Painted Guitars vs. Stained Guitars

[donna plasky]

Geoff, thank you very much for the info and explanations you gave me. It is really helpful. I am not sure what I will do about my guitar with the painted neck, but it is definitely not a collector's item. When I bought it, I truly overlooked the concept of what type of paint or finish was on the back of the neck, which I deeply regret. I guess that's like buying a car and not looking to see whether the seats are vinyl or leather...and then saying I hate vinyl seats, why did I buy this car. I know better for next time.

You are right about the sales person. This guy was really dishonest. I was straight-forward with him about the fact I was just browsing and was not going to buy a guitar today, but I asked if he could just point me in the right direction. I wanted to know what price-range I should look at, if I wanted a nice "quality" Fender Tele, not one of the cheaper ones, as it's worth a little more money to get something nice. I would have expected him to recommend the most expensive Fender in the store, after I made a statement like that. But instead, he recommended the absolute cheapest Fender in the store -- it was half the price of a Squier, so how good could it be, and I told him that. Then he tried to backtrack and say "oh well if you were to replace the bridge and the pick-ups..." Yeah, right. He also said something about the sunburst paint giving it a better sound or something. Yeah right again (not!).

Maybe this is my punishment for looking beyond a Stratocaster.

Thanks again,
Donna

[Bluesnote]

re the sweaty hands on a guitar neck, gloss finishes do this to some people, satin necks don't, if your guitar isn't a collectors item but a players tool, a slight rubbing down with a very fine abrasive paper will improve it's feel considerably, it should still look glossy just not quite as new.

Oddly my personal taste is to polish up a satin neck with T Cut to a slight gloss (it will also allow the wood to show through more) or flat down a gloss neck as described.

But remember the word was a SLIGHT rubbing down with a VERY FINE abrasive, effectively putting a bit of wear on it.

Geoff

I used wet/dry really fine sandpaper on mine and it worked a treat. Bit messy but well worth the effort.
Hugh.