How NOT to deal with a sticky neck

[Doctor Jeff]

I have had some issues with the neck getting sticky after playing awhile on my Gibson ES-135. From what I've read, this is likely due to the effect of moisture and oil over time on the nitro, not some deficiency of the finish itself.

Anyway, I did a little research on the internet and came across a discussion from a guitar tech. He suggested cleaning with a petroleum-based cleaning product, then sanding with 600-grit sandpaper.

Oops. Big mistake. This led to complete dulling of the finish on the neck (but not sticky!). I then wet-sanded with some foam sanding squares from 1200 to 12,000 grit with noticeable improvement, but still some fine scratches. I guess I will have to get out my buffer and some polishing compound to finish the job.

As a woodworker, I should be more knowledgeable about sanding, but a glossy guitar finish is a special thing that requires care. Lesson learned.

[ptchristopher3]

In my opinion/experience the stickiness is very much specifically an artifact of the modern Gibson "lacquer" formulation. Sticky, very - and seemingly eternally so.

Cardinal, Behlen SIL, Seagrave all seem fine to me. But Gibson's goo seems remarkably resistant to many treatments to unstick it.

I sold my last Gibson guitar some years ago, but only kept it as long as I did because I re-finished the neck (well the top coats) with Behlen SIL, to get rid of the truly awful stickiness.

Many players are completely untroubled by this. Others may simply find themselves dealing with it in profound brand forgiveness and enthusiasm.

My opinion.

I have NOT found any cleaning or other surface treatment that does not eventually leave you back in the goo.

Others may have a solution. (Sort of a pun there,...)

Chris

[Marty Grass]

I have had a couple of Heritages and a Gibson with this problem. It was annoying to me, but honestly I don't think it could hinder the function of the guitar. In other words I couldn't blame any of my problems on the stickiness.

I sold the Heritages over time and it never was an issue to the guys who bought the guitars.

I got a Gibson I really liked with that problem. Gibson was not helpful. I called and talked to the repair guy. He had 10 years experience but said he never heard of stickiness of the nitro. He suggested that maybe the nitro hadn't set yet. I reminded him that the guitar was 10 years old. He claimed complete ignorance, which I find completely hard to believe.

I left a message with the manager of the department.

In the meantime a wise and very experience luthier suggested it may be old furniture polish that accumulated over the preceding 10 years. He recommended wiping it down with acetone and buffing it with a mild grit abrasive.

After I wiped it with acetone, a white powder appeared over the neck where it had been sticky. It wiped off. I buffed it.

The guy told me that the white powder was old paraffin or wax.

The stickiness went away but came back. I repeated the process about five times. Now the stickiness has been gone for over a year, and there is no more white powder. The finish looks fine also.

That's my story.

[MaxTwang]

If you're not experienced with buffing lacquer then read up first and be cautious - the buffer can heat and soften the lacquer which can lead to "burn through". Keep the buffer moving, don't rest in one spot or area, don't press down on the buffer.

Virtuoso Cleaner & Polish might get enough of a gloss by hand.

[vinnyv1k]

I cured a sticky neck by just regular use of Virtuoso cleaner and polish. I swear by the stuff.

[rio]

I have never heard of virtuoso polish - I looked it up and I think I need to check it out even without sticky necks. Looks good.


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[deacon Mark]

Acetone? That is what we use to remove finishes.........be careful.

[MaxTwang]

Did you mean naphtha instead of acetone?

Acetone is pretty strong and is used to strip lacquer. Naptha can be used to clean a lacquer finish but is still a solvent that can dull or cloud a gloss finish, if not worse. Be careful with Naptha, best to only use if there's silicone or other substance that doesn't come off any other way.

Some auto polishes are used for lacquer, LMII sells Meguiars #17 Clear Plastic Cleaner and #10 Clear Plastic Polish for guitar finishing. Meguiars lists these products as "paintable". Be cautious of products having silicone which could cause problems if the guitar were to need repair. Silicone can cause problems with lacquer bonding and silicone can be difficult to remove from a guitar's finish (most auto products contain silicone as it forms a really tough bond to the finish).

Virtuoso is the probably safest bet for cleaning and polishing guitars and is designed to be safe for vintage instruments.

Virtuoso Premium Polish and Cleaner - Home


Here's a couple links to Meguiars products and paintability (Meguiars can often be found in local auto parts stores).

Body Shop Safe or Not?

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?45379-Scratch-X-2-0-silicone-free#TfyvdJAsIWrdRkMY.97

[Marty Grass]

You are correct. It was naptha. My bad.

[Longways to Go]

I have had some issues with the neck getting sticky after playing awhile on my Gibson ES-135. From what I've read, this is likely due to the effect of moisture and oil over time on the nitro, not some deficiency of the finish itself.

Anyway, I did a little research on the internet and came across a discussion from a guitar tech. He suggested cleaning with a petroleum-based cleaning product, then sanding with 600-grit sandpaper.

Oops. Big mistake. This led to complete dulling of the finish on the neck (but not sticky!). I then wet-sanded with some foam sanding squares from 1200 to 12,000 grit with noticeable improvement, but still some fine scratches. I guess I will have to get out my buffer and some polishing compound to finish the job.

As a woodworker, I should be more knowledgeable about sanding, but a glossy guitar finish is a special thing that requires care. Lesson learned.

Polishing out scratches from 600 grit sanding probably needs a few intermediary wet sanding steps between 600 and 1200 in my experience. But if the neck feels good, then who cares? If I'm not mistaken, sanded necks are a thing for lots of teles and strats.

[Doctor Jeff]

I used mineral spirits to clean the neck. No problem there.

I polished from 600 to 12,000 using 10 progressively finer sandpaper pads. Today I used a handheld buffer and Wizards finishing polish to get rid of marks and restore the gloss. Worked well, in fact I used it on the whole body with excellent results.



Next time I will just clean with mineral spirits then go straight to the finishing polish.

My Tele has a sanded neck. As far as feel goes I prefer a satin finish (Godin) or even a hard poly gloss (Peerless), as neither seem affected by atmospheric conditions or sweaty hands much.

[grahambop]

My 1970s ES-175 gets a bit sticky on the back of the neck now and then (especially during the summer months). I just apply a blob of Virtuoso polish and it goes away. It doesn't really put the neck back to 'gloss finish', it's more like 'semi-gloss', but the main thing is that the stickiness goes away.

You do have to repeat every 6 months or so.

[TH]

I just apply a blob of Virtuoso polish and it goes away.

They should've gotten Joe Pass to endorse it.
David

[grahambop]

They should've gotten Joe Pass to endorse it.
David

yeah, I tried rubbing it on my fingers, but nothing happened...

[gggguitar]

I've always just used the Gibson polish in the little pump bottle to clean the gunk off of my guitars.

The only time I've ever used naphtha was in combination with many applications of Meguiar's Car Polish to remove cat pee smell from the back of a Nitro finished guitar (worked very well by the way).

[Longways to Go]

I used mineral spirits to clean the neck. No problem there.

I polished from 600 to 12,000 using 10 sandpaper pads. Today I used a handheld buffer and Wizards finishing polish to get rid of marks and restore the gloss. Worked well, in fact I used it on the whole body with excellent results.



Next time I will just clean with mineral spirits then go straight to the finishing polish.

My Tele has a sanded neck. As far as feel goes I prefer a satin finish (Godin) or even a hard poly gloss (Peerless), as neither seem affected by atmospheric conditions or sweaty hands much.

Glad you got it sorted out!
Personally, I'd be leery of messing with the finish on my Gibsons.
Dunlop 65 is my cleaner/polish of choice.
But I guess I'm lucky not to have much trouble with the sticky neck problem.

[Marty Grass]

I don't know why a few guitars get sticky necks. I rarely polish my guitars, so I don't believe that is necessary to prevent stickiness.

People swear by Virtuoso products. I'm inherently skeptical. Nonetheless I bought the cleaner and polish. The stuff is expensive c/w most other products, but a bottle lasts a long time. So I decided to not sweat the extra cost. For me, it might be a dime a month.

[grahambop]

I don't know why a few guitars get sticky necks. I rarely polish my guitars, so I don't believe that is necessary to prevent stickiness.

People swear by Virtuoso products. I'm inherently skeptical. Nonetheless I bought the cleaner and polish. The stuff is expensive c/w most other products, but a bottle lasts a long time. So I decided to not sweat the extra cost. For me, it might be a dime a month.

I think the Virtuoso stuff is designed to correct the stickiness on old nitro finishes, as well as being a polish (at least that's what they say). I was a bit wary of it initially, but it certainly seems to work.