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I'm not going to name the guitar because I don't want to create a searchable negative statement that might be incorrect.
I have a guitar which has been fine for 4 years or so. Recently, the neck feels sticky.
I don't know how to tell one finish from another, but I read that this is "thin poly". And, that poly can become sticky.
The tuning keys were the worst -- very sticky. I made the mistake of trying to clean them with alcohol. This dissolved the color-coat and I now have three plastic-colored tuners and three that are the original color the guitar came with.
I thought, maybe my fingers were getting sticky when I tuned the guitar, but, apparently that's not the problem.
I have cleaned the neck with martin guitar polish, detergent and alcohol (drying carefully). None of them hurt the finish and none solved the problem.
So, I ended up thinking it must the finish itself.
This is the first time I have encountered this problem. Anybody know anything about why this happens or what to do?
Thanks in advance.
Rick
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05-21-2023 11:37 PM
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I polish my poly necks with the finest micro clothes. The micro cloth used for frets.
These types:
Amazon.co.uk
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I have a guitar with the same problem. I clean the neck, it feels ok; I put it in the case, come back some weeks later and it's sticky again.
Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
As a word of warning. I've tried to cut back some of the top coat to see if it cured the problem and it didn't.
Do you store the guitar in a case? If so try leaving it out and see what happens.
Otherwise they likely got the mixture wrong in the spray booth?
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The neck on my 175 gets a bit sticky in hot weather, but I believe it’s a nitro finish and in any case, the varnish in various places on the guitar is deteriorating (due to age presumably, it’s nearly 50 years old now).
When the neck gets sticky, I rub a small amount of Virtuoso polish into it and it seems to improve it quite a bit. Sort of puts it back to a smooth semi-matt finish (it will never be glossy again, that went years ago). At least it removes the stickiness and makes it feel smooth to handle again.
No idea if this would help in your case though.
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I‘ve never heard about chemical reactions from polycoatings. There‘s nothing to react with from my understanding. Are you really sure it isn‘t nitro?
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I'm not at all sure. The manufacturer's website has a spec sheet, but nothing about the finish. Originally Posted by Stefan Eff
A review of the guitar by somebody I never heard of said it was Poly. I have no idea if that's right.
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I'm guessing this is your (begins with C ands with S)? How about e-mailing Mr. Begins-with-C-ends-with-S and asking him if he's aware of this issue on any of this other MIK guitars and for a possible solution? [FWIW, if my guess is correct, this guitar is made Korea, and SFAIK, there are nitro-finished Korean guitars.] Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
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In any of that proved to be true, I might have already emailed somebody and might be waiting to hear back. Originally Posted by John A.
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Most of the time it's out of the case. I do transport a few times a week in an ME80 bag. Originally Posted by Archie
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I have heard that polishing the neck with 0000 steel wool will reduce the stickiness. I haven’t tried it myself so please check in with someone more knowledgeable than myself before proceeding. I would think that the micromesh paper suggested by GuyBoden would have helped but perhaps the grit is too fine.
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Yeah Bill, glad you put the warning in there, no way I'd ever take steel wool no matter how fine to a guitar finish.
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I just remember reading about using 0000 steel wool and here’s one article from Premier Guitar magazine describing the technique. Now I will say this, I have a sticky neck on a very nice classical guitar and I haven’t attempted this myself so I’m not saying to go ahead and do it yourself. I think it’s just too easy to remove too much finish. I would personally take it someone who is experienced with doing this sort of thing like a trusted repair tech. Originally Posted by wintermoon
Guitar Shop 101: Curing Sticky-Neck Syndrome - Premier Guitar
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I had the sticky-neck problem on my Ibanez AG95, which has a thick poly finish. No amount of polishing removed the problem.
As an experiment I very gently rubbed #0000 steel wool along a small section of the back of the neck (following the grain). Wiped off the residue and felt the results. The stickiness was gone, so I finished the rest of the neck. I just now felt the smoothness of neck. In comparison I ran my thumb along the heel where I didn't use steel wool and it was sticky.
I guess a little bit of rubbing and testing might yield satisfactory results for a poly finish. I prefer this non-destructive method to chemicals and sandpaper.
I don't know why a high-gloss finish on a guitar would be sticky to the hands, but I ain't no scientist.
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Polycoatings are darn hard and the most resistant finishes so I would doubt any deeper damage.
I guess you’re right, 0000 steel wool (better: soft 3M pads) are the way to go.
By the way: I use only oil/waxfinishes on the necks of my own builds, to me the best finish ever.
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Thanks for the post, just to say that I have exactly this syndrome of a sticky neck sometimes on my Gibson L5 Wes Montgomery. So it seems no guitar is immune to this, no matter "how high" end it is...
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Yes, that happens sometimes with Nitrolacquer and unfortunately more often with Gibsons. But here it‘s presumably a poly finish Originally Posted by tomassplatch
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I had an ES-345 that always felt sticky to me. even after trying many of the solutions recommended here. A friend of mine always liked the guitar so we arranged a trade and he doesn't feel any stickiness at all, and he's had it for several years now. My (unscientific) takeaway is that one's own body chemistry factors into the stickiness equation, so that one player's flypaper is "like buttah" to another.
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One of my guitars has a neck that becomes sticky with time. It even starts to build up a film that I can scrape off with my fingernail. It comes right off with lighter fluid on a rag, and then it looks and feels as good as new. The cleaning is just part of the regular maintenance. I'm not sure what the finish is, but it's not heavy.
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I'd never use Steel wool, it can easily get into the pickup magnets.
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These Scotch Brite pads were mentioned in a previous post above and would eliminate the concern of the steel wool fragments getting into the pickup magnets: 3M Scotch-Brite Pads - StewMac. I understand they are a little more aggressive than the equivalent steel wool grade, so proceed with caution. Originally Posted by GuyBoden
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Why steel wool rather than a similarly fine grade of sandpaper?
Also, naptha seems to be sold in nothing smaller than a quart container and all I need is a few drops.
Would lighter fluid be equivalent? (it's sold in small amounts).
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yes lighter fluid is naptha Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
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I think I am going to try just the naptha on my classical guitar neck. I will report back to let you know if it works. That seems like a fairly non-invasive approach as a first step.
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I like Naptha better. Makes me think of triremes battling in the Adriatic.
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Apparently, charcoal lighter fluid is not the same as cigarette lighter fluid. Originally Posted by wintermoon
Also, cigarette lighter fluid, from what I'm reading, used to be naptha, and naptha will work, but there are different formulations.
There are also different versions of naptha.
I don't know, of course, how much any of this matters when you're putting a few drops on cloth to clean a guitar.
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