Any way to tint a Satin Poly neck?

MetalManiac

MetalManiac

Li'l Junior Member
I got a Mighty Mite Satin Poly neck thats very white. I need to tint it to match the tinted Ash Strat body its going on.
I don't want to rub shoe polish or bake it on coffee grounds or any nonsense like that.
Is there a tinted varnish or tinted satin poly spray or something I can spray over the top of the Satin Poly?
I know you can probably put true oil over the poly, and that eventually it will darken, but I'm looking fr something faster.
 
Re: Any way to tint a Satin Poly neck?

sand it down to the wood, dye it with some amber wood dye from guitar reranch, refinish it
 
Re: Any way to tint a Satin Poly neck?

or you could get a can a tinted satin nitro from guitar reranch as well, search around their site
 
Re: Any way to tint a Satin Poly neck?

I just got done doing this...Ordered the vintage amber aerosol rattle cans from Stew Mac and their satin nitro celluose laquer....Came out really nice! MM neck also.
 
Re: Any way to tint a Satin Poly neck?

I don't want to sand it down. Nitro cannot go over Poly. I'm going to try a can of brush on Minwax one step Oak stain Gloss Poly over the Satin Poly. They didn't have natural, but I'm thinking the oak stain should blend with my tinted Swamp Ash body well enough.
 
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Re: Any way to tint a Satin Poly neck?

I thought you couldn't put anything over poly. Wouldn't poly on poly just look gross? Or am I wrong on this one...?
 
Re: Any way to tint a Satin Poly neck?

Take it to a solarium for a few hours under UV lights. I've read about someone who did that, they said at first they didn't see a change, but after twenty or more hours, it worked. Might depend on any supposed UV inhibitors that are in the finish, if any. It just speeds up the natural process that can take years.
 
Re: Any way to tint a Satin Poly neck?

If you don't mind the finish getting a bit thicker, you can prep it to take another coat of tinted poly, which you apply with a spray gun. Or maybe you can find a rattle can poly that is already slightly tinted.

If you cannot deal with any more thickness, you need to strip and refinish.

But remember that this is a Mighty Mite neck. They are not expensive. If it really needs to be stripped and refinished, is it worth it? Might as well just sell and order one with the specs you want (or buy a used one), or buy a used Fender neck from a MIJ or MIM '50's reissue.
 
Re: Any way to tint a Satin Poly neck?

Poly can go over Poly..no problem.
Poly can go over Tung/Tru oil and vice versa.
Poly cannot go over Nitrocellulose lacquer...not sure about Tung/Tru oil over Nitro ( I suspect not).

All the Nitro Spray Tinted Amber cans do turn wood yellow AFAIK..which isn't a real satisfying vintage tint..Its beyond me, and I have no idea how the pros do a natural tinted wood that isnt yellow, but they do .

I'm looking for good basic amateur results. If the Minwax works okay, I'll post pics. Maybe I should wait for to see if I can get the "natural" tint instead of the "oak", but the body is pretty oakey looking, so it might work.

I'm not gonna sand the neck, and About my sig? Thats not a bad idea..
 
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Re: Any way to tint a Satin Poly neck?

MetalManiac said:
Poly can go over Poly..no problem.
Poly can go over Tung/Tru oil and vice versa.
Poly cannot go over Nitrocellulose lacquer...not sure about Tung/Tru oil ( I suspect not).

All the Nitro Spray Tinted Amber cans do turn wood yellow AFAIK..which isnt a real satisfying vintage tint..Its beyond me, and I have no idea how the pros do a natural tinted wood that isnt yellow, but they do .

I'm looking for goo amateur results. If the Minwax works okay, I'll post pics.
Click to expand...

Nitro can go over poly, so you could go with a tinted nitro rattle can if you cannot find a tinted poly rattle can. Fender did nitro over poly during the '70's for sure. My '76 Music Master is nitro clearcoat over poly color coat. And, lo and behold, the finish is still there (though the clearcoat has turned piss yellow). I've also had refinishers tell me that they can do nitro clear coats over their poly finishes.

Fender also did poly over nitro, which was itself sprayed over Fullerplast. I don't know if Fullerplast had anything in common with poly, but it was definitely a "plasticy" material, unlike nitro lacquer. Starting in 1968, for sunbursts, they sprayed nitro over that stuff, then clearcoated with poly.

So there may not be as much incompatibility as we are often led to believe.
 
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Re: Any way to tint a Satin Poly neck?

ItsaBass said:
Nitro can go over poly, so you could go with a tinted nitro rattle can if you cannot find a tinted poly rattle can. Fender did nitro over poly during the '70's for sure. My '76 Music Master is nitro clearcoat over poly color coat. And, lo and behold, the finish is still there. I've also had refinishers tell me that they can do nitro clear coats over their poly finishes.

Fender also did poly over nitro, which was itself sprayed over Fullerplast. I don't know if Fullerplast had anything in common with poly, but for sunbursts starting in 1968, they sprayed nitro over that stuff, then clearcoated with poly.

So there may not be as much incompatibility as we are often led to believe.
Click to expand...


Nitro over Poly goes against the conventional wisdom of everything I've ever studied about the subject. They'd probably crucify you on the Reranch board..although I think Reranch is strctly Nitrocellulose.
 
Re: Any way to tint a Satin Poly neck?

MetalManiac said:
Nitro over Poly goes against the conventional wisdom of everything I've ever studied about the subject. They'd probably crucify you on the Reranch board..although I think Reranch is strctly Nitrocellulose.
Click to expand...

Well, the conventional knowledge is probably right, in theory, for whatever technical reason people state. I don't claim to know the detailed chemistry of finishing materials, so cannot argue the finer technical points one way of the other. But the point was simply to present the fact that in practice, it has been done, by none other than Fender (CBS, really). They did it both ways: nitro over poly, and poly over nitro. Fender sunbursts starting in '68 consisted of Fullerplast, nitro for the burst, then poly for the clear. And in the '70's, I can tell you for sure that Musicmaster basses were nitro clear over poly color coat, at least the white ones, anyhow. I have one that has been in my family since new in 1976. Plus, as I said, refinishers have told me that they only use poly or urethane for color coats, but that they can do a nitro clearcoat over it.
 
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Re: Any way to tint a Satin Poly neck?

MetalManiac said:
Nitro over Poly goes against the conventional wisdom of everything I've ever studied about the subject. They'd probably crucify you on the Reranch board..although I think Reranch is strctly Nitrocellulose.
Click to expand...

Yes, nitro can absolutely go over poly. The trick is that the poly must be roughed up with sand paper to give the nitro something to stick to. The conventional wisdom reasoning behind not doing it is that over time (meaning several years) the nitro will have a tendency to shrink where as the poly will not and the nitro may eventually form surface cracks. Of course given enough time nitro will do that on its own so who really knows the answer. If you don't mind your guitar taking on a vintage relic look a few years earlier than normal there is really no reason not to do it.

Having said that I have to admit that I asked my tech to do it on one of my guitars and he refused for the above reason stating that the fact that there are so many different products on the market that it becomes a guessing game as to how early or late the cracking will occur. It could be as long as 10 years or more or as early as who knows?
 
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Re: Any way to tint a Satin Poly neck?

STRATDELUXER97 said:
I just got done doing this...Ordered the vintage amber aerosol rattle cans from Stew Mac and their satin nitro celluose laquer....Came out really nice! MM neck also.
Click to expand...


I've got an American Standard Tele and a Mexican Tele. Truth is that other than the rolled edges on the American all of these necks are more or less the same stuff. They are mass produced on CNC machinery of the same quality wood in general. That includes my Korean and Indonesian Teles as well. As a matter of fact out of the whole bunch the Korean neck is by far the best piece of wood.
 
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Re: Any way to tint a Satin Poly neck?

If you put the nitro on very heavy, it can cause the poly to crinkle. Must be sprayed on in thin coats. Roughing up the poly first with sandpaper is essential.
 
Re: Any way to tint a Satin Poly neck?

I love how everyone completely ignored crusty's suggestion about using UV. It actually works. I had a neck on my Fender that was really white (MIM poly finished). I left it on a stand near a South facing window positioned where the sun's rays wound hit it directly for about an hour each day. It took a while, but that neck is a healthy vintage amber now. I'll bet doing it the way crusty suggested would work a lot faster.
 
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