Re: Sanding off the glossy finish from epi sg neck
You can start with 800 but end with at least 1500. Remember that you don't want to get too smooth either, because the slick satin feel comes from not being completely smooth. If a neck is completely smooth, then it will feel sticky.
I've done this mod to two of my guitars, both were epiphones. One was a 7 string les paul with a maple neck. I used painters tape to protect the frets but I didn't protect the binding. I started with 250 grain sand paper and worked my way up to 0000 steel wool. Good results, but in a couple spots I went through the finish, the blond colour came out. Actually, it started off trans black, then as I sanded through the clear coat it turned white from the dust (black again once I wiped it down), then brown as the top coat came off to reveal the sealer underneath which was tinted brown. Then blonde in the places where I went through the sealer. I wiped it down with a thin coat of satin polyurethane to reseal it and ended up with great results. The edge of the binding feels a little sharp now, someday I might fix that. It feels much better now and is also more resonant.
The other guitar was a "korina" explorer which turned out to have a maple neck and agathis body. I used "superstrippa" to strip down the entired guitar, again using painters tape to protect the entire fretboard as well as the serial number and epiphone logo. The stripper took off the clear coat and polyurethane finish, but didn't touch the wood sealer. It took off a good 3 milimetres by the way, I can see it from how raised the epiphone logo was relative to the rest of the headstock. I wanted to take off the korina veneer which had aged brown and had to shave it off with a sanding disc on the end of a drill. The neck turned out great though, I really like the feel of the wood sealer without any other coats on top of it. I did sand it down with 1500 sandpaper, I also used satin urethane and a Q-tip to do a very careful job on the side of the fretboard. Turned out great, the only problem is a slight dip on the body just above the neck pickup but you can't see it unless you get right up close and I know how to repair it anyway. I also want to fix the shape of the headstock....
