Project neck...Bare wood or Clearcoat finish?

Taz Rules

Taz Rules

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I'm working on my strat kit, doing the neck right now. Its a maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard.

I'm going to stain it so it looks like a multi-piece neck, red on the sides and natural down the center.

My question is this...once stained, how should I finish it?
I've heard quite a few people like the feel of bare wood, or oiled wood. My concern with that is dirt and wear.

I have a really high quality nitrocellulose lacquer that I'm using on the body over bare wood (and wood-burned artwork). This stuff is designed for floors, so I know it will be durable. But what about the feel?

I also have access to automotive urethane clearcoats. High quality. Again, what about the feel?

Also, if I do the bare wood thing, do I have to oil it? How much will that change the color of the wood? And would it affect the oil-based stain I'm using? (Minwax) Will the bare wood be more prone to twist because there is no barrier to keep humidity out of the wood?

This is my first time doing this so I could use some advice from people who are smarter than me. I want this to be my "forever guitar". Not that I won't have others, LOL, I have as much GAS as the next guy, but as my first build, I want to have this one in the stable forever.

What are the pros and cons of nitro vs. automotive clearcoat vs. bare wood?

OT -- I'm shaving the back to have a Jackson-esque flat spot, symmetrical down the middle from the 5th fret up, but from the 5th to the nut increasingly assymetrical. If anyone is interested, I'll grab a contour gauge and post the profiles once its done.

Thanks in advance for any and all advice.
 
Re: Project neck...Bare wood or Clearcoat finish?

*Personally*, I would suggest either tung oil, or TruOil... TruOil builds up a little more and fills in the pores a bit more. Both of them tint to one extent or another.
 
Re: Project neck...Bare wood or Clearcoat finish?

Big fan of TruOil here.

I like to rub the coats in with my fingers. The application is very controllable that way and the rubbing blends the coats wonderfully.

1-3 thinner coats will give you a very natural wood feel
 
Re: Project neck...Bare wood or Clearcoat finish?

I'd do the Music Man thing- a sealer, then sand with 600 & then 1500 grit sandpaper, clean with oil soap, and use Birchwood-Casey Gun Stock oil. You have to reapply it every year, but it is like buttah.
 
Re: Project neck...Bare wood or Clearcoat finish?

Tru Oil, applied with a brown coffee filter.

Bare wood will absorb oils from your skin and stain in places where your hands rest most often.
 
Re: Project neck...Bare wood or Clearcoat finish?

A bigger question is: how are you going to apply stain in a perfectly straight line.

As for the finish, the answer is going to depend on a person's preference. I would suggest going to a guitar store and trying guitars with different finishes. You will be able to find poly and lacquer necks in most guitar stores. Polymerized oil or pure oil are options too.

You can't beat lacquer for ease of use, though. It's what I would go with.

I would, at the very least, use a thin coat of some kind of oil. Maple is a wood that should not be left bare in applications in which dimensional stability is important.
 
Re: Project neck...Bare wood or Clearcoat finish?

I actually love the feel of the bare / oiled wood. I was just concerned about durability, especially with an asymmetrical neck, I was worried about twisting from moisture getting through to the wood.
At this point, I'm really leaning heavily towards the tru oil. Lots of people seem to like that.

Thanks to everyone who has weighed in so far.
 
Re: Project neck...Bare wood or Clearcoat finish?

Maple will eventually turn gray over time and use. It needs some type of sealer. I was never a big fan of oil type varnish like tung oil. They always seem sticky to me. When I used to build basses I preferred good old lacquer that was final wet sanded with 1200 grit wet paper. Super fast and durable on maple.
 
Re: Project neck...Bare wood or Clearcoat finish?

I get the Organic Tung oil jug at Rockler's wood store, then sand with 800-gritt, 1200-grit, and then 2000-grit. My necks are smooth as glass. You need to re-apply once a year. The neck on my #1 is starting to move a little bit, so it's time to re-apply.
Tung oil (the real, natural stuff) is fantastic stuff for finishing a guitar. As long as you don't bang into too much stuff, you can always do a little sanding and rub on some more Tung Oil to seal the wood back.
 
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