Hey everyone.
I have been working on a song with a strange tuning (Eb/Gb/Db/Gb/Bb/Eb). So I keep my Taylor tuned there and use my Martin in standard tuning to mess with all of the other stuff I am doing. My Taylor has a tremendously smooth and silky neck that allows my hands to glide so easily (one of Taylor's claims to fame). My martin, on the other had, feels so "sticky" for lack of a better term. It is clean and polished, but just does not have the glide to it. I just replaced the strings last night and used a fingerboard conditioner on the fingerboard, and it helped a bit, but the back of the neck just does not glide like I would prefer. I was wondering if any of you out there have ever had this problem and if you were able to rectify it. Is there a process to smooth this up a bit? I was thinking of possibly using some very fine steel wool and some sort of conditioner, but don't really know if this is the answer. Would it help, would it make things worse. I thought I would weigh in before doing damage to a guitar that has a beautiful tone, just does not play as well as I would like.
Any leads or help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
J
Help With Neck Conditioniong
Jason,
That tuning is really standard tuning -- just tuned down half a step on each string.
I've read a lot of posts over in another forum about some Martin necks feeling a bit sticky, but I've never heard a report of anyone fixing it without removing the outer coat of lacquer, and I'm not sure that's what you want to do. Two things you might want to consider: 1) Talk to a luthier you trust; he or she may have a solution; 2) use baby powder in the palm of your fretting hand. That should help your hand glide along the neck.
That tuning is really standard tuning -- just tuned down half a step on each string.
I've read a lot of posts over in another forum about some Martin necks feeling a bit sticky, but I've never heard a report of anyone fixing it without removing the outer coat of lacquer, and I'm not sure that's what you want to do. Two things you might want to consider: 1) Talk to a luthier you trust; he or she may have a solution; 2) use baby powder in the palm of your fretting hand. That should help your hand glide along the neck.
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Music Junkie
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Dennis:
The tuning is just down a half step with the exception of the A-string which is a step and a half. Just a bit weird, but the sound is nice and the chords are fairly simple. It is an old Jackson Browne song "Something Fine".
Taking the lacquer off is really what I wanted to avoid, like you mentioned. I think the luthier is probably the way to go. I just don't really have anybody here locally that I know enough to feel comfortable with. I will check with a few of my friends to see if there is anyone they would recommend. I tried the baby powder and it helped, but was kind of a hassle to re-apply from time to time.
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I can build bridges and massive civil projects, but cower at the prospect of screwing up one of my beautiful toys.....
Thanks Dennis!
J
The tuning is just down a half step with the exception of the A-string which is a step and a half. Just a bit weird, but the sound is nice and the chords are fairly simple. It is an old Jackson Browne song "Something Fine".
Taking the lacquer off is really what I wanted to avoid, like you mentioned. I think the luthier is probably the way to go. I just don't really have anybody here locally that I know enough to feel comfortable with. I will check with a few of my friends to see if there is anyone they would recommend. I tried the baby powder and it helped, but was kind of a hassle to re-apply from time to time.
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I can build bridges and massive civil projects, but cower at the prospect of screwing up one of my beautiful toys.....
Thanks Dennis!
J
Jason,
The Taylor comes with a satin finish on the necks which is really great to play with. I'm not sure what the Martin has though. If it has a gloss finish it will feel stickier at times. I'm sure someone will pipe in here with a good idea as to how to get that to slide better in your hand. Steel wool sounds reasonable but I have no idea if that will do any damage. I did come across this thread in another forum. Check it out. You can also do a search and see what others have done.
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/foru ... p?t=205382
MarkM
The Taylor comes with a satin finish on the necks which is really great to play with. I'm not sure what the Martin has though. If it has a gloss finish it will feel stickier at times. I'm sure someone will pipe in here with a good idea as to how to get that to slide better in your hand. Steel wool sounds reasonable but I have no idea if that will do any damage. I did come across this thread in another forum. Check it out. You can also do a search and see what others have done.
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/foru ... p?t=205382
MarkM
I did a search and on the bottom of this page there are several threads that you can look at on this very subject.
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/foru ... y.php?f=24
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/foru ... y.php?f=24
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Music Junkie
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dennisg wrote:
The extra step on the A-string allows for the droning Gb in the song which is crucial to the sound. I always wonder how someone would come up with this sort of thing. I guess a hell of a lot better knowledge of music than I possess.......
J
LMAO Dennis. You are not the first to miss that one. I was talking to a friend of mine when I first started the song and he said the same thing. B) B)Music Junkie wrote:Absolutely right. I need to work on my math skills.Dennis:
The tuning is just down a half step with the exception of the A-string which is a step and a half.
The extra step on the A-string allows for the droning Gb in the song which is crucial to the sound. I always wonder how someone would come up with this sort of thing. I guess a hell of a lot better knowledge of music than I possess.......
J
Jason,
Keep the steel wool put away for now. You first need to determine if the finish on the neck is contaminated or if it is damaged. You certainly wouldn't want to refinish a neck that could have been just cleaned. And as I recall, your Martin is a higher end model, so it most likely has lacquer, which is less bullet-proof than the UV Poly finishes.
Begin by mixing 6 drops of Dawn dish washing liquid in 1/2 cup of cold water. Use a terry towel to dab (do not wipe) the solution onto the neck liberally. Let it set for 30 seconds. Using the same towel, wipe the neck thoroughly. Then repeat those two steps. Immediately use another terry towel wet with clean water to wipe/rinse thoroughly. Immediately use a clean microfiber towel to dry the neck. If there were any contaminants on the finish, it's a pretty safe bet they're gone now.
If the neck still plays tacky, the lacquer is either too glossy or it's softened. Glossy finish has high friction, so it's possible the finish is fine, it just needs to be dulled. If it's soft, it probably was never was fully cured in the first place, and this can happen with lacquer because it cures by evaporation. As a last effort before going medieval is to take a hair dryer to it on the low setting 8 to 12 inches away for 30 minutes. If this doesn't help, and it probably won't, the finish either needs to be dulled, or it needs to be refinished.
At this point, since you tried all non-abrasive solutions, try dulling the neck. I would use 1200 grit wet-or-dry, and use it dry. LIGHTLY! You want to avoid removing the finish. I wouldn't use steel wool at all because of the possibility of embedding fibers into your hand. This hurts. After sanding, wipe the neck with microfiber, and give it a try. If it's still tacky, you need a neck refinish.
Be brave.
Keep the steel wool put away for now. You first need to determine if the finish on the neck is contaminated or if it is damaged. You certainly wouldn't want to refinish a neck that could have been just cleaned. And as I recall, your Martin is a higher end model, so it most likely has lacquer, which is less bullet-proof than the UV Poly finishes.
Begin by mixing 6 drops of Dawn dish washing liquid in 1/2 cup of cold water. Use a terry towel to dab (do not wipe) the solution onto the neck liberally. Let it set for 30 seconds. Using the same towel, wipe the neck thoroughly. Then repeat those two steps. Immediately use another terry towel wet with clean water to wipe/rinse thoroughly. Immediately use a clean microfiber towel to dry the neck. If there were any contaminants on the finish, it's a pretty safe bet they're gone now.
If the neck still plays tacky, the lacquer is either too glossy or it's softened. Glossy finish has high friction, so it's possible the finish is fine, it just needs to be dulled. If it's soft, it probably was never was fully cured in the first place, and this can happen with lacquer because it cures by evaporation. As a last effort before going medieval is to take a hair dryer to it on the low setting 8 to 12 inches away for 30 minutes. If this doesn't help, and it probably won't, the finish either needs to be dulled, or it needs to be refinished.
At this point, since you tried all non-abrasive solutions, try dulling the neck. I would use 1200 grit wet-or-dry, and use it dry. LIGHTLY! You want to avoid removing the finish. I wouldn't use steel wool at all because of the possibility of embedding fibers into your hand. This hurts. After sanding, wipe the neck with microfiber, and give it a try. If it's still tacky, you need a neck refinish.
Be brave.
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Music Junkie
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Mark:
Some good articles there. Steel wool was my first though, with my woodworking background, but I was hesitant. Looks like it is used with a lot of success. I will try the steel wool bit by bit, til I get the "stickyness" out. Then try a great Lemon Oil that i have used on many a wood working project (no silicone). I'll let you know how it turns out.
Thanks again, to both you and Dennis.
J
Some good articles there. Steel wool was my first though, with my woodworking background, but I was hesitant. Looks like it is used with a lot of success. I will try the steel wool bit by bit, til I get the "stickyness" out. Then try a great Lemon Oil that i have used on many a wood working project (no silicone). I'll let you know how it turns out.
Thanks again, to both you and Dennis.
J
Jason- there is some great feedback here. The only thing I might try before steel wool is good, old-fashioned Pledge spray wax. Spray a few coats on the neck and get it worked in good.
My Les Paul has a sticky neck, expecially compared to my Taylors, and I've used Pledge on it with excellent results.
:cheer:
My Les Paul has a sticky neck, expecially compared to my Taylors, and I've used Pledge on it with excellent results.
:cheer: