Random Rant: Satin Finished Necks

Warblade · #1 03-05-2001, 05:03 PM

Ahhh, time for another Random Rant session =) It's been awhile since I've posted anything, but just thought I'd ramble on again about the nice things that Taylor does for us guitarists =).

I really love the way Taylor does their satin finished necks. It's incredible!! I came from using a Takamine G series guitar (Takamine is known for using a lot of finish on their guitars) which had a gloss finished neck. Gosh, when that thing got wet (from my hand sweat, hah), it got sticky! and was hard to slide up and down the neck. With Taylor's satin finish, wow! I just love it! Never gets stuck in a place, and the feel of the neck is just right! Perfectly shaped! (the curve on the back that is what I'm talking about). Fits with my hand just great. =) I wish more companies would do satin necks.

I do have a semi-rant about the baby Taylor necks, which are shaped a little differently (more blocky and not as curved). They hurt my hands after a long time of playing =( oh well).

Random Randy strikes again

Bill Nichols (CaptBill) · #2 03-05-2001, 05:12 PM

Dito!
My 612 is from 1992 and has a gloss finish neck, all my other Taylors have satin. The satin is much more playable. I inquired with Taylor about refinishing the 612 and the cost would be $250.00 to do the neck and $700.00 to refinish the body. I'm still thinking about it. It would be nice to have the satin finish neck on her.

Erm · #3 03-05-2001, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CaptBill:
I inquired with Taylor about refinishing the 612 and the cost would be $250.00 to do the neck and $700.00 to refinish the body.

Hi CaptBill, Just curious, those figures are independant right? A Body refinish does not need to happen when you refinish a neck or does it? Is it advised to do them together?

Thanks,
Erm

GordonHLau · #4 03-05-2001, 07:37 PM

Erm,

The neck refinish is totally seperate from the body. Taylor will actually remove the neck to completely refinish the back of the neck. I had my 714ce neck refinished several weeks ago and this is what they did. My local authorized Taylor repairmen botched my partial refinish job (the stupid guy put a gloss finish on a satin finish neck

, I'm not using him again ) so Taylor fixed it by doing a complete refinish at no charge

. The gloss finish has to be totally stripped off and the neck has to be re-stained before applying a satin finish. The only way to do this accurately is by removing the neck. BTW, it came out beautifully.

I would think the new NT neck Taylors would be cheaper to refinish since it's easier to remove and reinstall the neck.

GL

Bill Nichols (CaptBill) · #5 03-05-2001, 07:44 PM

ERM,
As Gordon said they are two seperate things one not dependant on the other but since the guitar is now 9 years old and has some marks on her I would do the entire guitar. Especially since I would have to ship it across country and be without it for a while.

mgracing · #6 03-16-2001, 12:06 AM

Warblade,

Well said my man. I love satin necks and feel the same about laquer. I recently purchased a 50's Strat Reissue with what had to be 1-1/2" of laquer

on the neck. I immediately took a scrub pad and turned it in to satin. Works fine now.
The satin necks gloss over naturally with the oils from the hands over time to produce a wonderful playing feel.

JW · #7 03-17-2001, 09:16 AM

The satin finish neck on the Taylor was one of the first things that appealed to me. The first guitar I ever played with the satin finish neck was a stratocaster. "Why doesnt everybody do this?" was my thoughts. My Takamine stage guitars and my Heritage "Les Pauls" I take some 1500 grit and work the backs of the necks down to a nice satin finish. My hands sweat bad so the gloss finsh would stop my hands like I put the brakes on. The little bit of gloss I take off with the 1500 does wonders for the playability of the guitar. I wont do this to my 60 Les Paul because of hurting the value plus the finish is much differant than todays finish and is much easier to play. One reason I wont buy a new Gibson Les Paul is the finish. The other is that the fit and quality of the guitar has suffered. Heritage doesnt void my warranty for finish modifications. Long live the satin neck! JW

daveb · #8 03-28-2001, 05:07 AM

Randy,
I agree. The satin neck is a wonderful development. It never tacks up. But then again, I've never had to wipe the body, either - and I live in a tee shirt all year climate where things always get sweated up. Amongst the other things they've got down, Taylor has got finishes together.
DaveB