Official Luthiers Forum!

So what if I like the feel of a Tru Oil neck, but lust for the gleam of a deep, buffed sprayed finish on the front and back of the headstock? Do any of you Tru-Oil neck polishers spray your headstocks?? Of so, how do you manage the overspray, or the margin between the two finishes?

Am I making this too complicated? Will a deep, buffed Tru-Oil finish on the headstock look like "the real thing"? So far, after about a dozen coats of Tru Oil, it doesn't seem so. Tru Oil seems to look better on a curved surface than a flat one... Headstock looks a bit anemic, but the neck looks like the surface of a pond at dawn.....

I true oil the neck and back of headstock. That transition could be problematic. I lacquer the top of the headstock. The transition doesn't seem to be a problem for me. I'm putting the final coats of true oil on last. If you don't pore fill the neck and put a couple coats of shellac on after that you will have to put 80 million coats of true oil on to get a decent finish and could have problems with true oil directly over epoxy as some have had.

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You've got tru oil on da headstock.
Can't turn back now.......

I like to oil my necks - Waterlox. And I French Polish the headstock veneer. I apply the oil daily for a week or so and fp at the same time. works for me.

Seems to me that due to adhesion issues the only way to acheive a transition between Tru-Oil and lacquer would be to fully finish the entire thing with lacquer and then artfully sand back the nitro in the transition area....back to wood....then apply the Tru-Oil. I thought about trying this before but I can never remember to spray test panels when I'm finishing a guitar. Honestly....I don't put too much stock in this working out. I think it would get ruined in the polishing stage in the transition area between Tru-Oil and nitro. I don't see how it could polish out nicely without a messy looking transition. I think the best chance would be to fully polish the nitro, carefully sand back (this would be tricky going thiough the grades), apply Tru-Oil to the bare wood, and hope for the best in the transition.

What's wrong with skipping the Tru-Oil and scuffing the back of the lacquered neck with 0000 steel wool? It has more or less the same feel and it seems fifty times easier.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic