Cheap fix for a painted neck?

[tirefire]

I recently picked up a cheap Harmony Stella H930 to use as a travel/couch/campfire guitar. I cleaned it up and it plays and feels shockingly good. Except for one thing (of course). The paint at the top of the neck where the previous player(s) thumb rested has worn through, and the combination of bare wood and paint flecks feels terrible under my hand.

I was thinking of just sanding it down and painting back over it but I know there's almost no way I could get the color matched correctly, and I kind of like that it shows wear from decades of use. Anyone have any ideas on how I could protect the wood there and improve the feel?

While I'm asking, the only other thing that bothers me is the tuners -- one of the shafts is bent and, you know, they're generally crummy. Any suggestions for inexpensive drop-in replacements?

[Nctom]

Good find, enjoy it! Try some wax on the finished neck. It can be any brand, expensive to regular Johnson's, and see if it makes any difference in neck feel. It would be a shame to erase the original wear by repainting.

On tuners, try Stewmac's Golden Age three on a plate models. You can find almost any vintage matches at reasonable cost.

[ed62]

I have a Les Paul that had a painted neck that was doing the same thing with paint flaking off in spots...Loved the guitar but hated the feel of the painted neck even before the paint chipped ... I took it to a luthier who scraped off all the paint with the exception of the headstock and heal , then filled any small voids with filler , sanded , and sealed the mohogany neck with tung oil...Its my favorite neck now and doesnt have that sticky glossy feel when your hand sweats...when the tung oil shows wear spots it can easily be touched up or re- applied to the whole neck if desired. Ive seen youtube videos with guys who have done this themselves at no cost but my job costed $80 with a pro doing it

[tirefire]

Originally Posted by Nctom

Good find, enjoy it! Try some wax on the finished neck. It can be any brand, expensive to regular Johnson's, and see if it makes any difference in neck feel. It would be a shame to erase the original wear by repainting.

On tuners, try Stewmac's Golden Age three on a plate models. You can find almost any vintage matches at reasonable cost.

Just ordinary paste wax? Seems like a good low-effort thing to try first. ed62's idea of removing the paint and using tung oil is likewise not too difficult, but would certainly change the look of the guitar dramatically.

I looked at the StewMac tuners. They look great, but the cost is on the high end of what I'm willing to invest in such an inexpensive guitar. Plus I'd need to ream out the holes in the headstock to accommodate the bushings. I may bite the bullet and just spend the money and do the work, but I'll have to sleep on it.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[mtdmind]

Tung oil works pretty good
You'd need several coats

[Wade Hampton]

Tirefire (or “tar far,” as we’d pronounce it where I was born,) wrote:

Originally Posted by tirefire

....I looked at the StewMac tuners. They look great, but the cost is on the high end of what I'm willing to invest in such an inexpensive guitar. Plus I'd need to ream out the holes in the headstock to accommodate the bushings. I may bite the bullet and just spend the money and do the work, but I'll have to sleep on it.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Tarfar, believe me, those StewMac Golden Age restoration tuners are the most frugal good option that you have. You can easily spend three to four times as much on tuners and not get any better performance out of them.

I understand your hesitation about spending money on tuners, but given how frequently they get used and how important they are when it comes to getting and staying in tune, it’s money well spent. It’s a choice between saving a few bucks, perhaps the amount you might spend on lunch at a restaurant, and getting the better tuners and having a much less aggravating time whenever you pick up the guitar to play it.

Penny wise and pound foolish, so to speak. Your call.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by tirefire

I recently picked up a cheap Harmony Stella H930 to use as a travel/couch/campfire guitar. I cleaned it up and it plays and feels shockingly good. Except for one thing (of course). The paint at the top of the neck where the previous player(s) thumb rested has worn through, and the combination of bare wood and paint flecks feels terrible under my hand.

I was thinking of just sanding it down and painting back over it but I know there's almost no way I could get the color matched correctly, and I kind of like that it shows wear from decades of use. Anyone have any ideas on how I could protect the wood there and improve the feel?

While I'm asking, the only other thing that bothers me is the tuners -- one of the shafts is bent and, you know, they're generally crummy. Any suggestions for inexpensive drop-in replacements?

If it were mine I'd sand the rough area with 220 grit sandpaper until it felt better, follow with 0000 steel wool and then hit the bare area with something to seal it. Lot's of choices such as Tru-oil, Minwax wipe-on polyurethane, or hand rubbed hard wax.

Depending on how badly your tuner is bent they can often be straightened. It requires you remove the tuners and creatively clamp the worm shaft supports so you don't stress them in a direction that would pull them out of their mounting holes on the back plate. A bit of lube on the gears can make a big improvement. If you do end up breaking the worm shaft trying to straighten it then you can replace them with the StewMac 3 on a plate relics. They aren't bad, but I'm not fond of them given what they cost.

Unless you're trying to keep the authenticity of a cheap guitar I'd opt to replace them with individual tuners. You have to factor in the work in replacing string post bushings if the old ones need to be replaced. It looks like the tuners have already been replaced once, so do what you need to do to make it enjoyable to play. It's not a pre-war Martin.

I personally prefer the Grover Sta-tite Deluxe tuners, (I've installed many, many sets of these) but no decent tuner is going to be cheap.

[mirwa]

It just looks like an acrylic satin black has been applied, scuff it with a scotchbrite pad, buy a 10 dollar can of black acrylic and spray away

Steve