revstar really changed my expectations of quality for money. One mod I made to mine and I highly recommend is slapping on a Duesenberg Diamond Deluxe short tremolo. It's the best trem ever made for these types of guitars. So superior to Bigsby it's not even comparable. Smooth as silk, looks amazing, stays in tune like you wouldn't believe. I could only find them in Europe though but worth the hassle of overseas shipping. If you get it, make sure you get the short one, the long one won't fit. You could also get the "les trem" version but to me that isn't very sexy

[@MascarasMil]

I’m surprised you didn’t finish with something like 1200 grit. But I will follow your lead. I just bought a beautiful maple neck and it is way too slow! Thanks!!

[@spiccolirocks3580]

I've used 1000 and worked my way up to 1500 and then finish with 2000. I wet sand, I feel it is more consistent and gives a better finish. I feel 600 and 800 are pushing it a little. You just want to dull down the gloss. 600 will start to eat away at the clear. I wouldn't start with anything less than 800 grit.There are other tutorials showing that process. Good luck! 👍🏻🎸

[@hammer5475]

Will this work on a finished/clear coated maple neck? Looks awesome!

[@joeyoleary7647]

So just a regular water wet cloth?

[@zacharymehl1461]

Did you only use 800 grit sandpaper?

[@buck7477]

Not sure why but Ibanez Roadstars from the 80s never had this problem but a brand new Gibson USA supreme does.

[@deanmccaskill5495]

I did this to a bunch of my guitars before. Didn’t use that much care though ha ha. I’ll tell you it takes a lot of nerve to start dragging sandpaper across a NM guitar neck! One I started on a MIM Telecaster I did it to all my guitars at the time. Including a Brand New Gibson LP! That took nerve but I was happier for it. I lost my nerve for it on my more expensive guitars I’ll admit. I have an American Vintage ll that could probably use it.

[@DrMurdercock]

I have been trying to bring m,yself to do this to my new 7 string MS Schecter. I know I will be glad I did, but man.......Its hard to breing myself to do it

[@neilpatrickhairless]

If it's a polyurethane finish unless you just burn through to the paint or wood with a powered sander or something you can just wet sand and buff the finish back out to gloss if you don't like it

[@neilpatrickhairless]

Basically poly finishes are just hardened plastic epoxy. The ones they spray on guitars are sometimes well over 3/8" thick. They really lay the mils of coating on because they want the finish to be durable. You're maybe going down two or three mils of polyurethane by hand sanding it, not even remotely close to getting out of the poly and into color or wood

[@guitarmaui45]

Should you tape the binding ad well?

[@popogejo7245]

I've learned to take every guitar I get down to the wood, then I use a very expensive furniture polish, baked in the sun for an hour or so. Then buff it out with jewelers rouge man o man WHAT A DIFFERENCE!. My guitars work for a living! They're not guitar shaped objects that hang on a wall, so who cares what the back of the neck looks like? I've never had a fan run up on stage and demand to see what the back of the neck looks like. lol

[@CraigFlowersMusic]

Thirty minutes of "one last pass"es LOL Been there so many times. Recently stripped an old guitar of all paint and treated the neck with tung oil, liking it so far. My four main guitars may go from occasionally getting a new scuff sanding like this, to instead being altogether stripped. Well, the maple ones anyway. Not sure about mahogany bare. What do you think? Would you go all the way to a mahogany neck or leave it and just occasionally resand?

[@teachmeyoda2488]

I wipe down the neck, strings and tuners with a drop of body cleaner on a soft cloth after playing, then a short hard buff with a fibre cloth (sometimes under the strings to buff the frets and wipe the board). Takes about one minute on a quickie and three for a good one, then this is non-necessaire. And the strings stay bright. On one vintage strat, the neck stays smooth and I haven't changed the strings for over two years. But, I guess it's only a lump of wood... For serious work, say on a bought used axe, good vid though. Bit tricky if you want to sell an axe maybe.

[@spiccolirocks3580]

Most high end guitars come like that anyways. If you tape it properly and take your time, it's not a problem.

[@polyphonicgroove]

Great video, thanks for the lesson. One question....shouldn't you apply a layer or two or some sort of oil, like Tru Oil to protect it?

[@Dodger_8188]

You do not need to. This process only scuffs the clear poly finish, so if done correctly the poly finish is still there covering the paint and no oils or water can make it to the paint, much less the wood

[@neilpatrickhairless]

No oil needed but a little bit of carnauba wax where it was sanded and a good buffing does good. Honestly though, if you just play it a couple of times all over the neck, the oils on your skin will get rid of the dusty/cloudy look and it will just be smooth satin

[@onwardguitar]

And your done? Did you put anything back on the neck?

[@southeastguitarrepair1456]

That's it for this one. Client wants the speed.

[@nazrinkamarulbahrain]

@@southeastguitarrepair1456 notwhistanding that, what other additional treatments/enhancements you can do on top of this?

[@dwise3651]

Well done. Do you do this on maple poly fingerboards?

[@mrmatko7243]

Any benefit with a final 1000 grit pass?

[@MrBobguitar4]

The finer the grit you use, the less satiny it will feel and the sooner you will have to sand it again

[@ranman58635]

Cool video, I just wax it. However, many necks need this treatment. Lol

[@brianwaugh9249]

@southeast guitar repair Why not create a rounded tape line that matches the body of the guitar and would look more like a natural wear line from a hand vs the hard edge created with the straight across tape? A little more 'artistry' could be applied to make it look more like natural wear.

[@southeastguitarrepair1456]

We do a clean line unless the client asks for additional work.

[@southeastguitarrepair1456]

The option is available if the client wants to invest in the additional labor costs.

[@FrankRemley]

What did you wipe on it at the end? The yellow bottle?

[@Dodger_8188]

naphtha

[@lancemartin8465]

Do you end up sealing the exposed area now, or does it still have some poly still on it?

[@neilpatrickhairless]

These poly finishes are thick. Like..... extremely thick. Even on the necks. It can be sanded through to the paint itself but it would take a good bit of sanding by hand to do it. Using a powered sander might eat through far quicker versus hand sanding. But they commonly spray it thick to the point that stripping a poly finish guitar can often be a really rough thing to tackle. Basically the finish is a plastic epoxy that dries as hard as a rock. I don't actually know why they spray it so thick but a lot of inexpensive or mid level guitars that get racked in stores for long periods of time have poly finishes I think because the manufacturers hope they look all shiny and new in the store after being handled or moved around over and over. Poly finishes downfall is that they are heavy, far too glossy (unless thick gloss is your bag) and sticky as hell to the touch. But its ultra durable, hence why it would normally take an awful lot of aggressive sanding to get even close to the paint layer.

[@neilpatrickhairless]

The poly finish is still there and the wood is still very much sealed. Even if it wore through to bare wood unless it was a huge spot it wouldn't really hurt anything, just look like a neck with a worn through finish

[@andysaucedo3226]

Why not cup the sand paper so as to sand evenly? You keep using your finger tips when you should be using the palm of your hand.

[@gerardoromano3436]

Hi. I´ll do this job for confort first, the idea is avoid a sticky neck. The issue is that devalues the instrument, if you want to sell It or trade down the road, you´ll regeret IT. I woldn´t do It to an expendive guitar, even a mid level, If this is an Ibanez GIO that´s OK, but to a Les Paul or PRS no way IMHO

[@spiccolirocks3580]

Most high end guitars come like this anyways... If you mask it properly it will look like factory anyways. Sticky gloss necks are not fun to play regardless if it's a Ibanez gio or a $4000 Les Paul!

[@christhompson5553]

I wear a mask when I do this.

[@southeastguitarrepair1456]

Yes that is the preferred way, for us we needed to speak during the video so he took one for the team.

[@livefreeordie1776]

I sand every guitar until it feels good then play it no need for tape just play it. It's not a hand bag ladies.

[@garygiles2473]

Torch it seriously best way to take it down tape it up and use common sense to make it.

[@garygiles2473]

Just for taking it to bare wood

[@Hghgfgyd]

That looks terrible

[@southeastguitarrepair1456]

Let's see yours....

[@robertandre778]

1 min wih a wet green scotch brite does the same thing 😀😀 useless tuto

[@southeastguitarrepair1456]

Difference is our work looks good. That botched scuff sand is fine for a junk guitar.

[@neilpatrickhairless]

Yeah, this video is exactly how they do it in guitar factories. Scotchbrite is too aggressive and leaves nasty scratches and looks (and worse, feels) like garbage. He is doing this for a customer, and if a shop just went at my guitar with a piece of wet dish scour pad and tried to charge me for it I would sue them until their business closed 🤣