Charvel So Cal - Oiled neck question

[treyhaislip]

Re: Charvel So Cal - Oiled neck question

Hmm, I've never heard of using kerosene...I've had some problems with excess Lemon/Linseed oil residue on my rosewood necks.

I've tried the steel wool and they didn't seem to really help. Personally, getting some wet/dry sandpaper and sanding the neck works best when the sandpaper is dry and you slightly wet the neck and then going over it with a clean cotton rag. I am intrigued by the old blue jeans though, will have to give it a try.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Charvel So Cal - Oiled neck question

Look up how Music Man recommends you maintain their necks.

Understand that TruOil is a very different product from regular gun oil products. Tru Oil leaves a (mostly) hard finish that you can polish. It is much closer to a real paint than to a normal wood oil that gets absorbed.

You wipe off the excess tru oil shortly after putting it on and let it dry for a short while. Music Man is putting gunstock wax afterwards but I usually shy away from that since it contains my old nemesis, silicone.

Music Man also recommends to sand the neck before that refreshing, something I didn't get comfortable with either, and what do I do between the frets on maple necks?

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Charvel So Cal - Oiled neck question

+1

I'm finishing 2 all-Maple necks right now in TruOil. So far, I'm LOVING the way they look and feel. Definitely more of a varnish than an "oil".

I'm fully rubbing the coats in with my fingers and a decent amount of TruOil, as opposed to the very quick wipe-on/wipe-off method EBMM uses. There's something truly sexy about applying it literally "by hand" and the finish has built up and leveled nicely to a glossy finish in just a few coats with no noticeable tackiness (thanks in part to the Arizona summer heat). The only thing left to finish are the fretbaords, which will probably get a little steel wool to smooth the existing oiled surface and clean the fret tops before the final TruOil application to the board.

UOPT- what are your reservations about the wax/silicone? Just curious. I know EBMM only uses the wax on the back of the neck, not the fretboard. I've seen gun stocks finished with the wax after the TruOil and they're really nice to handle.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Charvel So Cal - Oiled neck question

UOPT- what are your reservations about the wax/silicone? Just curious. I know EBMM only uses the wax on the back of the neck, not the fretboard. I've seen gun stocks finished with the wax after the TruOil and they're really nice to handle.

The silicone will make it impossible to ever use real paint on it. Normally you can use TruOil as a base for a nitro coat, which is not a bad way to get nitro feel and/or gloss while not having to bother with a large spray painting setup. However, the silicone will be nearly impossible to remove and repell nitro and poly paint.

What is worse is that you will transport the silicone from that neck to other guitars that will have real paint that you will want to repair later.

I should probably look for a wax product without silicone. The gunstock wax from the TruOil makers has it.

 

[Adieu]

Re: Charvel So Cal - Oiled neck question

Hmm, I've never heard of using kerosene...I've had some problems with excess Lemon/Linseed oil residue on my rosewood necks.

I've tried the steel wool and they didn't seem to really help. Personally, getting some wet/dry sandpaper and sanding the neck works best when the sandpaper is dry and you slightly wet the neck and then going over it with a clean cotton rag. I am intrigued by the old blue jeans though, will have to give it a try.

Kero is a solvent for oils not an oil - hence the quick swab the surface.... Unless you flood it shouldnt have time to dissolve oils soaked inside wood because itll evaporate in the blink of an eye, so it can be used to clean oily residue off oil finishes

Unlike paint thinners and mineral spirits less chances of eating your finish when youre just trying to swab off the gunk

PS brown paper bags, dry, work great too for buffing/degunking a smooth surface...not sure about rosewood fretboards though

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Charvel So Cal - Oiled neck question

The silicone will make it impossible to ever use real paint on it. Normally you can use TruOil as a base for a nitro coat, which is not a bad way to get nitro feel and/or gloss while not having to bother with a large spray painting setup. However, the silicone will be nearly impossible to remove and repell nitro and poly paint. What is worse is that you will transport the silicone from that neck to other guitars that will have real paint that you will want to repair later.

That's definitely some food for thought...

Given the history and prominence of silicones in guitar polishes, guitar cleaners and many auto and household products that can easily "spread" to guitars over time, I would think "proper prep", at least from a professional standpoint, when refinishing would automatically involve using one of the many solvents specifically developed for the purpose of removing silicones. Of course, this probably isn't the case in the real world, but those products DO exist for the 2% that will eventually refinish their guitars.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Charvel So Cal - Oiled neck question

Kero is a solvent for oils not an oil - hence the quick swab the surface.... Unless you flood it shouldnt have time to dissolve oils soaked inside wood because itll evaporate in the blink of an eye, so it can be used to clean oily residue off oil finishes

Unlike paint thinners and mineral spirits less chances of eating your finish when youre just trying to swab off the gunk

PS brown paper bags, dry, work great too for buffing/degunking a smooth surface...not sure about rosewood fretboards though

Thanks for the info!

I know brown paper bags are good for soaking up oils and what not...spilled candle wax all down my favorite pair of jeans and Google told me to put a brown paper bag over the wax and iron the paper bag. The bag soaked up all of the wax and the oils and there is not a trace on my jeans.

So, I may try the brown paper bag on my rosewood fretboard next time I oil a guitar up.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Charvel So Cal - Oiled neck question

That's definitely some food for thought...

Given the history and prominence of silicones in guitar polishes, guitar cleaners and many auto and household products that can easily "spread" to guitars over time, I would think "proper prep", at least from a professional standpoint, when refinishing would automatically involve using one of the many solvents specifically developed for the purpose of removing silicones. Of course, this probably isn't the case in the real world, but those products DO exist for the 2% that will eventually refinish their guitars.

I have actually been asking the manufacturer of every product I use about Silicone. ScratchX 2.0 which is explicitly mentioned as being safe for paint shops does contain silicone. They didn't answer my followup question about how that claim and that fact go together.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Charvel So Cal - Oiled neck question

The silicone will make it impossible to ever use real paint on it.

If you are using Tru Oil and wax on the back of necks, why would you ever want to paint over that?

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Charvel So Cal - Oiled neck question

If you are using Tru Oil and wax on the back of necks, why would you ever want to paint over that?

I've never liked the feel of a painted neck...and I agree completely, if you are sanding the neck and applying Tru Oil then why would you paint over that?

 

[uOpt]

Re: Charvel So Cal - Oiled neck question

If you are using Tru Oil and wax on the back of necks, why would you ever want to paint over that?

All things considered I like nitro better than Tru Oil, so far(*), however not enough to bother doing a complete nitro job, especially on one-piece maple necks. I did one neck and it is a lot of work if you don't have a dedicated spray painting room. A thin layer over the tru oil finish is much simpler, and easy to take off if you screw up.


(*) I am currently in the process of refreshing a music man neck carefully watching what state I end up in with how much tru oil, and I'll look into various waxes. I think it is possible that I end up liking a tru oil neck done just the right way even better than nitro.

And of course nitro doesn't always come out well, sometimes it cures to be sticky and you curse the sticky.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Charvel So Cal - Oiled neck question

BTW, any ideas what might be a good wax product with no silicone?

Or should I trust that the silicone remover will work if I need it?

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Charvel So Cal - Oiled neck question

I would skip the wax altogether if there is a chance you will spray over it later.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Charvel So Cal - Oiled neck question

For me, the wax is what makes the feel for me. It keeps some of the raw feel that I enjoy while imparting a smoothness that lets the hand slide up and down the neck with ease.