Neck refinish advice...

[carlsim]

I have acquired a Precision highway 1... the body has a nice patina after 12 years but the neck has hardly been used (previous owner used a lakland neck on the bass...)

I want to try and 'vintage' the neck up a bit... any advice? It's a rosewood board so I will just be doing the maple... it's just so pale... i don't mind a bit of work and it isn't my main bass... so!

Tru Oil?? will it give me a vintage amber look? or do I need something else? I just want a tint of age, not full scale relic so don't want to go crazy. Will I have to remove the decal or can a work over it?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Carl

[Muppet]

To use any sort of oil you'd probably need to strip off the current finish. Easy enough to do on the back of the neck, not so easy on the headstock without damaging the decal.  You can get amber tint lacquer but I don't know how well that would take if you applied it over the current finish.  Maybe an amber tint lacquer on the headstock and sand and wax/oil the neck? 

[carlsim]

I did think that if I wire wool / scotch pad the headstock, I could do it light enough to create a key for the clear coat to stick but not remove the decal?

I suppose it's going to be trial and error really... I could always get a another decal if it does come off. 

I read somewhere that multiple coats of tru oil create a vintage look... could try that first?

[Muppet]

1 hour ago, carlsim said:

I did think that if I wire wool / scotch pad the headstock, I could do it light enough to create a key for the clear coat to stick but not remove the decal?

Possible I guess - depends on how many coats have been applied over the decal.

 

1 hour ago, carlsim said:

I read somewhere that multiple coats of tru oil create a vintage look... could try that first?

I use tru oil on non varnished necks - it doesn't seem to add any colour as far as I can make out.  You'll still need to prepare the neck for any oil or wax to take. 

[carlsim]

Have just bought some vintage amber nitro lacquer from Northwest Guitars... it looks to do what I want so will be a bit of an experiment! Hopefully this way, I can just get a bit of a key on the wood for the lacquer to stick and not remove the decal!