Sanding a late 80's Stingray neck, sacrilege?

[Tradfusion]

I have an 89 Stingray (since 1992) with a very thick gloss varnish on the neck that has quite alot of wear and chipping on the finish that is making the neck feel tacky, sticky and uncomfortable to play, its all natural wear from years from playing, sweat, humidity etc. Its been this way for several years but recently another bigish chip of varnish came off and it got me thinking. Just wondering if anyone has tried sanding down the neck of a similar era Ray and if so how did that work out? I'm also slightly concerned that sanding off the gloss varnish could potentially affect the authenticity and value of the bass, all comments welcome 🙂

[Mudpup]

If it was me I would probably get the neck refinished by a decent luthier in a similar finish. I'm sure you can get plenty of more user friendly lacquers nowadays. You would keep the general spec of the bass closer to original and preserve any resale price more that way?

Edited January 12 by Mudpup

[Beedster]

14 minutes ago, Mudpup said:

If it was me I would probably get the neck refinished by a decent luthier in a similar finish. I'm sure you can get plenty of more user friendly lacquers nowadays. You would keep the general spec of the bass closer to original and preserve any retail price more that way?

This, for so many reasons 👍

[Skybone]

Another vote for a refinish.

[bertbass]

Personally, I would just sand it.  You've had it for a few years now so I would assume that you've got no plans to sell it, so sand away.  If you ever want to sell it then you can fork out for a refinish.

[Lozz196]

I’d only sand it if I had experience of basses with that already and knew I liked playing necks like that.
 

But given it was bought with gloss, and taking into account resell value (tho can’t see that is much of a factor given you bought it in 1992) I’d just get a refin.

[Beedster]

I guess there is an upside of doing it yourself which is that by moving slowly and systematically you can stop at the point at which the neck feels right to you, which might be a long way before all the varnish is off (i.e., a ‘played in’ versus ‘stripped’ feel) 👍

[mike f]

Treat yourself and it to getting a luthier to do the job. I did it to my 74 Jazz (owned since 92) and I wished I’d done it earlier. After 3 decades that bass is authentically yours! Get it done.

[PaulThePlug]

Green scourer, and just knock back the gloss and flatten the edges, as the scourer wears the coarseness reduces... then with the samecworn pad and a dab of wax, see how that suits you (Sir!) if thats enough, if not first steps to a complete sand, or refinish any hows...

[Burns-bass]

5 hours ago, bertbass said:

Personally, I would just sand it.  You've had it for a few years now so I would assume that you've got no plans to sell it, so sand away.  If you ever want to sell it then you can fork out for a refinish.

Agreed.

 

Sanding it won’t break it and it’s a stopgap. If you paid for it to be refinished it wouldn’t be all original so anyone holding out for that would be put off anyway.

 

With all respect, 1992 Stingrays aren’t commanding a huge premium, so I say crack on.

 

I had a funny conversation when I got the jack socket changed on a 1966 fender. The tech joked that the swap probably knocked £500 off the value as it was no longer 100% original.

[Shaggy]

5 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

Agreed.

 

Sanding it won’t break it and it’s a stopgap. If you paid for it to be refinished it wouldn’t be all original so anyone holding out for that would be put off anyway.

 

With all respect, 1992 Stingrays aren’t commanding a huge premium, so I say crack on.

 

I had a funny conversation when I got the jack socket changed on a 1966 fender. The tech joked that the swap probably knocked £500 off the value as it was no longer 100% original.

 

 

Yup.  If it was a pre-EB I'd say no, as it is is and if it's your playing /gigging bass then do whatever makes it better / easier  to play 

[Hellzero]

My 1979 pre-Ernie Ball has been refinished the same natural finish as it was originally, but I don't care as it sounds amazing.

 

That said, the OP's Stringray is a 1989 model, not a 1992 model, which the year he bought it, so a tad bit more on the vintage side.

[Owen]

I picked up a 73 P neck and body here a very long time ago. "A" width if anyone cares. The body looked as if had been used for sledging on tarmac and someone had sanded all the finish off the back of the neck. The neck feels sublime. It is the most comfortable I have along with a solid Rosewood neck which is also bare wood. If it is already not working for you then I say get stuck in.

[Owen]

Having said that I regularly attack all the necks I have with 0000 wire wool and that takes the tackiness off quickly and easily. 

[NancyJohnson]

People too worried about originality and potential resale value.

 

Assuming as you've had it 32 years, chances are it's a keeper, then.  If it was me, neck off and eyes down for a full house.

[Tradfusion]

Bit the bullet yesterday and took to the neck with some light sandpaper and wire wool, didn't go mad on it but managed to remove the offending layer of varnish with the chips and sticky sweat damage etc, already feels 100% better than before but I will probably take off a fraction more to really smooth it off and apply some light wood stain to seal it off... should have done it years ago but hey ho you live and learn, thanks for all the encouragement guys 🙂

[mike f]

@Tradfusion good stuff!
Was going to recommend using a maroon Scotch-Brite pad.

[Dan Dare]

On 13/01/2025 at 09:27, Tradfusion said:

I will probably take off a fraction more to really smooth it off and apply some light wood stain to seal it off

 

Stain won't usually seal. It will, however, soak into the wood, which  you may not want. If the neck is a mixture of varnished/unvarnished, you will not get an even tint and it could look terrible. There will almost certainly be some of the varnish left on the neck, which will protect the wood.

 

When using sandpaper on a curved surface, it helps to back it with a piece of sponge, so you don't sand a flat into the surface. Friction should keep the sponge in place on the sandpaper. If it doesn't a small piece of double sided tape will.

Edited January 14 by Dan Dare