Unfinished Maple Fingerboard

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Dani Pace

New member
We all know maple fingerboards usualy have finish on them but what about an unfinished one, should it be oiled or not? Will it make any difference? Will it help preserve or is it likely to cause any harm?
 
It will get dirty really quickly from finger oils. That's why Fender started out with finished fingerboards. The maple was cheaper than rosewood, even with the finishing, so they came out ahead.

I had a Warmoth neck that I a Squier II bass neck with a broken truss rod. The neck had previously been installed on another bass but never finished. It had tire tracks everywhere...wasn't hard to tell what keys the guy liked to play in.
 
The only reason to lacquer a maple fingerboard is to preserve a uniform finish. It will become very dirty very quickly. Oiling the board will not help keep the dirt out. There would not be problem with the stability of the neck in the long term if it were unfinished as long as the neck itself has a permanent lacquer finish. Maple is not prone to significant movement in service such that it would warp or twist if the fingerboard was left unfinished. Not really a good idea from a looks point of view.
 
Maple boards need to be finished with a hard finish if you want them to be stable. This is the reason why they are usually finished - if they aren't they have a very strong tendency to move like a diving board with the seasons, and they are much more likely to warp and twist. This is why folks like Warmoth require a hard finish (NOT an oiled finish) for their warranty to be valid.


From Warmoth's website:

OTHER NECK FINISH INFO:


To Finish or Not to Finish?

All our necks are dipped in an oil based penetrating sealer which is compatible with virtually all secondary finishes. This provides enhanced stability; however, it is not adequate protection for playing. We strongly recommend you apply a hard finish to all Maple, Mahogany, and Koa necks. Oils do not validate our warranty requirements.

We understand the attraction of raw or lightly oiled necks. They feel fast and are not sticky. Unfortunately, they are much more susceptible to moisture related warping and twisting. Our experience is that hard finished necks seldom warp. Less than 1 out of 200 (0.5%) are returned for warpage. Raw or oiled necks don't fare as well. About 10% are rendered useless from the torture. The more acidic your perspiration, the higher the odds are against you.

If you must play a raw neck, that's cool; it's ok. A neck is just a tool. Just be aware of the risk. If yours does the pretzel act, we don't want to hear about it.

For a valid warranty, a hard finish must be sufficiently thick to completely cover the wood. That means no wood is exposed and you are actually playing on the finish, not the wood. Now, it does not matter to us who applies the finish. Of course we would like to do the finish for you, but if you choose to do it yourself or have it done elsewhere the warranty is still valid.
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My own experience is that raw or oiled necks go bad far more often than Warmoth says, but I also live in one of the worst climates in the world for unfinished wood (hot humid summers, and extremely cold dry winters), so I'm sure that is part of what I've seen.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
He's talking about the fingerboard not the neck. Warmouth are talking about the neck as a whole. The classification of most of the maple species used for guitar necks and it's movement in service which is the property of interest here, is small to medium. On a par with Honduran mahogany and equal or better than most African mahogany species. It is plenty stable enough to hold as an an unfinished fingerboard as long as the neck is adequately protected. Wouldn't be that pretty after a bit of handling.though.

There are thousands of completed unfinished maple necks in store in Korean, Chinese and South East Asian factories that sit for months often years waiting for a either a body to be added and a headstock shape cut or to be shipped anywhere in the world for assembly. They survive quite happily without twisting or warping.
 
Right Muttley, I'm talking about just the fingerboard, the back of the neck has a nice slick finish but for some reason the fretboard side is just bare wood (maple). For what it's worth this is on an old Ibanez RG 170 and there are some dark areas from use.
 
I got a recipie from a tech at Ernie Ball. It involves Super glue and acetone. Super-hard finish.
 
I suspect that your guitar has a lacquer finish on the fretbaord. It's not at all uncommon for them to wear through in places, take a look at some of those old strats and Tele's. Your best off living with it as it is. You'll see a lot of older maple boards with similar wear and they hold up fine. On maple once the dirt gets in there it's near impossible to remove. The only fix is a strip and refret. Some people recommend trying to clean it. Beware if you do as you don't want to attack the lacquer that remains. Maple shows the dirt it's the nature of the beast. If you do get lucky and get some of it out it will soon get back in there unless you refinish. Not an easy job on a maple board.
 
capnkid said:
I got a recipie from a tech at Ernie Ball. It involves Super glue and acetone. Super-hard finish.
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You might get away with fixing a few small dings with acetone to soften a bit of the lacquer and using the CA for "dropping in" as it's called. Not a good idea if the lacquer has worn though for two reasons. Its only good for small areas, and unless you get the dirt out its gonna be trapped there.
 
Well, this is an area that I'm very interested in. I've got two Wolfgangs, both come from the factory unfinished. They're supposed to be hard or rock maple? Is this a different wood than the maple necks you guys are talking about? I really don't know.

My experience with these two guitars has been excellent. I'm ashamed to say it, but these things live on the rack and have been very stable. Only minor intonation adjustments. On the other-hand, they also have dual expanding truss rods. I suppose that helps as well.

Anyways, I'm a fan of the feel of an oiled natural neck but they do dirty up.
 
punkin said:
Well, this is an area that I'm very interested in. I've got two Wolfgangs, both come from the factory unfinished. They're supposed to be hard or rock maple? Is this a different wood than the maple necks you guys are talking about? I really don't know.
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Rock Maple is common on many guitars and is fine. There are many maples used on instruments these days and have been for hundreds of years. To correctly identify ant species of timber you need to use the botanical name. Rock maple in one country or region can mean something else in another. To illustrate a lot of Sycamore from the UK used to be shipped in un worked condition from the UK, processed and dried and shipped back to the UK as maple. When I buy timber I always ask for the botanical name so I can be sure of what I'm getting. It dosen't end there either take a look at this classification. Rock maple is listed twice as two different species:eek: Acer distichum is rock maple, Acer saccharinum is sugar maple as far as I'm concerned. Both are fine for guitars.
 
muttley600 said:
You might get away with fixing a few small dings with acetone to soften a bit of the lacquer and using the CA for "dropping in" as it's called. Not a good idea if the lacquer has worn though for two reasons. Its only good for small areas, and unless you get the dirt out its gonna be trapped there.
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This formula and process would be for raw probably new necks. Yes you would want to do it on a clean neck. The process spreads the superglue throughout the neck by thinning it with acetone. I actually did it on a warmoth I made, and it was great.
 
It is my opinion that a good hard finish on a maple fingerboard improves wear by penetrating and adding to the bond of the lignin fibers. This makes a composit surface more resistant to abrasion than raw wood .
 
Milnoque said:
It is my opinion that a good hard finish on a maple fingerboard improves wear by penetrating and adding to the bond of the lignin fibers. This makes a composit surface more resistant to abrasion than raw wood .
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It undoubtedly improves wear to the neck especially in terms of protecting it from dirt and grime. You get the same dirt and grime on an ebony or rosewood fingerboard it's just harder to see. The finish doesn't penetrate very far into the timber and the bond would be weaker than the cellular lignin bond. Lignin bonds the cells in the wood very well.

Some maples require careful sealing to avoid dirt problems especially the interlocking grain on flame maple. The flame picks up the dirt more easily as the cells are exposed in section where the flame is darkest. Cleaning that sort of dirt out is near impossible even in the white. It has to be cut or scraped away.
 
capnkid said:
This formula and process would be for raw probably new necks. Yes you would want to do it on a clean neck. The process spreads the superglue throughout the neck by thinning it with acetone. I actually did it on a warmoth I made, and it was great.
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There would be easier ways of finishing that neck. :D If anyone wants to try it do it on a bit of scrap first to test your process and keep all water and moisture away from the surface until it's hardened or you could get a milky cloudy finish.
 
My brain hurts.

Seriously, I've heard that before. I'm just currious why some manufacturers do it and seem to make stable unfinished necks while others seem to struggle with it. I'd think there would be an obvious list of woods that are suitable for this, those that require specialized structural support systems while others simply shouldn't be used.

Personally, I'd never have a concern picking up a Wolfie now that I've had a couple but anything else would simply scare the snot out of me for fear of having a wooden pretzel in a few years. I wonder if there (I'm sure there are) other manufacturers that build them naked like this and stand by their product?

It's the tech in me wanting cold hard answers. Thanks for the enlightenment.
 
punkin said:
My brain hurts.

Seriously, I've heard that before. I'm just currious why some manufacturers do it and seem to make stable unfinished necks while others seem to struggle with it. I'd think there would be an obvious list of woods that are suitable for this, those that require specialized structural support systems while others simply shouldn't be used.

Personally, I'd never have a concern picking up a Wolfie now that I've had a couple but anything else would simply scare the snot out of me for fear of having a wooden pretzel in a few years. I wonder if there (I'm sure there are) other manufacturers that build them naked like this and stand by their product?

It's the tech in me wanting cold hard answers. Thanks for the enlightenment.
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Sorry punkin, I'm not sure exactly what you are asking here? What manufacturers make unstable necks?

The deal here is to select good quality timber of whatever type you want to use. The timber choice for a fingerboard needs to demonstrate certain material properties. All timbers have published figures for various material properties. The key properties for a fingerboard would be stability in general use which is classified as "movement in service", resistance to wear which would be classified as "hardness". All fingerboard timbers used today demonstrate adequate levels of both these properties. Other properties like stiffness, density, workability, durability etc all have methods by which they are measured and classified. Some are essential to other components of the guitar. Many timbers are suitable for fingerboards many are not. Some of the timber within those species of timber would not be of a good enough quality to be used for instrument making. Each and every timber used in a guitar or any other application for that matter needs to be selected according to its material properties.

Further to the accepted values for these properties instrument makers also select within species of timber to get the best of best if that makes sense.

It's a bit of a dry read but listed in this pdf file are the defined measurable properties that are used here in the UK. They are nearly identical across the globe. This only lists the definitions of the properties used not the actual values for different timbers.
 
Thanks Muttley,

What I was referring to is the chatter I've heard on this and several other BBS' regarding natural necks. Seems someone always pops up and puts a blanket statement down that they're unstable and prone to warpage. I'm starting to get that it's simply not enclusive. There's obviously a reason why some manufacturers don't make them. I'm guessing now that the reason is because they don't have availability to the proper materials or don't feel that there's a market enough for that sort of product to make it worth while.

Thanks for the reading material. I'll do a little boning up and a little more research on my own. In the mean time...all I know is my Wolfies take good care of me :D

Thanks all and sorry for the hi-jack but I do think we stayed on subject. Oh, and I oil mine with a little murphy's every time I change the strings. Never had a problem except for the oily feeling right afterwards but the next day, feels fresh and smooth.
 
If we are talking necks here and not just the fingerboard the subject does become a little more complex but is essentially the same. It is entirely possible to make a stable neck with an oiled finish. There are also some very good reasons why not to. The principle reason you don't see many from the big guys is that it's easier for them to lacquer the neck and provide an extra guarantee that the thing will hold together. To build a stable oiled finished neck requires a bit more attention to detail and a careful selection of the timber.

In all truth the market has never really been there as far as guitars are concerned. It has been tried periodically but never really grabed the public attention. In the case of maple the thing is going to get real dirty real quick. Good enough reason not to do it as far as I'm concerned.

For any doubters that maple is not stable enough to use with just an oiled finish Take a look at any decent violin family instrument made over the last 350 years and see what the neck is made of and how it is finished. They don't warp and twist or fall apart.
 
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