It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 2:41 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 21 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Go to page 1, 2  Next
Author Message
Post subject: Sanding down strat neck - any pointers???
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 4:33 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2008 4:15 pm
Posts: 43
As much as I like my Strats 9.5 neck, I played a guitar today that put a little less wood in my fretting palm/it seemed a little flatter in the back...the end result was a guitar that felt better to me and played faster. With that in mind, I'm thinking about sanding my neck down a bit on the strat to get that same feel. The guitar is already a heavily modified MIM strat, so I'm not too concerned with committing MIA strat blasphemy here :-)

Has anyone out there sanded down their neck before? If so, how did you do it, and can you give me any pointers. Also, how thick/deep is the skunk stripe...I wouldn't want to sand through it.

Thanks!


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 5:19 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 3:47 pm
Posts: 4294
Location: Somewhere near Seattle
Are you trying to change a V neck to a C neck by sanding?

_________________
"is that a real poncho...i mean
Is that a mexican poncho
Or is that a sears poncho?
Hmmm...no foolin ...." FZ


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 5:26 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2007 1:31 pm
Posts: 2122
Location: Southern California Mountains
My advice is "DON'T DO IT"!!! Replace the neck with a C Neck. Sand a broom handle into a few drumsticks and you'll see why.

_________________
"Persistence Is The Father Of Invention"
-Crazy Old Man In Training
Image


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 5:39 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2008 4:15 pm
Posts: 43
It's a C shaped neck now. I guess I'm just looking for a slightly less thick C, if that makes sense.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 6:13 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2007 1:31 pm
Posts: 2122
Location: Southern California Mountains
Have you ever sanded anything before?

_________________
"Persistence Is The Father Of Invention"
-Crazy Old Man In Training
Image


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 6:35 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2008 4:15 pm
Posts: 43
Surely, yes. I'm pretty handy with things. I guess, if I do go ahead and do it, my main concern is that I sand the neck evenly. Power tools, of course, wouldn't be an option. I'm just not sure that if I put some sand paper in my hand, and put my hand on that neck, that there won't be some issues with uniformity b/c it's being done by hand...and since it's a guitar, precision is key. I'm only talking about 1/8 of an inch...1/4 tops.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 6:52 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2008 1:51 pm
Posts: 2503
Location: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA
Hello Scpa105,

If you remove 1/4" of lumber you'll
open a pandora's box of neck stability
problems. Having said that go for it
and best of luck.

Cheers.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 9:40 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 5:21 pm
Posts: 31
The skunk stripe goes all the way down to the truss rod cavity its not a thin veneer.

I agree with the previous poster that removing to much will not be good for the neck especially if you are using larger gauge strings.

If you do decide to sand it I would recomend shading the entire area to be sanded with pencil. Then sand only enough to remove that shading. Check the thickness and see if you like it. This will keep the passes relatively even. Don't use aggresive grits to make it go quicker you will take off way more than you will want to.

Before you start consider how you want to hande the transitions to the head stock and the heel.

You will also need to remember to seal the area afterwards or your neck WILL twist. Use a finish that's compatable to the rest of the neck.

Also you didn't mention if you have a maple fretboard or is it rosewood.
If it's roswood you need to be extra careful on that transition.

I've done this type of stuff for people before and it takes time and patience to do it right. In the end it might be easier for you to get a drop in replacement. Some of the ones available now are excellent and worth every penny. I have used them for some custom builds I have done and people have been very happy.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 1:10 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2008 4:15 pm
Posts: 43
Thanks a lot for the tips! On second thought, yeah, 1/4 sounds like way too much.

The fretboard is rosewood. Maybe it would be a better idea to just ebay my current neck and get a replacement than to sand it.

I've noticed Warmoth has some decent replacements. My issue is that I have a general idea about what I want, but my decision is more tactile...actually needing to hold the neck to realize, "I like this one...I could pass on that one." So I don't know quite what to do, meaning I don't live near any guitar neck factories and I don't want to order 6 different necks over the internet just to figure out which neck I want...maybe that's what I'll need to do.

One neck I do like is, God forgive me for liking a cheap guitar neck, is a Greg Bennet's Malibu guitar neck (one of my students has one)...I've also found some Jackson necks that I like, too (although I'm not a jackson guitar fan). I loved my old (and sold) strat's neck, but I wanted to get away from the vintage frets. Only after selling it did I realize that the vintage frets helped to keep the action lower...that package fit my hand better than my current c-shaped neck, despite the fact that my old strat and new strat both have 9.5 neck radiuses. That Bennet neck felt like my old neck, just with bigger frets - which I like (medium jumbo). I'll admit that my hand would get sore if I chorded a lot on my old strat...it's not an issue on my new one, though.

I found that I was much happier with guitar necks before I started playing those Hendrix chords where I have to wrap my thumb over the low-e string. Prior to that, I could pretty much plug and play on anything. But there's no going back now :-)

Thanks!


Top
Profile
Post subject: sanding
Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:06 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2008 4:41 pm
Posts: 52
why would you WANT to sand down a perfect guitar !


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: sanding
Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:19 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:28 pm
Posts: 1956
c-hawk wrote:
why would you WANT to sand down a perfect guitar !


He said he wanted a thinner neck.

I've also heard of techs shaving the neck. I'd call Stewart-MacDonald. I'm sure they'll have the tools and good advice too.

Just remember to work in baby steps... you can always take more off but once it's off, you'll never get it back on!


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:23 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2008 4:15 pm
Posts: 43
It is a perfect guitar. I just want it to be more perfect (curse these average sized hands of mine) :-) Thanks for the feedback!


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:23 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:25 pm
Posts: 398
Throw an Eric Johnson neck on that thing, those necks are a little more slim than the C neck.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Sanding down strat neck - any pointers???
Posted: Thu May 03, 2018 3:36 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 6:51 pm
Posts: 25350
Location: Witness Protection Program
History repeats itself.

This is what we were seeing exactly ten years ago to the date.

_________________
Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re:
Posted: Thu May 03, 2018 5:03 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 4:50 pm
Posts: 7998
Location: ʎɹʇunoɔ ǝsoɹ pןıʍ
Mr Bill wrote:
Hello Scpa105,

If you remove 1/4" of lumber you'll
open a pandora's box of neck stability
problems. Having said that go for it
and best of luck.

Cheers.


Ohhhhh, noooooo!

:lol:

_________________
Image
Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 21 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Go to page 1, 2  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Lucascas and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: