I just softly used 1000 grit sandpaper with a little bit of water and sanded a very very small area (around the underneath part of fret 7-8 on the back of my poly maple fretboard), I did it extremely careful and slowly going in the motion from left to right (or should I go in circular motion?). Making sure I'm not pressing down to hard with too much preasure and taking too much finish off. Now, I compare the whole fretboard to the little part I sanded at the buttom of the neck, I must say, it definately felt much much more comfortable and smooth for me. I tried using my left hand sliding up and down the fretboard, and everytime I get to the sanded part, it just felt so much better with great playability. I didn't even have to sand down too much to get it smooth enough for me to play, and even the gloss seems to decreased by only a bit but it's still there, also the color changed by a tiny bit of more whilte, but really, I look at the part where I sanded then look at the whole fretboard, I can barely tell any difference in terms of look, but plays much much more comfortable. Better than I expected. At least my easily sweaty hands barely gets stuck now at the part where I sanded. I was thinking maybe I could just repeat what I did to that tiny part of the fretboard to the whole fretboard extremely slow and careful? Might take me some time, but I'm willing to spend all the time in the world and do it slow and safe since I have no experience. And I thought as long as I go slow and very carefully, it might be better to do it myself instead of taking it to a pro tech, because even though know the right way of getting the job done, but they don't know how smooth I personally want, they could go too far with sanding when it could have already been smooth to me. If I do it myself, I can sand a little, try playing, then sand more if needed. Question is, is there anything else I need to do after the process of sanding? do I need to add-in any product/spray afterwards? Because I heard a sanded poly maple neck can get dirty and becomes black extremely fast and easily? My apologize for the long respond. But I was surprised it worked out really really well in terms of playability and the appearance change is even barely noticable! (well, if I've sanded a bit more it might be, but I only sanded a tiny little bit and somehow it's smooth enough to get me playing just fine.) what do you think.. In the case, should I do the same thing to the whole back part of the poly maple fretboard? at least this way the smoothness is permanent / last longer. CHEERS : )

jimmy25 , just sand the bloody neck

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It will be more even if you just sand the whole neck at once.
Be brave.

Breaks in the narrative (paragraph breaks) are our friends...

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

So after I sand the guitar neck can I use Lemon oil instead of Tung Oil? or what do I need to use to make sure a sanded neck doesn't turn dark and gets dirty easily? I want my maple to age well and turn yellowish overtime not gray...

I use to use danish oil when I had a neck sanded. Its a nice feeling for sure.

perhaps a car polisher would work better than tung/danish oil in terms of keeping the sanded neck from getting dirty and turning gray easily? is there a specific car polisher brand that's safe and you would suggest for guitar maple neck? or any car polisher would be fine? and I was wondering, if we use a car polisher, isn't it going to be less smooth again? or not...

also since I'm just sanding a little tiny bit with 1000/2000 grit, not all the way down, ppl said it's going to be a "matt" finish (I don't know what exactly that means by "matt" finish), and in this case, they say it doesn't require any polish or spray and the guitar won't get dirty or gray easily, they say just use a cotton rag and wipe it then it would be fine?

Car polish would make it sticky again.

After a light sand with 1000 grit, IT'S DONE. It's still lacquered but without the shine. NO lemon oil required, NO car polish, NO NUTHIN'. If you use a finer grit, the shine will return.

You're turning a simple 10 minute process into the Da Vinci code mate.

Relax , Enjoy.

....Mark.