Lacquer and Paint beneath the neck

[Floyd.lt]

Hi,
Does grinding the paint beneath the neck improve the sound?

[Cogs]

It may change the sound, but improve? That would be up to your ears to determine.

[NeoFauve]

Lacquer's supposed to sound better, according to some folks.

+1 71818

[Floyd.lt]

And what about the uneven paint beneath the neck? The bumps and all other s**t ? Isn't it better when the neck and the body meets flat?

[Kap'n]

Uh, oh, better pull all the shims out of my guitars, and plane them instead.


Oh, and that screen to keep the neck from shifting, too.

[Kap'n]

Eric Johnson's ears are so good, that he can hear things other people can't hear.



Like the voices in his head.

[Floyd.lt]

Don't mind me
Most of my "ideas" come when I'm drunk.

[Kap'n]

I try to keep my distance from tools if I've had a drink or two.

[NeoFauve]

And what about the uneven paint beneath the neck? The bumps and all other s**t ? Isn't it better when the neck and the body meets flat?

I didn't realize that's what you meant.

You never know, the combination of overspray, clean wood and paint drips might provide the ideal balance of snugness and tiny gaps (which will of course enhance resonance).


Unless it's a re-fin and there's a huge hardened drip that the you can feel the neck (w/screws loosened) wobbling on, I wouldn't worry about it.

[Cogs]

I stripped the lacquer out of the neck pocket of a '61 Strat once (71818, to be excact). At the time I could have sworn it made the guitar sound better, but I loved that guitar & couldn't give you an objective opinion on it.

[spud1950]

I'll through my two cents in on this. It doesn't seem to matter much whether there's paint or bare wood,but the fact that suface is smooth and even rather then rippled or bumpy does seem make a difference. The better the contact between the bottom of the neck heel and flat surface of the neck pocket really seems to improve not so much the sound or tone as it seems to improve the sustain. Anyway,it doesn't hurt anything to try it yourself and see if you notice any difference.

[Sage]

I wouldn't bother with this mod; chances are you'll need a shim afterwards, and then the neck is making even less contact with the pocket than it is currently.

[spud1950]

You can debate whether or not doing this actually improves anything,but I've never had to shim a neck after doing this.The amount of material you remove to level the surface is so small that there's no need for a shim.