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Author Topic: Shaving Neck on my Gibson Explorer!  (Read 4134 times)

James_B_K_P

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Shaving Neck on my Gibson Explorer!
« on: April 02, 2012, 08:08:05 PM »
Hey Guys,

A friend of mine recently shaved (Sanded down) the neck of his Les Paul and finished it with Gunstock Oil. He's offered to do the same for free to my Explorer. It's a really nice worn cherry colour and the sanding down will of course remove this finish and it will end up looking the same as the attached picture (Both Mahogany necks). I'm fine with the looks but I was wondering if you guys have any experience of this and could tell me a little bit about how this will affect the playability and value of the guitar? It's pretty new, I've only had it a few months and it's a fantastic guitar! I've heard about all the recent problems with gibson electronics and product control which seems to be a load of cr@p to me. I've given all the electronics a check and the guitar is in perfect condition! Cheers! :)
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richard

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Re: Shaving Neck on my Gibson Explorer!
« Reply #1 on: April 02, 2012, 08:15:55 PM »
I sanded the finish off a snooker cue and re-did it in gun oil. Feels great. Sorry, that's the closest I can get.
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James_B_K_P

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Re: Shaving Neck on my Gibson Explorer!
« Reply #2 on: April 03, 2012, 01:14:38 AM »
Ahh cheers for the reply! I suppose it's kind of the same thing regarding speed / Smoothness so thanks for that man! :)
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Ian Price

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Re: Shaving Neck on my Gibson Explorer!
« Reply #3 on: April 03, 2012, 09:59:53 AM »
I prefer the sanded down to the wood feel. One thing this will do is reduce the value of the guitar should you wish to sell it on in future. It would probably render it almost not worth selling as you may not get much for it.
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Sifu Ben

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Re: Shaving Neck on my Gibson Explorer!
« Reply #4 on: April 07, 2012, 07:56:57 PM »
You could always just de-gloss it. It'll make it faster and probably won't dramatically effect the value.
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Attica!

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Re: Shaving Neck on my Gibson Explorer!
« Reply #5 on: April 07, 2012, 08:18:41 PM »
A good way of making a glossy, sticky neck, faster, is to sand down the gloss so it just the paint, then finish it with a certain gloss (a bit of research should tell you which), and then finish it again in satin it in Satin. With Mahogany necks, even with oil, it is still prone to get damage from the environment. That's why you normally see Mahogany necks finished in gloss. There is also a good gloss I believe that feels like satin, which protects the mahogany. Check out Petrucci's sig mUsicMan for example. So you can just sand down the gloss so the paint is still there, but then refinish it, followed by a light sand to make it smooth and blend into the old gloss.

Regarding the gloss then satin, it's Ran Guitars that do this. On my quote for a Les Paul, they said they would finish the neck with 3 layers of gloss, then a finish of satin to make it maple smooth. This may even be what MusicMan do. It's just mahogany you want to seal. i guess with bodies its not that much of a problm as its a big chunk of wood, and oiling is a good way to finish it. But necks you have to be more careful as they are thinner, and bare mahogany can be very active to the environment in terms of damage.