A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

Hi Guys,

I'm currently working on a project guitar. Warmoth has REALLY nice necks and i have my sights set on a nice vortex neck with an ebony board.

My only dillema is do i pay the extra $100+ for a finish? I'm a bedroom player, i don't tour or even gig out at this point. The guitar would be in my central air controlled apartment.

I've heard two schools of thought on this.
1) If you don't get a neck finished you'll always have issues with it
2) Once the neck is on the guitar and adjusted it shouldn't be an issue.

Thoughts?

My recollection is that you can if it's a roasted maple neck. Otherwise, you buy without warranty if you don't get it with a finish. Roasted maple is fantastic.

for sure. they have unfinished as well as roasted maple

yes, go look at their available prebuilt inventory...many unfinished necks. Theres plenty of old and relic guitars with lots of exposed wood...SRV's guitar had little finish left on it, body and neck. I'ld go light with a surface build finish.

Its easy to put a protective finish on a neck. Wipe-on poly, can be applied thin. I like best Birchwood Casey's Tru-oil,(considered more a varnish than a penetrating oil) a few light coats for a thin sealing on a hard maple neck, or apply more like a dozen coats for thick build up. Plenty of on-line advise and examples for Tru-oil. Its easy and does a great job. Just dont leave your rags around...spread them out to dry and get them out of anywhere you dont want burned to the ground.

Warmoth wont warranty necks with some home finishes including tru-oil. I think. Just make sure its good before applying your finish.
Check out other neck builders, Musikcraft, USAGC ( not the famous "Tommys" business any more), Sound Guitar Works (might be old USAGC folks)

Thanks guys!

In this case the neck is NOT roasted maple. That's why i'm a little leary. Same time i'm having a hard time jutifying the price of the finish if i don't really need it (i AM that cheap).

I also recommend the wipe-on poly. I applied two thin coats and it feels like there’s nothing on there at all.

I bought an unfinished neck from them and finished with Tru-Oil. Very inexpensive and easy.

I've used both tru oil and wipe on poly. Both are great finishes, super easy to apply and yield great results. I prefer the feel of a tru oiled neck to a glossy lacquer neck any day, and I just finished using it for the neck on my Martin style build.

Just use it sparingly. Light coats, about 7-9 in total depending on how shiny you want the end product to be.

TheIrritableLuthier wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 10:51 am I've used both tru oil and wipe on poly. Both are great finishes, super easy to apply and yield great results. I prefer the feel of a tru oiled neck to a glossy lacquer neck any day, and I just finished using it for the neck on my Martin style build.

Just use it sparingly. Light coats, about 7-9 in total depending on how shiny you want the end product to be.

Yep agreed, tung oil is the very best finish for necks in my opinion over everything else that is available. All my Kiesels and Carvins have tung oiled necks, and I wouldn't buy one without that option.

peskypesky wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 10:10 amI bought an unfinished neck from them and finished with Tru-Oil. Very inexpensive and easy.

TheIrritableLuthier wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 10:51 am I've used both tru oil and wipe on poly. Both are great finishes, super easy to apply and yield great results. I prefer the feel of a tru oiled neck to a glossy lacquer neck any day, and I just finished using it for the neck on my Martin style build.

Just use it sparingly. Light coats, about 7-9 in total depending on how shiny you want the end product to be.

I'm a big fan of Tru-Oil, with water-based, wipe-on poly as a second choice. Water-based poly is easier to apply than oil-based, but Tru-oil is by far the easiest to work worth of the three.

Tung oil is a different animal. It looks and feels nice, but it's not very protective.

I just ordered one with a roasted maple neck and a rosewood board. No finish required.

I dont know what the thing is with maple necks. What's more stable and closed pore than maple. I think big open pore mahogany would be the one that needs sealing. My maple neck strat was stripped of most finish 30 years ago. It's why I loved it. I think the only reason to finish maple is so it doesn't show as much dirt and is easier to clean. Didnt lots of evh guitars have a pure no fin maple neck? You could tell because they were dirty in 5 min.

Warmoth roasted maple - no finish. And I've got another on the way for my next build

I have several unfinished maple necks, and have never had any sort of problem with them - be it in high humidity conditions (south central Texas) or low (high desert Utah).

I prefer an unfinished/unglossy neck - but if there is a finish/gloss on them: I find that a good scrubbing with a green Scotchbrite pad does wonders. Rub with a tack cloth afterwards. Some clears will gloss over again as you play - just hit 'em with the green pad again. Eventually, they will be bare wood.

Make sure you like dirt before going with an unsealed neck. Maple does not stay clean under heavy use, even if your hands don't sweat a lot.

nomadh wrote: ↑Wed Jun 24, 2020 3:17 amI think big open pore mahogany would be the one that needs sealing.

I'm still not convinced of this, either. Charvel (among others) have made guitars with mahogany based necks and left them unfinished. The Desolation series comes to mind - those are really nice necks, and no issues in my experience.

rrobbone wrote: ↑Wed Jun 24, 2020 1:23 pm I have several unfinished maple necks, and have never had any sort of problem with them - be it in high humidity conditions (south central Texas) or low (high desert Utah).

I prefer an unfinished/unglossy neck - but if there is a finish/gloss on them: I find that a good scrubbing with a green Scotchbrite pad does wonders. Rub with a tack cloth afterwards. Some clears will gloss over again as you play - just hit 'em with the green pad again. Eventually, they will be bare wood.

Make sure you like dirt before going with an unsealed neck. Maple does not stay clean under heavy use, even if your hands don't sweat a lot.

nomadh wrote: ↑Wed Jun 24, 2020 3:17 amI think big open pore mahogany would be the one that needs sealing.

I'm still not convinced of this, either. Charvel (among others) have made guitars with mahogany based necks and left them unfinished. The Desolation series comes to mind - those are really nice necks, and no issues in my experience.

Pretty sure I wouldn't worry about unsealed hog either. Just conceptually it seems more problematic for open pore wood.

I'll point this out gang ~ if Warmoth says it needs you to apply a finish to be under warranty, tung oil or tru-oil will not cut it. They insist it has to have a "Hard finish" on it. Lacquer, poly, etc. Roasted maple and a few other woods are the exception and they do state which ones don't need a finish under wood selections.