Taking finish off the back of the neck

[Christine W]

WHat s the best way to take the finish off the back of the neck. I did a search on this subject before posting and it didn't really discribe the process. I don't like baby powder cause it gets all over my clothes and as far as my technigue goes it's probably wrong and thats why I"m sticking in the first place but I've tried to alter that and it's not working.
Also I'm having trouble suporting the mando properly when I'm standing up. I guess my chest gets in the way (don't mean to be crass) any suggestions out there (any other women have the same problem).
Ok those are my issues this morning any help would be appreciated.

[64lusso]

Can't help with part two but there was some discussion about finish removal with banjo builder Steve Huber at last fall's Roanoke Bluegrass weekend and if I remember correctly he recommended just using one of those one sided razor blades to scrape it off. The key is that you drag the blade along the neck backwards so the sharp edge can't dig into anything, once you have the thicker outer layer off the finish stains usually remain and some fine sandpaper should smooth it off. Note: I am not a luthier so you may want to seek some advice in the instrument builders section before diving in.

[jeffshuniak]

do your hands get clammy or something? I have heard mention of this subject before... if you rest your picking arm on the tailpiece, without stiffening your arm, it should hold the manodln , sorta. takes most of the weight off the neck.... off your hand.... hope that helps...

[Christine W]

Yeah my hands get clamy I still get very nervous playing in front of people. I've been trying to support the mando with my forearm and it's better but I still feel like I have to use the death grip to support the neck. Maybe I need more practice playing standing up or maybe it's the strap. I use a leather braided one but that should support it. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[jeffshuniak]

yeh, I am often nervous for about the first 5 or 10 minutes. it helps to start your set with the easiest and most familiar tunes.... but you gotta be upbeat unless you are me playing in an italian place... but I usually start upbeat anyway.

[Jaded]

How do you have the strap attached to the mandolin? IE tied to the headstock vs attached at the body somewhere...


I usually play with the back edge of the mandolin resting against my body and my arm slightly touching near the tailpiece, this helps make it so that the mandolin just lightly rests in my left hand.

The chest issue does make it more challenging to get the mandolin in comfortable playing position...I generally just have to wear the mando low enough that it isn't resting on top of that area http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[carolynbeth]

Christine, you might try posting the finish removal question on the builders section; there are some pretty knowledgeable people who hang out there, and I'm sure they can give you good advice on how to do this properly. I have a "nekkid" neck on my mando, and I really like the feel of it...

As for your other problem, I still haven't gotten the hang of playing standing up....the neck seems to go all over the place and I don't feel like I have any control. So I pretty much play sitting down. I don't think my chest is the problem though... http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif #Carolyn

[Christine W]

Thanks guys and gals
Jeff, The nervous thing will just take time I'm finally not nervous playing in front of my teacher and I started with him in November. The last lesson he says" boy your really pickin up speed I can hear your improvement whats going on" I said " you don't make me sweat anymore and breathing while playing always helps" I would actually feel as if I would pass out playing in front of him but I'm working on it.

Jaded, I have the #strap attached at the scroll.

Carolyn, #Did you take the finish off yourself or did you have somone do it for you? Thanks for the suggestion about asking in that section, I'll have to do that. About your chest not being the problem mine really shouldn't be either but for some reason it is part of the problem. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

[carolynbeth]

Christine, it was removed by the previous owner. I wouldn't have the nerve to do it myself! although from what I hear, it's not that complicated....Looks-wise, it does take some getting used to, but it definitely feels better -- to me, anyway.

Now all I have to do is ease up on that death-grip -- you'd need a crowbar to pry my hand off the neck, especially if I'm nervous. It's a hard habit to break though!

Good luck!
Carolyn

[Tom C]

"Also I'm having trouble suporting the mando properly when I'm standing up."

There surely feels like a difference of sitting and having the mando supported by your lap compared to standing and having it hang by your neck. I guess one of those push/pull things. I like sitting better but my friends prefer to stand. -I lost.

[Christine W]

Tom C,
I prefer sitting also but all the jams I go to they all stand. It's has such a different feel to it. I guess the more you do it the more you get used to it.

[mandofiddle]

Hi Christine,
I took the finish off the neck of my mando for the exact same reason you mentioned. I used 0000 grit steel wool to take it all down to the wood. It took about half an hour using this, and after-the-fact I was told that I should have used some "less-fine" steel wool to start out with and it wouldn't have taken as long. Once the finish was completely removed, I used tung oil to coat it. Wipe it on the wood thick (but don't get it on the laquer as it'll make it sticky), let sit 5 minutes, then wipe off the excess. Do this 2 or 3 times, then let dry for a few days in a ventilated area.

If you're anything like me, you'll be nervous as all get out, and wonder the whole time "What in the heck do I think I'm doing?" But it's all worth it in my opinion as far as playability goes. If I had to do it all over again, I'd do it exactly the same...

[Christine W]

Mandofiddle,
Thanks so much. Yeah I'm real nervous about doing this. I needed your post I was starting to rethink doing it. And I needed the idiot directions thats what I was looking for. Thanks
Maybe I'll try this weekend http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Christine W]

Oh and my mando is bright red so I"m sure it will look funny Does tung Oil come in different colors such as red

[mandofiddle]

I don't know, though I'm sure you can probably add coloring to it. The back of my neck just looks like wood. I don't mind it too much, and nobody else is the wiser since they aren't seeing the back of the neck...

Here's a photo of what mine looks like, though the color representation isn't exact. Cheap camera + flourescent lighting in an office cube = bad photo...

[mandofiddle]

Can't tell anything from the front...

[Christine W]

What a beautiful mandolin and the back doesn't look bad at all much better than I expected
Thanks for sharing

[Michael H Geimer]

Here's mine ... like Carolynbeth's Collings, this was done by the original owner. I knew I'd get over it, so I ignored the 'shock-factor' and bought the mando on tone, feel, etc.

I love the feel of the bare wood, and like mandofiddle says, "No one is the wiser."

- Benig

[TonyP.]

I've been trying to get up the courage to do that to the neck of my mando and have followed all the other posts. One thing I got that hasn't been mentioned is get some masking tape and use it to protect the paint and "shape" the ends of the sanding, where it ends toward the body and the peghead. My mando rode in the back of a car in a case that had no neck support so it has a worn place in the finish on the back of the neck. I fell like the stripping would do two good things. I've been down to get the stuff to do it twice now and chickened out both times. All this talk has got my courage up again........I think a bare neck looks good too.

[Jaded]

I had some trouble with the neck on my a model not behaving standing up, because of where I had to attach the strap, but I've never had any issues with my F with strap on the scroll.

It may be that you just need to play standing up enough that your hands get used to making those tiny adjustments without thinking about it. I only play sitting down when i'm practing at home, so standing is the norm to me. I do have to make some adjustment for picking angle of my right hand between sitting and standing.

I think when you get used to the standing position, you'll find that you really don't have to hold on to the neck at all, it just lightly rests on your hand.

[Christine W]

Benignus, It's not that shocking and I'm sure it plays great

Tony P. Thanks for the tip about the masking tape.

I haven't gotten around to working on my mando yet but I'm going to tackle it this week. I"m already chewing the heck out of my lip just thinking about it. I did work on supporting the mandolin better and found that shortening the strap and just placing it over my arm instead of around my neck supports the neck better. This will take some getting used to though now the strap is kinda bugging me but I'll work on it.

Which leads to this question how many of you place the strap around your neck as opposed to around your arm?http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[Tom C]

I used to keep it over the shoulder but I find less movement with it over the neck which is how I now keep it.

[Christine W]

I did it!!! It was easy and I"m glad I did for my hand no longer sticks to the neck.:
Thanks to all http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[mandofiddle]

Congratulations on your new nekkid neck http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[TonyP.]

Well Christine are you going to give us the particulars? Did you use steel wool, sand paper, tung oil? How long did it take you? What did you do about the binding? What do you do about smoothing the part that's stripped to the rest of the finish? I would like to do this too, just makes me sweat thinking about messing with the finish on my mando. BTW I have always done the over the neck strap, the other way is too fussy.

[carolynbeth]

Christine, good for you! Feels nice, doesn't it? Post a pic if you can -- I'm curious to see your red mando, sounds cool....or I guess we might be seeing it in Santa Cruz? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Carolyn

[Christine W]

Tony P. All I did was take the laquere off with steel wool (the finest grade).It took about half an hour. I didn't take the stain off so I didn't use any tung oil on it and I taped off everthing I didn't wan to get steel wooled. I took it out last night and played at a jam and it's allot better but still kinda sticky. I think I"m gonna take it the rest of the way down all the way to the wood. I just have to work up the nerve.
Carolynbeth, I was going to post a picture but since I just deceided to take it all the way down I'll wait till it's done or did you mean you just wanted to see the mando not necessarily the back of it? I'm getting so excited about the symposium, glad you decieded to go.:D

[earthsave]

That's what I started doing one day. I just wanted to take of the lacquer cause I thought it was a bit tacky... to the feel not the look. I probably need to do it more. I imagine as the summer goes on I will if I starts to stick again.

I like the bare wood pictures too, but my neck is purty with the reddish stain.

[TonyP.]

Your an inspiration Christine. I'm going to do it too. All the other posts were by builders and I thought them saying it was easy wasn't sitting right.

[John Ely]

One thing you can try is just knocking the shine off the lacquer with some steel wool, Tony. Sometimes just going to a matte finish slicks it up enough. #I did that to a G&L guitar I have, and it feels great.

[TonyP.]

Thanks John, I'll try that, and if it doesn't feel right, just keep on going! When I think of it, the guitar I had that had a matte finish didn't feel so sticky. Shiny looks nice but sure doesn't slide.

[Christine W]

TonyP
Thanks, It's easy to do but scary. I would just knock the shine off first too like John Ely suggested. I did that but it was still kinda sticky. Last night I started working on gettting it down to the wood. It doesn't look too good and I dreamed I ruined my mandolin last night. Do ya think I"m just a little worried? I think it will be ok but with the mando being real bright red and the back will be bare I"m getting a little neurotic over it. I keep saying to myself as long as it plays better and then I have to breath real deep while continuing to sand. Good luck

[Christine W]

Oh Tony make sure you cover anything in harms way with masking tape I accidently scratched my mando up where I didn' t want. I think I could buff them out but I have to figure out with what.

Where do you get tung oil by the way?

[TonyP.]

Christine the tung oil is another good question, all the stuff I've read just assumes you know. The only stuff I know is Formby's at Lowes. That's where I'll get all my stuff. I was just waiting to see if the band was going to be getting together so I'd have a couple of days to let the tung oil dry out of the case. I think this is the weekend( I'm getting scared just thinking about it!).

[Christine W]

Tony P.
So how did it go? Mine is butt ugly but it feels nice. I have not applied the tung oil yet. That will be this weekend I can't seem to keep my gruby little mits off of it long enough for the oil to dry. Thanks for the lowes tip going there on lunch.
I'll post pics soon.

[mandofiddle]

I got my Tung Oil at Home Depot. Nothing special about it... It was in the wood stain and sealer section.

[retrosurfer1959]

a good strap and a weber wood nymph both help with a place to put your hands I love the Webber wood nymph takes out unwanted vibration and gives me a marker for my right hand placement. congrats on your bravery I still resist damaging the beauty of my Mandos but it it works great

[Merc]

I know this is a little late to post a reply but I figured I would reply because a few people have asked in new posts since this was posted.

I used to play URB (upright bass) before the mando. #I went to a luthier and had my URB done (this is pretty common for URB players). #He did it using tape to keep a straight line on the finish at the top and bottom of the neck. #I forget what grade it was, but he used super fine steel wool just like what was posted earlier. #I don't recall if he took it all the way down before applying tung oil (It was 4 years ago). #But that's how you do it.

I haven't done it to my mando yet because I find I don't have to shift around as much on this instrument. #Although I do prefer the feeling of the neck with it done. #

But I would recommend that if you're not sure about doing it, do a search and contact a luthier. #It wouldn't really cost much to have done even though you could do it for less. #It might be hard to find a mando with it for you to try, but a lot of luthiers might have other instruments that they are either working on or selling on the side that might have it. #And even feeling the neck of a different kind of instrument would help you decide by knowing what it feels like.

[Jim Hilburn]

I heard that Randy Wood could remove lacquer from a neck and leave the color. I wrote him and asked about it, and he said he usually ends up touching up the color,or even re-staining.
If lacquer was applied directly over the stain, it's going to blend and seems to me it would be impossible to fully remove the lacquer and not the stain.
I've only done it once, and I taped everything off and used a chemical stripper. Then I sealed it with Tru-oil. But there sure wasn't any color left.
If I was going to remove it with abrasives, I wouldn't dilly dally with steel wool. I'd be after it with my contour sander.