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OK - so one out of four ain't bad. On the other side, I spent about six months on this guitar, and it's seriously in need of help.

Here's the issue - The neck is clearly overbuilt. (and yes, I finished the guitar ) Not sure exactly how I got this far without realizing that the neck was so overbuilt (too thick, (not width, but between bottom of neck and fingerboard) both at the nut and closer to the base.
It's a Mayan Walnut neck which I finished with KTM 9. I think I need to remove the neck (to solve another issue) then shape the neck, then sand and refninish.

Clearly I don't want to strip the whole neck, then refnish. Does anyone have any insight into how to refinish part of a neck or other piece? Concerned about cosmetics and a visible line where the old meets the new finish. Thanks!

If you are going to reshape the neck, then you will be removing most of the finish anyways, so go ahead and do the whole thing. A neck finish doesn't take that long. The only other option would be to leave the peghead finish intact, but you will have to deal with the transition between the old and new finishes. And there is not much benefit to be gained by doing that.

I agree with Barry.

Unless you stained the wood the finishes old & new should blend .
I measure all neck thickness at the area between the first fret
and the nut -I want 13/16" or 21.5mm-then at the fret just before the heel -I want 22mm or 7/8" there.
These are measurements I start with -you can go thinner if you want.

Mike

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Mike Collins

Been there-

KTM9 and hon. mah. necks (no stain). No problem.

Basically, I improved four or five necks from 'C' shape to 'D' shape.....took the orbital sander to flatten neck shape, then fine sand and re-finish neck, etc.etc. Did not remove neck....I would consider it minor surgery.....good luck!

Just re-finish the entire neck, you'll be glad you did.

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