Any tips for reducing friction on a painted neck?

[fatback]

Is there anything you can do with a glossy painted neck to reduce friction and speed things up a bit? Is very fine wire wool heresy? I think I draw the line at talc.

Thanks for your ideas

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited February 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[OutToPlayJazz]

Always wash your hands thoroughly before you play. There's actually nothing wrong with the neck, just your sweaty hands

[The Burpster]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='876584' date='Jun 24 2010, 04:49 PM']Always wash your hands thoroughly before you play. There's actually nothing wrong with the neck, just your sweaty hands [/quote]


Agreed 100%

I really love a highly polished neck. If my hand starts to stick, I give the neck another polish, and makes sure my hands are dry before I play = problem solved.

[bubinga5]

IMO it doesnt matter how much you wash your hands, your hands will sweat....no, there is nothing wrong with the neck, but if you dont like the feel of it, there is...
there is a reason why Sadowsky and an SR5 dont have high gloss necks..

personally i find a high gloss neck hinders my playing..i use very fine wire wool to take the edge off of it...i like smooth transitions...

IMHO

Edited June 24, 2010 by bubinga5

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='fatback' post='876565' date='Jun 24 2010, 04:28 PM']Is there anything you can do with a glossy painted neck to reduce friction and speed things up a bit?[/quote]

[johnnylager]

Talc.

[discreet]

Scotch-Brite.

[bubinga5]

any of these will do it..

[The Burpster]

[quote name='bubinga5' post='876732' date='Jun 24 2010, 07:02 PM']IMO it doesnt matter how much you wash your hands, your hands will sweat[/quote]

Agreed however sweat on clean fingers and a shiny neck is like a natural lube.

On unclean hands and a neck that hasnt been polished for a while, the sweat seems to make like a grinding paste and fingers just seems to stick.

Although its not an exact science.

[silentbob]

What about silk gloves?




































I'll get my coat!

[far0n]

I asked a luthier about this not long ago.. Jim Fleetham (I think his name was) in Ripon. My Cort funkmachine had a gloss-finished painted neck that I didn't like, he simply said take some 1200 gauge wet and dry sandpaper and rub it down. Believe me, it's great now.

[Legion]

[quote name='far0n' post='876932' date='Jun 24 2010, 10:28 PM']I asked a luthier about this not long ago.. Jim Fleetham (I think his name was) in Ripon. My Cort funkmachine had a gloss-finished painted neck that I didn't like, he simply said take some 1200 gauge wet and dry sandpaper and rub it down. Believe me, it's great now.[/quote]
I think you mean Jim Fleeting I was at his sisters wedding, nice bloke!

[fatback]

LOL

Some 'interesting' suggestions there (what did I expect, really).

The idea of not sweating while playing is a bit like not sweating while... hmmm.

No, i do get the point about clean hands and clean neck. I'll try that, then the wire wool if nec.

Talc is out. [i]Anything[/i] smelling of babies is out.

Edited June 24, 2010 by fatback

[johnny_frog]

eat a kebab with your left hand and don't wash it afterwards

[BigRedX]

What bass is it that has this problem?

IMO sticky feeling gloss necks is because the wrong type of gloss lacquer has been used. None of the basses I use regularly with high-gloss finish on the necks have a feeling of stickiness, but then again none of them are particularly cheap instruments (Gus, Sei, Overwater, Pedulla).

In fact the bass I have that has the stickiest feeling neck is a Traben which looks and feels as though the finish on the neck consisted of simply pointing it in the direction of the spray booth before fixing it to the body!

[NJE]

I will echo suggestions made above, keep your hands dry and clean the neck regularly. I keep a beer towel or duster on top of my amp at all times and just keep my hands dry and polish the neck if things get super sticky, but it doesnt happen that often. If you play energetic music and sweat a lot I can highly recommend using sporty wrist bands, I used to use one with my old hard rock band and it made a huge difference and kept the sweat away.

I agree with BigRedX though I think it depends of the type of glossy finish used on the instrument some brands/guitars are better than others.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

[quote name='fatback' post='876979' date='Jun 24 2010, 11:26 PM']Talc is out. [i]Anything[/i] smelling of babies is out.[/quote]
I have to use talc with my ashborys due to the silicone rubber strings. The oils in scented talc can rot the strings, but unscented talc is perfect. Less perfect is the container it comes in, so I use it in a travel-size johnsons talc container as it allows me to shake out just the amount needed.

I'm not recommending the brand I use though, as I emailed them a while ago enquiring about a talc endorsement, mentioning that their product was more suitable than other brands for Ashbory players and I have been recommending it to other players. Miserable b'stards didn't bother replying and just added my email address to their mailing list until I unsubscribed.

I used scotchbrite on the back of my japanese mustang neck to take off some of the gloss from it - its much better now.

[discreet]

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='877145' date='Jun 25 2010, 09:35 AM']travel-size johnsons[/quote]

Could be a band name...

[Lfalex v1.1]

Never had an issue with painted necks. I own 4; Westone, Vigier, Yamaha and (sort of) Status. My Iceni's got a satin finish, and that's okay, too.
I'm more likely to rub down the necks on my Warwicks, to be honest. They're quite lumpy/rough until "played in", then they're good, too.
And I'm quite sweaty

[fatback]

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='877145' date='Jun 25 2010, 09:35 AM']I used scotchbrite on the back of my japanese mustang neck to take off some of the gloss from it - its much better now.[/quote]

Which scotchbrite is that? The pads?

[Al Heeley]

green or grey plastic pads like a pan scourer, available from B&Q, etc. in the section with sandpaper and wet'n'dry, etc.. They are a great alternative to wire wool and very gently rub the edge off the gloss, leaving a neck satin smooth and slippery.
I've used them on all my guitar and bass necks. Takes only a tiny bit of the coating off and works well to remove any stickiness.

[fatback]

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='880903' date='Jun 29 2010, 01:09 PM']green or grey plastic pads like a pan scourer, available from B&Q, etc. in the section with sandpaper and wet'n'dry, etc.. They are a great alternative to wire wool and very gently rub the edge off the gloss, leaving a neck satin smooth and slippery.
I've used them on all my guitar and bass necks. Takes only a tiny bit of the coating off and works well to remove any stickiness.[/quote]

The ones with the plastic scouring bit that are supposed to be non abrasive?

[ezbass]

I had a sticking problem with my SUB where the satin finish became a little glossy and started to drag. Initially I wire wooled it to satinise it again, but the shine/sticky problem returned pretty soon. So I stripped the paint off, did a danish oil treatment to prevent moisture damage, wire wooled that back and now it's a smooth as smooth thing wearing shades and smoking a Gaulois.

[discreet]

[quote name='fatback' post='880908' date='Jun 29 2010, 01:11 PM']The ones with the plastic scouring bit that are supposed to be non abrasive?[/quote]

No - if I may jump in -

I use the heavy duty ones, you're not supposed to use them on non-stick pans.
You only need to apply them lightly and they do the job super quick.
Takes off as much or little as you need.
Cheaper from a supermarket.

Did a nice job on my 76P which of course was enveloped in an inch-thick layer of polyurethane...

Edited June 29, 2010 by discreet