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Post subject: Fender Strat maple neck finish
Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2017 4:37 am
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Hi all,

I’ve had my 1995 MIA Fender Strat for almost a year now. When I bought it there was signs of the finish on the neck coming away. This didn’t bother me at the time at the time because it wasn’t that bad. The previous owner had actually tried to touch up the cracks.

Roll on a year and I’ve played a lot of hours on the guitar every week. The finish is flaking away more and more over time. My question is, do I embrace the relic look? If so, (with the finish coming off) does this affect the playing at all? I like the worn in look but I’m unsure if the neck will eventually wear away so much it affects the play? Or when the finish comes off it doesn’t feel as slick and smooth meaning my fingers feel sticky to the fretboard!

The other option is to re-laquar it which will cost money and I don’t think my guitar would ever sound the same again with a re-finish! Is there anything Fender could do or?

[/img]https://2rmome4059lnk6ppm45ekru1-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/20170417_121642.jpg[/img]

Jordan


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Post subject: Re: Fender Strat maple neck finish
Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2017 1:04 am
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Hi, welcome to the forum. And a remark: your your first post had a few days delay so answers come late.

The neck really is maimed. Maybe someone filed fret ends with a heavy hand and cracked the finish so it began chipping - or something.
But it's up to you to like or dislike the relic look. Same thing with playability; if your fingers are comfortable with the neck or not.

If you leave it as is, it will chip more in time - although there's no way to predict how fast.
If you decide to refinish the neck (I'd suggest leaving this to a pro), I can assure you that it does not affect the sound in any audible way. There's many ways to do a refin, from 'just patching' to full finish with 'thick & high shine' to 'roadworn flash nitro' or anything in between.

Fender doesn't do refins, and finishes are excluded from their warranties, "limited lifetime warranty" unicorn included. So, probably just sympathy to be expected there.

Find a good guitar tech/luthier, show the guitar to him/her/it and discuss options and price. Or just furgittabout it and play on, play LOUD.

PS; you had an extra / (slash) in the first img-between-brackets, that's why your pic didn't show. Corrected:
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Post subject: Re: Fender Strat maple neck finish
Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2017 1:57 am
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No doubt about it, that's rough as a cob and frankly, quite unsightly.

How are the frets themselves? If worn beyond the point of redressing, you might consider having the neck refinished in conjunction with a re-fret. The headstock can be masked off to preserve the decals so no worries there. You'll end up with essentially a brand-new neck that's original to the instrument.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Fender Strat maple neck finish
Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2017 4:28 am
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Hi,

Thanks for the replies so far! I have posted some closer pictures which shows the frets in better details. The guitar had a dressing done about a year. The previous owner had got it serviced and re-dressed at the local guitar shop and I know this for sure because the guitar tech himself told me! You can also see how the finish is coming off.

Anyway I don't know too much about frets. Do you think they're looking low and needing replaced anytime soon? They certainly feel okay at the moment. Maybe a little buzz when hitting chords with some force but nothing serious.

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Image

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Post subject: Re: Fender Strat maple neck finish
Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2017 4:50 am
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To me, it looks like those frets still have a lot of notes in them, no hurry in redressing, let alone refretting in the near future.

I'm a bit concerned about the guitar tech who serviced the guitar; one would think he/she/it would have fixed the chipping issue while doing the fret job, unless the owner specifically denied it - as I understand, the chipping was already there at that time.
And BTW, what's with the dots, those black spots on beigish base look peculiar?

On the buzz when hitting chords issue, that's a setup thang.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Strat maple neck finish
Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2017 5:59 am
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That is good news!

Well the guitar tech actually said to me that the previous owner had tried to touch up the cracking himself. There is actually a streak of lacquer on the top of the neck (obviously sprayed a little too much on the fretboard and started dripping down onto the neck).

The dots have faded away due to the lacquer and the dots material separating. There's quite a few examples online of this happening to maple neck guitars. More often on the 90's!! It’s annoying because I would prefer to dots to be black but again it’s a visual problem so it doesn’t affect the playing of the guitar.

Jordan


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