[lizzard]

Nice touch, Jim.

My McCarty has a raw (or close to) BRW neck. It feels so nice and like you say; silent and precise.

Tom, sign me up!

Originally Posted by jmagill

I mentioned previously that, at my request, Tom was doing something special with the finish on the neck.

I’ve found that when I play a guitar with a neck that has a glossy finish, it tends to grip my hand slightly when I change chord positions, producing faint but audible squeaks. In the mandolin world we eliminate this by what are called “speed necks”, similar to the barely-there finishes on violin necks. Many mandolin builders will provide speed necks on their instruments by request, and it’s also a fairly common after-market modification. Basically, the finish & stain are removed from the neck down to the bare wood and it’s then given a very light sealer. The procedure works well and feels silky smooth, but it does look a bit strange on an instrument that has a stain and glossy finish everywhere else. Here’s a pic of the speed neck on my Michael Heiden mandolin done by the builder himself.




I asked Tom for something that felt similar, but integrated better visually with the rest of the guitar, so when the body was sent off to California to have the French polish finish applied, Tom kept the neck to apply the finish himself. The headplate, backplate and heel cap will get a glossy French polish finish, while the back of the neck will have a satin finish.

Here you can see that the neck has had a black pore fill applied that really makes the mahogany’s grain pop with dimension and contrast. I’ve seen a few guitars that have had a similar treatment and I really like the look. More to come...