Tinting a finished maple neck..possible?

G

greco

New member
I just got a new Strat (MIM Standard) after having a 60th Annivesary Strat. I ended up with this axe after several trades/deals with a friend an an attempt to help him....long story...ended well.

The anniversary strat had a tinted neck and I really liked that tinted colour. The neck on the new strat is maple and is almost "white". Very pale looking...especially since the body is Arctic white.

Is there any safe and simple way to tint the neck without doing a refinish?

Do these "white" necks usually darken slightly through time? Are we talking several years here?

It is no big deal if there is no easy way of tinting the neck. The neck feels great and I'm enjoying the guitar in general.

Thanks for your comments.

Dave
 
Re: Tinting a finished maple neck..possible?

This used to come up all the time on the FDP. Some guys believed that they could effect a tint by using brown paste shoe polish Other guys said that it eventually wore off.

The white maple on the cheaper models is an issue of "artificial scarcity." FMIC seems to save nice rich tints for necks on more expensive models, though it wouldn't cost more than a cent or two to use a few drops of tint/toner in the finish for the cheaper models.

Marketing. :no:

It will not get darker any time soon.
 
Re: Tinting a finished maple neck..possible?

Bezmotivnik said:
This used to come up all the time on the FDP. Some guys believed that they could effect a tint by using brown paste shoe polish Other guys said that it eventually wore off.

The white maple on the cheaper models is an issue of "artificial scarcity." FMIC seems to save nice rich tints for necks on more expensive models, though it wouldn't cost more than a cent or two to use a few drops of tint/toner in the finish for the cheaper models.

Marketing. :no:

It will not get darker any time soon.
Click to expand...

I've read about the shoe polish concept somewhere. I can't see how the polish would penetrate the finish. Anybody here had success using shoe polish?

Dangerine49...Did you actually use shoe polish on a neck?

Dave
 
Re: Tinting a finished maple neck..possible?

You could try laying it in the sun for awhile. If there's no UV protection in that finish, then the Maple underneath should yellow up after a week or so. But you wouldn't get the headstock face unless you flipped it.

The best way is to buy some Behlen's Master Finish or Jet Spray. (can't remember which) they have some Amber tinted nitro, and you wouldn't be "refinishing" the neck, just spraying a few even coats over the top of the neck. ReRanch also has an amber nitro in a can. You could top it off with satin clear if that's what you wanted, or wetsand and buff it. That's what I would do.
 
Re: Tinting a finished maple neck..possible?

someone told me that the finnish on MIM Standard necks is basicly just Sanding Sealer... Makes me wonder if you could sand it down a little and spray some tinted coats over top... but that would be tricky..

I have a 13 year old MIM Strat.... a 1994 black one with maple neck... The maple neck is still pretty new looking... i think you would be waiting a while to get it to age by the light... But mind you that old cheap strat i hardly use and it is mostly in it's case.

I have a 1999 White MIM Strat that for the last 4 months i have started to leave on a stand in my room 24/7.... The finnish of the white body has aged slightly over the last 8 years but i was seeing if leaving it on a stand will have any effect on the aging of it...
 
Re: Tinting a finished maple neck..possible?

I recommended the Kiwi shoe polish because it works. I used it on my pale MIM neck a couple of years ago and it still looks great. It bonds to the satin neck finish and doesn't wear off. It's a cheap and simple fix.
 
Re: Tinting a finished maple neck..possible?

When I got my MIM Strat in 2002 the neck on it was so pale you could light up a dark room with it enough to read by.

In four years it's mellowed considerably. It's about on par with my SQ series Telecaster that's technically considered "vintage."

Just play it and enjoy it.
 
Re: Tinting a finished maple neck..possible?

Thanks guys.

The Kiwi sounds tempting...maybe I'll try it on a not so obvious spot...I'm a very curious person by nature.

Dave
 
Re: Tinting a finished maple neck..possible?

--StewMac has bottles ($16.00) of dye you could mix w/wipe on poly & wipe a few coats on yer axe...maybe.
 
Re: Tinting a finished maple neck..possible?

Dangerine49 said:
I recommended the Kiwi shoe polish because it works. I used it on my pale MIM neck a couple of years ago and it still looks great. It bonds to the satin neck finish and doesn't wear off. It's a cheap and simple fix.
Click to expand...


How does the polish make the neck feel after its dried? Does the neck still retain that original silky smooth satin feel?
 
Re: Tinting a finished maple neck..possible?

WhoFan said:
someone told me that the finnish on MIM Standard necks is basicly just Sanding Sealer... Makes me wonder if you could sand it down a little and spray some tinted coats over top... but that would be tricky...
Click to expand...

I think your friend told you that because a lot of companies add colour to their sealer in order to make mahogany look brown and to make maple look either aged or like mahogany in the case of Epiphone.. They then put laquer mixed with dye or colour on top of that, and then a clear coat on top of that.
 
Re: Tinting a finished maple neck..possible?

Bezmotivnik said:
....
The white maple on the cheaper models is an issue of "artificial scarcity." FMIC seems to save nice rich tints for necks on more expensive models, though it wouldn't cost more than a cent or two to use a few drops of tint/toner in the finish for the cheaper models.

Marketing. :no:....
Click to expand...

No, it has absolutely zero to do with "marketing". It´s mostly "controlling" and and the resulting cost reductions.

Let´s say it´s .5 cts per guitar (and it is most certainly more, even in those quantities. Now, we multiply that by approximately 100k guitars /year. And badabing, badaschawoop: you have 50k in savings, and that´s quite a chunk (not necessarily for Fender, but you get my point... and even for Fender that´s 1 pro luthier per year that they can afford to keep employed instead of having to fire him). That´s one more happily employed person that can contribute to the GNP and consume as well. THis helps keep the economy afloat and helps to keep the prices from rising even further as a result of too few people being employed and as a result nobody consuming anymore.

Marketing usually comes long after those decisions, to ensure that people see a reason to purchase the product anyway / at all. But all of the cost and market analysis is long finished at that point ;)
 
Last edited:
Re: Tinting a finished maple neck..possible?

If the neck is Polyurethane you can spray ReRanch Neck Amber and then Clear Nitro.

If the neck is Polyester...I don't know if you can Nitro over it. There may be compadibility issues.
 
Re: Tinting a finished maple neck..possible?

PoorMan said:
Why did I say I didn't know? Because I didn't.

And I don't know what hydrophobic means. An irrational fear of water?
Click to expand...


Yes.:)

You can't put a water based finish on top of an oil based finish, and you can't put an oil based finish on a water based finish. If they're both oil based / oil friendly, then things should be ok.
 
Re: Tinting a finished maple neck..possible?

theboatcandream said:
Yes.:)

You can't put a water based finish on top of an oil based finish, and you can't put an oil based finish on a water based finish. If they're both oil based / oil friendly, then things should be ok.
Click to expand...

Ok, that makes sense. But I'm no chemist. I just pretend I know what I'm doing. LOL!

Now you have me second guessing myself. I'd swear the guys at the ReRanch Forum said it's cool...I'm going to check there.

In fact, I think I've done it before...can't remember though...getting old sucks.
 
Last edited:
Re: Tinting a finished maple neck..possible?

PoorMan said:
Ok, that makes sense. But I'm no chemist. I just pretend I know what I'm doing. LOL!
Click to expand...

Too much information warning.

It has to do with whether or not the molecule is polar. If the molecule is polar, with one side negatively charged and the other side positively charged, like sugar, then it will be hydrophilic and it will dissolve with water. If the molecule is not polar, like lipids/fats/oils, then it won't dissolve with water. That's because water is highly polar:

H+
> O -
H+


Soaps work off this principle. A soap molecule is polar on one side, but non polar on the other side. The polar side sticks to water, the non polar side sticks to grease.
 
Re: Tinting a finished maple neck..possible?

theboatcandream said:
Too much information warning.

It has to do with whether or not the molecule is polar. If the molecule is polar, with one side negatively charged and the other side positively charged, like sugar, then it will be hydrophilic and it will dissolve with water. If the molecule is not polar, like lipids/fats/oils, then it won't dissolve with water. That's because water is highly polar:

H+
> O -
H+


Soaps work off this principle. A soap molecule is polar on one side, but non polar on the other side. The polar side sticks to water, the non polar side sticks to grease.
Click to expand...

Crikey! I'm just an English major man! LOL! Nah, I get it...

But I already posted on the ReRanch forum for greco...
http://reranch.com/reranch/viewtopic.php?t=11310
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Samick Lover
New guitar day. A really super expensive high end guitar. Elvis Presley content.
Replies
11
Views
302
Samick Lover
Samick Lover
G
A (old) dilemma about a (new) guitar
Replies
15
Views
343
Ashurbanipal
Ashurbanipal
mojosman
NGD a long term project finally finished
Replies
6
Views
251
Mincer
Mincer
T
New guitar! Charvel so cal hss fr m
Replies
6
Views
208
JOLLY
JOLLY
B
P-Rails and Tonewoods
Replies
12
Views
341
Mincer
Mincer
Back
Top