Anyone ever try an unfinished neck?

One of the things I discovered years ago is that I have a much easier time playing on a neck that does not have finish on it. I sometimes sweat a little when I play, as I am sure many of you Guys do, and I found that my hands would get hung-up on the finish of the neck. So one of the things I do when I get a new bass is I strip off all of the finish, and for me, it makes all the difference. But I had not done this to my SX yet, and when I was doing some recording last week, the studio got warm, and my hands sweated. So yesterday, I took off the finish, and voila! The neck is smooth as silk, and plays even easier, no matter how much I sweat.

I know some of you might think that this could be harmful to the neck. Honestly, it has never produced any problems for me. So if you find that your hand also gets hung-up on the neck, and if you have the will to do so, try taking the finish off.

I love unfinished necks, as with you when i get into it i sweat a bit, but i'm not really a neck gripper so it doesn't bother me that much. But a beeswax or oil finished neck is beautiful

Ya, the Sextor (my new name for the Spector, on account of its sexiness) has an unfinished maple neck. So nice, really fast.

i got my p bass neck from warmoth ... way nicer than any fender neck i've ever played btw.

warmoth won't warranty and warns against unfinished necks. not sure why ... they just dont want to be liable in any kinda way??? my cort bass neck was unfinished and other than the normal seasonal changes, i never had any problems. it played as good as a cort neck is ... mediocre.

seen many a used bass with the neck steel wooled down.

didnt want a gloss finish on my warmoth neck ... sweaty, sticky, like eric was saying ... so i got it with a satin finish on it. their satin finish is a smooth and quick as any unfinished neck i've ever played. looks super nice too.

not detering anyone from an unfinished neck ... do what works. just letting you know theres options.

oh wow, I never thought of it --hahahaha
I guess all my bolt-on jacksons are satin clear finish? and all the neckthrus are painted but still cleared?

I dunno I can play on any of them for hours if I'm into it and never thought about anything with sweat except for the skinprints all over the black bass bodies

Madmike--I think Warmoth does that because they don't want the necks to warp during shipping. Maybe it's happened in the past and they don't want to deal with that problem any more.

amimbari--I remember from the Concert V I played that it had an awesome thin satin finish and that it had even worn through in parts and was kinda gunky. I had the same thing happen on my Ibanez BTB.

I've played on brand new Charvels that have unfinished necks and they feel so nice, but I still enjoy the security of having a thick, glossy finish in between my hands and the neck's wood. My hands sweat quite a bit and sometimes it even kinda lubricates the neck. After how I wore through my first bass's satin finish, I'm a little wary of getting a neck with a thin finish on it, but I do dig that feel.

Are you sure you're stripping the finish fully?

Sounds to me more like you have the gloss coat taken off, but the sealer still on.

unfinished jacoba(spelling?)/wenge/rosewood sure... but on maple I love high gloss

Darkstrike wrote:

Are you sure you're stripping the finish fully?

Sounds to me more like you have the gloss coat taken off, but the sealer still on.

Was this question for me, Bill? If so....um....I'm not totally sure to be honest with you. I do know that I got all of the gloss off, and I continued sanding for quite a while after that. But there might still be some sealer left on the neck, although it isn't much if there is.

EricHaven wrote:

Darkstrike wrote:

Are you sure you're stripping the finish fully?

Sounds to me more like you have the gloss coat taken off, but the sealer still on.

Was this question for me, Bill? If so....um....I'm not totally sure to be honest with you. I do know that I got all of the gloss off, and I continued sanding for quite a while after that. But there might still be some sealer left on the neck, although it isn't much if there is.

Indeed it was, the sealer is really hard, and does feel very satin, in fact it would be smoother than raw, unless you're going into the 1000's in sandpaper guage.

And, it would also explain why your neck is being unaffected, as raw maple picks up dirt and sweat very easy, in my experience, but that experience isn't in bass playing, as much as joinery/carpentry, where there is a lot more dirt and mess and oils about.
A good example is old broom handles that are brown with age and use.

As for the original question, I have two unfinished necks, one wenge, and one maple, the maple is one I'm working on thinning down, hard work with just sandpaper, I did mess with it a litttle, as it is in raw state, and it does feel real nice, I'll admit that. I don't really use it, though to see any wear effects though, since its still too fat.

Ah! I see now! So the culprit making my hand stick is probably the gloss finish, and not the sealer.

So that makes me wonder if one were to take a fresh, unfinished neck, and only apply sealer without any gloss if the results would be similar to what I did.

EricHaven wrote:

Ah! I see now! So the culprit making my hand stick is probably the gloss finish, and not the sealer.

So that makes me wonder if one were to take a fresh, unfinished neck, and only apply sealer without any gloss if the results would be similar to what I did.

Yes, its the gloss that grabs, and gets sticky, a sealed neck alone, I have one, the maple neck that was on my Jazz bass with trem, and its pretty slick, it would be simlar, for sure, it doesn't feel very finished, but never got dirty from use, though it is slightly brighter where its covered, like in the neck pocket.

It probably wouldn't be the same, as you'd most certaintly have the sealer, if its still there, scuffed and even more satin-ized.

sealer?

this takes me back to the days of stripping the finish off the p bass body (mexico) and not being able to get the alder to take any kinda stain. they dunk the nekid bodies in sealer in CA before they send them to MEX to be finished and assembled. they may sit in a warehouse for 10 months beforehand so they seal em.

that stuff pissed me off. i wanted stain, not solid color ... oh well.

the stripped wood felt like it had nothin on it, so i guess a sealer on a nekid neck would give you good protection with the feel your looking for eric. how you'de go about getting such a thing ... i have no idea. i wonder if its something as simple as thompsons.

i got to say nekid twice in this post ... teehee!