Glossiest finish for a maple neck/fretboard?

[Bee_Gee]

i just ordered a maple neck, and i want this baby to shine.

i want it to still play well though, not feel all sticky and what not.

help?

[Belva]

I'd go with Minwax poly.

[WRGKMC]

Customtele and I always dissagree on this topic but we understand each others preferences so its no big deal.

 

Polyuerothane finishes will look very deep if properly "sprayed" on and thinned between coats. It looks like horsecrap brushed on most of the time especially on fretted necks. It builds up heavily around frets and tends to drip. You also need to sand between coats which is difficult on a fretted neck. Poly also feels stickey which is one of the complaints on necks.

 

Laquer on the other hand can be applied over frets and "buffed" vs sanded between coats if needed. Since you're basically misting layers on many many times, a small flaw can easily be caught and corrected in comparison to a thick poly coat. Laquer also buffs up to a nice luster. Removing dried laquer on frets is easier than poly because it powders up with something like steel wool. Ant accidental scratches can be buffed out or additional layer applied to cover the area.

[Bee_Gee]

 

Customtele and I always dissagree on this topic but we understand each others preferences so its no big deal. Polyuerothane finishes will look very deep if properly "sprayed" on and thinned between coats. It looks like horsecrap brushed on most of the time especially on fretted necks. It builds up heavily around frets and tends to drip. You also need to sand between coats which is difficult on a fretted neck. Poly also feels stickey which is one of the complaints on necks. Laquer on the other hand can be applied over frets and "buffed" vs sanded between coats if needed. Since you're basically misting layers on many many times, a small flaw can easily be caught and corrected in comparison to a thick poly coat. Laquer also buffs up to a nice luster. Removing dried laquer on frets is easier than poly because it powders up with something like steel wool. Ant accidental scratches can be buffed out or additional layer applied to cover the area.

 

 

is there a certain brand that you would recommend?

[Belva]

I could be very wrong about the Minwax gloss poly. I used Minwax satin on my last neck. It has a rosewood fretboard so that was left unfinished. Regardless of what type of finish you use, maybe satin the whole thang & shoot a coat or ten of gloss on the headstock? My thinking here is to give the illusion of gloss and the playability of satin. I haven't tried this. Just throwing ideas out there. Also check out guitar reranch for clear nitro laquer. Krylon has a clear laquer product at about 5 bucks a can. Probably acrylic. I haven't yet tried this. But I have a guitar finish to do here soon.

[Bee_Gee]

i mostly just want the fret board the shine. i want to see myself in that thing.

when i see a fresh, super glossy, maple fretboard i feel all tingly inside.

[bartak101]

Would love to try some nitro instead of PU, just for the reasons WRGKMC stated.

 

Polyester can geta really solid, high gloss, but I think it's hardener is very volatile which make's using it without a pro spraying setup impossible.

[cx04332]

Another vote for lacquer. Other than the fumes, easy to work with and easy sand/polish/repair.

[Belva]

I'm not schooled on the long term durability of laquer on a fretboard. How to you keep the shine? Seems to me like that high gloss is gonna go away as soon as you have about 50 hours of playing time on it. Fo me it's a non-issue as I'm a rosewood guy. But curiousity is what keeps me going.

[WRGKMC]

It actually makes it shine more vs dulling it. You can take a freshly sprayed piece of wood after its just dried and no longer real tackey and rub it with your fingers and it will eventually buff up to a shine.

 

Bee-Gee, No I dont recomend one over another. Lately I been using some industrial no name brand my drummer buys by the case. He's been repairing antiques for a living for about 30 years (I got 20 years on him because my parents were into antique restoration since thay were born. It goes back generations) Anyway, i've used rattel can rustoleum clear laquer spray from home depot with excelent results. if you want to go the whole route and get a sprayer, buy like nitrocellulos in cans, add the dryer and thinner and thin the coats as you go, then have at it.

 

The whole key to applying it is to have low humidity and room temperature and good ventillation. For the neck, apply it flat. Mist the coats on with a sweeping burst that begins before you get to the wood and ends after. You dont want to burst on the wood because you'll get globs of dried laquer or drops over time. You also dont want to try to get a picture perfect layer on the first coat. It will appear satin for awhile till you get many layers on there. IF you get a white clouding, you are either going on too thick, you're not waiting long enough between coats or the humidity is too high. In the case of a spray gun you add dryer to make the stuff evaporate the humidity instead of trapping the humidity.

 

If you do get clouding. Dont fret. You can buff it out with a littel elbow grease before applying the next layer. Main thing is dont soak it and try to get a high gloss on the first application. Laquer is thin and it will run. If it does use super light sandpaper followed by 0000 steel wool and then you can continue on.

 

When buying rattel cans, I found the spray tips that are flat and have a small pin are much better than the old fasioned white tips with a round hole where you push the tip down into the can. The flat top pin type put out a flat spray instrad of a round that allows you to cut in nicely and puts a nice even cost on. Expect to apply maybe 15 coats to start looking decent and maybe 15 more to get it near to what you want. The dry time is very fast maybe 10~15 minuites. Poly takes at least an hour between coats. It goes on thick so you need less coats but its super critical not to have flaws because you must attend to a flaw as it happens. If you continue on, that flaw wont blend with the new coat like it does with laquer. Applying a layer before its dry will reliquify the previous layer with poly. Laquer is applied thin like I said so even if its tackey, the next coat too soon wont cause a catastrophy but you should let it dry.

 

Think thats about it from the hands on experience.

 

The other main item is repairability. If you get a ding (plain laquer is softer than poly) it can be repaired. you can get burn sticks and melt the stuff into the ding. You can buy sticks in all colors for matching. thern you buff it and you wont be able to tell a ding was ever there unless it damaged the wood. Even then it can do wonders to cover that up too.

 

If you gat a scratch, you can sand the scratch smooth, apply new laquer, and buff the new laquer to blend with the old so you dont need to strip the thing back down and start from scratch.

 

If you did have to start from scratch, You can use paint remover and steel wool and a putty knife and strip it back down to the wood in no time. For poly, its a major ordeal sanding it down or using a heat gun to get it off.

 

lastly the application of nitrocellulos goes on like regular laquer, but the removal is hard to get off. It has resins that basically make it a poly finish so

keep that in mind. If this is your first job, i'd say its a toss up between the plain or nitro laquer.

 

Thats about all I've got on the subject. Its not my favorite job because I know how easy it is to fluck up on all these finishes.

 

Just be sure you dont try to use oil based Enamel. The stuff can litterally take months to harden. I did one guitar body that would get marks from the guitar stand 6 months after being applied. The stuff dries from the outside in so the lower layers remain semi liquid for a long periods of time. It can also reliquify in the sun or with heat so dont go there. If you want colors they can be bought the guitar. You can mix your own pigments if you get into pro spraying and want to do sunbursts etc. Its all in how far you want to go and how much experience you want to acquire.

[Bee_Gee]

 

It actually makes it shine more vs dulling it. You can take a freshly sprayed piece of wood after its just dried and no longer real tackey and rub it with your fingers and it will eventually buff up to a shine. Bee-Gee, No I dont recomend one over another. Lately I been using some industrial no name brand my drummer buys by the case. He's been repairing antiques for a living for about 30 years (I got 20 years on him because my parents were into antique restoration since thay were born. It goes back generations) Anyway, i've used rattel can rustoleum clear laquer spray from home depot with excelent results. if you want to go the whole route and get a sprayer, buy like nitrocellulos in cans, add the dryer and thinner and thin the coats as you go, then have at it. The whole key to applying it is to have low humidity and room temperature and good ventillation. For the neck, apply it flat. Mist the coats on with a sweeping burst that begins before you get to the wood and ends after. You dont want to burst on the wood because you'll get globs of dried laquer or drops over time. You also dont want to try to get a picture perfect layer on the first coat. It will appear satin for awhile till you get many layers on there. IF you get a white clouding, you are either going on too thick, you're not waiting long enough between coats or the humidity is too high. In the case of a spray gun you add dryer to make the stuff evaporate the humidity instead of trapping the humidity. If you do get clouding. Dont fret. You can buff it out with a littel elbow grease before applying the next layer. Main thing is dont soak it and try to get a high gloss on the first application. Laquer is thin and it will run. If it does use super light sandpaper followed by 0000 steel wool and then you can continue on. When buying rattel cans, I found the spray tips that are flat and have a small pin are much better than the old fasioned white tips with a round hole where you push the tip down into the can. The flat top pin type put out a flat spray instrad of a round that allows you to cut in nicely and puts a nice even cost on. Expect to apply maybe 15 coats to start looking decent and maybe 15 more to get it near to what you want. The dry time is very fast maybe 10~15 minuites. Poly takes at least an hour between coats. It goes on thick so you need less coats but its super critical not to have flaws because you must attend to a flaw as it happens. If you continue on, that flaw wont blend with the new coat like it does with laquer. Applying a layer before its dry will reliquify the previous layer with poly. Laquer is applied thin like I said so even if its tackey, the next coat too soon wont cause a catastrophy but you should let it dry. Think thats about it from the hands on experience. The other main item is repairability. If you get a ding (plain laquer is softer than poly) it can be repaired. you can get burn sticks and melt the stuff into the ding. You can buy sticks in all colors for matching. thern you buff it and you wont be able to tell a ding was ever there unless it damaged the wood. Even then it can do wonders to cover that up too. If you gat a scratch, you can sand the scratch smooth, apply new laquer, and buff the new laquer to blend with the old so you dont need to strip the thing back down and start from scratch. If you did have to start from scratch, You can use paint remover and steel wool and a putty knife and strip it back down to the wood in no time. For poly, its a major ordeal sanding it down or using a heat gun to get it off. lastly the application of nitrocellulos goes on like regular laquer, but the removal is hard to get off. It has resins that basically make it a poly finish so keep that in mind. If this is your first job, i'd say its a toss up between the plain or nitro laquer. Thats about all I've got on the subject. Its not my favorite job because I know how easy it is to fluck up on all these finishes. Just be sure you dont try to use oil based Enamel. The stuff can litterally take months to harden. I did one guitar body that would get marks from the guitar stand 6 months after being applied. The stuff dries from the outside in so the lower layers remain semi liquid for a long periods of time. It can also reliquify in the sun or with heat so dont go there. If you want colors they can be bought the guitar. You can mix your own pigments if you get into pro spraying and want to do sunbursts etc. Its all in how far you want to go and how much experience you want to acquire.

 

 

 

wow thanks for all the input here.

one other thing, how do the finishes with the rattle can laquer compare with the ones done with a the sprayer? is it that much of a noticeable difference?

i have access to a spray gun but the simplicity of the can sounds a lot better for me, as this is my first go at something like this.

[WRGKMC]

Well your lower layers are going to have the viscosity of whats in the can anyway. You can start with that and see how you make out. it will sure be less expensive. Then if you dont get what you want buffing it up you can switch to the sprayer and use a thin mixture to crown the existing finish.

 

Thinning requires using denatured alcohol to thin the mixture out to the point to where you're down to say 70/30% then 50/50% then maybe 20/80% laquer vs alcohol. This gives it that liquid new guitar look. Then you use pummace and a buffing wheel to buff the body like glass. You can buy a buffer wheel at most hardware stores. They have the type for electric drills that are wide and buff from the side or the cirdular disc type. You just need to be careful of swirl marks. The pummace comes in many grits and is suspended in a liquid and is alot like car polish. In fact, you can use tooth paste believe it or not to buff it up if you can handel the smell. I've used it on small areas to buff up flaws in a pinch. Its not quite as fine as the finishing compounds or jewlers roughe but hell its cheap. Once it shines then a non abrasive cloth and paste wax will finish it off. if you do want to go farther, skip the wax, or any wax of any kind. Additional layers of laquer wont stick to wax so be sure its the very last thing you do.

[Belva]

The major thing WRG is correctly referring to is surface prep & thin coats. Even with poly, thinner is better. You need a butt load of patience if you want that mirror finish.

[Bee_Gee]

 

The major thing WRG is correctly referring to is surface prep & thin coats. Even with poly, thinner is better. You need a butt load of patience if you want that mirror finish.

 

 

do you have some tips on the prep?

[cx04332]

http://reranch.com/101a.htm

 

Check out the whole site. Nothing but good info.

[Belva]

With a maple neck there isn't alot. Grain filler and sand & seal isn't needed. But you do need to make sure the surface is sanded smooth and it has to be clean. I prefer plain old soap & water but denatured alcohol works. Make sure there is no dirt, bug parts or oil on the surface. The oil from your hands can be enough to cause adhesion problems. Once the part is clean & dry get a tack rag & wipe it down. Then start your painting.