Hi there guys.
I would like to varnish the neck on my first ever Fender, a Squier Affinity, since moved onto a candy apple red Blacktop.

I was wonder if anyone of you guys could advise me on the best varnish to use on the neck of the Squier please. Is there a special varnish ? or is it just a good wood varnish needed.
Would applying a coat of varnish damage the intergrity of the guitar ?

Thanks in advance

"Varnish" is a pretty broad term -- it can refer to pretty much any clear (or almost clear) finishing agent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varnish

What exactly are you wanting to accomplish by "varnishing" the Squier neck? A different feel? A different appearance?

Is the existing finish intact? (Some Squier necks have thin matte finishes that might perhaps seem to be bare wood, but they're all sealed with something.) Depending on what you want to achieve you may be able to apply a finish on top of the existing finish, or you may need to strip it to bare wood first.

What sort of application method do you want to use? Brush on, wipe on, spray on? And how patient are you -- do you want something that needs many thin coats and long drying times, or do you want to apply a couple of thick-ish coats that cure quickly?

How durable do you need the finish to be? Do you want a finish that will age and look like old '50s guitars or do you want something that looks new forever?

Does the Squier neck have a rosewood fretboard or a maple fretboard? (Refinishing a neck with a rosewood fretboard is easier since you don't need to finish the fretboard.)

Finishing (or refinishing) wood can be dead simple or very complex depending on what you want to achieve and what sort of finish you decide to use.

A different feel? A different appearance? Yes please.

The wood seems to be bare, obviously i would sand the neck down, i am VERY patient.
In my question i did ask for advice on the best sort of varnish to use. Maybe i should have expanded that and said " whats the best wood varnish to use " would that have been better ?

A brush on type would be better, drying times, imerterial to me, a day, two days, or whatever time it takes to dry for best results. The neck is made from ROSEWOOD.

The finish, yeah a new look for a long time would be good.

Thanks for your indepth reply, never considered any of those factors.

Go to Lowe's and buy some DEFT clear gloss lacquer. Spray it on, let it dry, and reapply until you build up several good coats. Once it has dried for a couple of days and has gotten hard, use some 3M scratch remover and a cotton cloth and apply it like turtle wax, rub it on in circles, and when it dries, buff it off! Works great!

There really isn't a "best" finish to use -- there are many great choices which each have different advantages and disadvantages. It all depends on what you want to achieve.

Can you describe what sort of "feel" you want to achieve and what sort of appearance you want to achieve?

Nitrocellulose lacquer became the most common factory finish soon after it was invented at the beginning of the 20th century. Fender used it in the '50s and most of the '60s and Gibson still uses it exclusively. It has to be sprayed (it's available in spray cans in the US). It's a delicate finish that wears and yellows as it ages. To the degree that there's any "best guitar finish", nitro is probably it simply because it was used on the "Golden Age" Fenders and Gibsons. The feel is fairly slick though it can feel sticky until it fully dries (which can take months, although it'll be dry to the touch in days). It adds very little color to maple at first (unless you use a tinted nitro) but it'll yellow/amber with age (a few years).

Polyurethane is the most common finish now. Most Fenders and just about all import guitars use it. There are many different types including wipe-on formulations. It often has a greasy "plastic" feel (though nitro is a plastic too). Very clear unless tinted and takes decades to yellow (and will never yellow as much as nitro.)

Birchwood-Casey Tru-Oil Gunstock finish is a popular do-it-yourself neck finish. MusicMan uses it on some of their guitar & bass necks. It wipes on and dries to the touch quickly. It takes months to completely harden and stop smelling like linseed oil and feels a little sticky during that time, but when it does finally cure it feels fantastic. You can feel the wood grain and pores almost like bare wood but it's a hard tough finish. It yellows the wood a bit on initial application but doesn't change color much after that.

Bare wood with just some wax is an incredibly nice feeling finish. But it's more prone to warping and dirt/stains get imbedded in the wood.

Thanks for the replies guys. I've been looking at some wipe on materials on line.