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Can anyone tell me if you added 6 to 8 coats of Tung oil as the finish to a Fender Strat Canadian hard maple neck with rosewood fretboard... what would I expect for sound and playability on this neck...has anyone done this before and what results....Thanks

Tru oil is great for necks. Are you finishing, re-finishing or planning on applying finish over an existing finish?

Hi Bob,

Welcome to the forum. Joey's questions are important as finish compatibility can be an issue if you are applying new finish to an old neck. Sound wise I don't think it will change the sound of your guitar. I use Tru oil on my necks and am happy with the finish. Once I've applied the finish I buff it out with some steel wool for a satin feel. I'm not sure how different the Tru oil would be from the tung oil you are using.

_________________
Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
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House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
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tung oil can feel a bit stickier than tru oil even with a satin finish. Josh is right- finish on the neck won't affect sound. Feel is more important. I prefer satin tru oil over everything I've ever played, I haven't considered using anything else and have no plans to.

I am refinishing the neck after sanding down to bare wood...the neck was finished with lacquer before...neck is from a Wasburn Strat circa 1970's in great shape..my concern would be if the neck will be sticky for quick chord changes??????
Thanks for your time...BC

I would find some tru oil instead of tung oil. Tung oil can feel tacky. Even as a satin finish. You can find tru oil in sportsman stores sold as gun oil. I've used tung oil on the neck I just built and ended up stripping it off and getting some tru oil. Also store the tru oil upside down, it lasts longer that way. Otherwise a film can develop and trap like half the oil in the bottom of the bottle. One small bottle is more than you will ever need for one neck. And it's easy to go back and repair later if need be.

I've never tried Tru oil myself, but as you see, it"s very popular. I've used Lee Valley polymerized Tung oil for years and never had any problem with stickiness.
It seals well and makes for a very fast neck. Perhaps the regular Tung oil may be sticky, but I never used that either.

Brent

Hi Bob,

If you do decide you want to give tru-oil a try the easiest place to find it in Canada is at LeeValley, or a local gun shop would probably also stock it. If you do get it just poke or cut a small hole and the seal on the bottle. This really helps to keep the tru-oil fresh for a lot longer than opening the bottle right up.

_________________
Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
https://www.facebook.com/canadianluthiersupply?ref=hl
House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

Once seal is broken, even a small hole, store Tru-oil bottle upside down.

you can buy tru-oil directly from Birchwood Casey. Don't know about Canada, but if you buy it at a gun shop, you'll pay more. Bloxygen works great for keeping the air off the oil in the bottle. I bought a large bottle from BC, and it has kept just fine now for over a year, after opening, using Bloxygen.

_________________
Waddy

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Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I've used the Sutherland Welles polymerized tung oil on a mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard and ziricote fretboard. It worked great. The polymerized oil will dry in 24 hours between coats (less with the initial coats). Regular tung oil would take far too long to dry. Uncured regular tung (not dry) is sticky, which may be why people report tung oil as sticky.

I have been using Minwax Tung Oil for years and it also dries quickly and does not remain tacky. It can be lightly sanded and re-coated after 24 hours. I have also used Tru Oil and don't find too much difference between the two.

Bob