Anyone have experience with polyurethane?

I played around in Photoshop and discovered that it is only the neck of my guitar that needs an adjustment in finish tint.

So I would like to adjust the tint of the neck. It is satin poly over maple. I don't want to strip it down. I want to retain the decals on the headstock.

I read about using Kiwi shoe polish. Man that would be a relatively easy way to put a nightmare to rest if it produced quality results. Maybe it does but most people doing it are only working on Squiers.

If I could apply a coat of tinted poly over the existing poly that is what I would do. It seems like the easiest way to adjust the tint color. I want it darker and warmer. I would experiment to determine the tint needed to produce the result I am looking for.

What do you think about adding a layer or more of tinted poly over satin poly from the G&L factory?

Any tips, recommendations, advice would be appreciated.

Salmon, you could spay a tinted poly over the neck but it is a crapshoot on getting the perfect tint. You bought a custom order and I would work with G&L to see if they could exchange the neck for one tinted to your satisfaction. It doesn't hurt to ask.-- Darwin

I will explore that idea. I would like to learn as much as I can about the addition of tinted poly over existing poly in the meantime.

Am I correct in thinking that careful attention would be required so as not to allow the new poly layer to build up at any fret? Being tinted this would also be a dark build up.

This neck doesn't have significant grain, birdseye or flaming that might assist in disguising imperfection. From what I have read online a lot of people are aiming at some form of relic style guitar so they have a lot of leeway.

This is not something I'd attempt, especially as first refinsihing project. Adding stain over that existing poly is going to be incredibly troublesome. Some reasons:
1) Usually you'd stain the raw wood first and then apply poly over the satin as a protective clear coat. By not stripping the current finish to retint the neck, you'll have to tint the poly you intend to use, probably by doing it yourself to match the colour you want using tinting compounds by eye, and hope to hell it looks like what you imagine.
2) Getting a perfectly uniform application of that stain is going to be a nightmare if you don't have the right equipment and experience using it. If it does on uneven it's going to look 1000 times worse.
3) The grain in the neck isn't going to make a bit of difference as there is already a thick layer of poly preventing any further stain coming into contact with it.
4) If you do end up doing it, you have to key up (ie sand) the existing finish with some fine grit paper so that the new coat sticks to it properly. Then if you want a glossy finish you'll have to buff it. A lot.

Please, please, please show us some pics of the guitar as it is. I really cannot believe it looks so bad that you're willing to redo the finish yourself.

I really appreciate the advice and information.

If there was a miraculous product applied by hand with a cloth that would go on consistently and could be controlled to perfection I think I could do it. There probably isn't such a product. I located a reputable luthier who says he can spray a tinted layer of polyurethane on the existing neck finish. Sometime after Christmas I will bring the guitar to him and talk about possibilities.

The neck tells all. I will post a picture Sunday when I can pose the guitar in daylight.

I tried to get a good picture but it didn't capture the color well enough to illustrate what I want to adjust. Maybe it is the time of year even though it was 1pm the sunlight is adding warmth, as in the warmer hues in the color spectrum. I am going to shoot some indoors as well.

The body finish has enough color variance to work with either neck. However, I wanted a warmer neck. Working in Photoshop the guitar looks the way I wanted it if I warm up the neck to look more like the Knowledgebase vintage tint reference neck. These are not ideal but they show enough to get the point across. The bottom image is a reference available here in the Knowledgebase. The target is the top neck of that reference image or third from the bottom of this composite image. From the top (of this image) down is the following:

(For horizontal orientation 1-7 = R-L meaning 1. starts from the right side or 7-1)

1. My neck back view in daylight (NOTE: there is a warmth in hue coming from the sun)
2. My neck front view in daylight (NOTE: there is a warmth in hue coming from the sun)
3. My neck front view indoors
4. My neck back view indoors
5. Knowledgebase vintage finish reference
6. Knowledgebase medium tint reference
7. Knowledgebase natural untinted reference known as "Satin" except G&L now offers both satin and gloss versions of all three.

Compared to the Knowledgebase vintage tint reference mine is cool with a yellow to slight green tint, cool on the color spectrum rather than warm like the Knowledgebase vintage tint reference.

In person, the indoor pictures are a more accurate representation of my neck finish.

Also, do not pay attention to the overall color cast of any of the pictures. It is the neck that counts. It is obvious to me that the Knowledgebase vintage tint sample is much warmer regardless of lighting conditions. I see a blue cast in the Knowledgebase reference image yet the vintage neck is still significantly warmer than my neck. I tried to adjust the pictures of my neck to match my neck in person.



Here it is in horizontal orientation in case it helps:

your neck is the same shade as my 1998 ASAT classic ..... based on the guitar builder you have Vintage tint , was you wanting the more orangish yellow neck ??..... I think your neck looks good do you have a pict of the whole guitar ?? ... have you asked G&L about the color difference ??

Are you are talking about the guitar builder at American Guitar and Boutique? That produces a vector style graphic illustration not a bitmapped photographic reference. Nothing looks very accurate coming from that. It is good as a design tool to rough out ideas.

I am not disputing whether or not it is classified by G&L as their vintage tint instead of something else. However I do think they ought to have more control over the results. I have said I am not happy about the neck but it is not a clear cut error to refuse on the spot. I might be able to have G&L refinish or replace it. It might be more convenient and quicker to have it done myself. I am considering more than one option.

I did want it more orangish which is what I mean when saying "warmer" but with it this cool yellowish-greenish it changes the whole guitar. The body does have some of that in it to not clash with the neck. Yet when the neck is warmed up in Photoshop the whole guitar warms up, which is my preference.

I figured people would like the guitar if they saw it. It is beautiful. That is why I am not posting a picture of the whole guitar. I am trying to resolve this, or at least resolve my feelings about it in the process, without debating whether it looks great to other people. It does look great but it would look even better if it were done the way I imagined it.

Last edited by Salmon on Sun Dec 15, 2013 9:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

the guitar builder and my ASAT classic seems close to your neck ..... not sure what my Classic was ordered with but it's been played a lot and it's 15 years old ...... my new satin necks are definetly more white than yours comparing my guitars next to yours on my monitor , my 2000 Comanche with birdseye maple neck is darker than your neck ..... I thought G&L did away with the "cheeto" colored finish neck ? ...... I would still ask G&L , I'm sure they would want you to be happy with your purchase

Fumble Fingers,

Do you consider the vintage neck reference from the Knowledgebase to be an example of the Cheetos neck? I don't. The intensity or saturation of orange resulted in the Cheetos effect. But backing off on the intensity eliminated the effect but it still kept the color in the orangish range. In this case (my guitar) it is not the same color. It is not the same area on a color wheel. Yet it is not the medium tint or plain. If you remove the color and look at it as a value as opposed to hue mine is in the same category as the vintage neck reference. It is just not the same hue.

your right the older cheeto's finish was a orange color ..... yours neck seems closer to tinted than a Vintage tint .... if you ordered Vintage tint then I would call G&L and it least talk to them

the guitar builder and my ASAT classic seems close to your neck ..... not sure what my Classic was ordered with but it's been played a lot and it's 15 years old ...... my new satin necks are definetly more white than yours comparing my guitars next to yours on my monitor , my 2000 Comanche with birdseye maple neck is darker than your neck ..... I thought G&L did away with the "cheeto" colored finish neck ? ...... I would still ask G&L , I'm sure they would want you to be happy with your purchase

I have been thinking about what you said here. Your Classic may have been close to my neck's coloring originally or it developed that similarity over time. Elsewhere I had said that I wished G&L would evaluate the necks making sure they looked "vintage." However this is not really the point. If some necks do eventually look like mine naturally after use and age is not so much an issue. The issue is consistency. I do not see evidence that my neck's coloring came from anything other than a different mixture of tint. The maple is light enough that it should have accepted whatever was applied without effecting it, especially with the stronger vintage tint. There should not be a significant difference between neck finishes in the same category. Consistently mixing a tint is just following a recipe.

I think you might have cause to send that back as a mis-tint. It looks very ddifferent, more yellow, than the vintage tint on my korina jrs neck. Ill post pics tomorrow to be sure.

Here it is in horizontal orientation in case it helps:

What does the Custom Specification Sheet say about your neck? Is it listed as Vintage Tint Satin finish?

When I updated the Comparison of Neck Finishes post back in February with the new Satin Tint finishes, I was not able to
find any examples of the G&L Vintage Tint Satin neck finish. I checked G&L's main website and still do not find any example of this neck finish.

I did a search on the internet and found this one from Upfront Guitars, an ASAT Classic Bluesboy with Vintage Tint Satin neck:





Can you post a photo of the image(s) you saw which have the neck tint you were hoping to get?

Salmon , if you look on the porn you can pull my stuff up one at a time , the older they get the darker they are with maybe one exception and that would be the birdseye neck on my 2000 Comanche is darker than the 98 Classic , the birdseye is probably a darker piece of wood to begin with ..... my 84 Cavalier is real dark , then the 96 S 500 is next darkest , you can even see on the S 500 where there is a discoloration from a guitar stand but you can't feel it kinda like the light didn't hit that spot so it dis-colored differently than the rest of the neck , my 98 Classic in on page 2 but they are camera phone pictures , not the best ...... on my new satin neck guitars with no tint don't seem near as white as when I first got them , not sure if its the oils from my hands playing or because the usually sit out of the case ?

I'm not sure what gets vintage (yellow's) with time , the neck wood or is it the finish that yellow's , or both ??

Salmon, what did you order and what does it say on the build sheet. If you ordered vintage tint and not light tint, I think you may have the wrong tint. That could pass for a light tint. I think the satin finish is part of the problem and would look differently in gloss. -- Darwin

I ordered the Vintage Tint in Satin neck finish and the Build Spec Sheet states "Satin Vintage Tint."

The example that Craig posted shows how the only thing effected by the satin is the sheen. The coloring is like that of the gloss version of Vintage Tint. Here are a few other examples:



This is an example of the Cheetos effect as a reference in case anyone might wonder if some examples are in the range that was eliminated when changes were made to the process in recent years. I believe it was the intensity of color and the way it accumulated in areas that characterized the effect. Maybe other people can elaborate on this:



Here are a few examples of what I was expecting when I ordered a Vintage Tint finish. These also match the sample neck from the Knowledgebase:



NOTE: In all of these examples there is some degree of variance of course from either the application of the finish or the lighting conditions in the photograph.

Curious, did people tire of this?

It is okay, just feeling a little neglected.

I am going to attempt to talk to G&L after Christmas.

I think they shut down for a while at this time of year.

I think I would contact G&L too , I would give them a call tomorow..... it looks closer to tint than Vintage tint .....

Thank you for caring

This is a crazy busy week of all times of the year for me but I may attempt to contact them this week.

It is interesting, people are a lot less color conscious than I thought. To me the screaming chicken is that the color is not the same as so many, the majority of, examples available to view online. Mine is yellow-greenish compared to the orangish tan necks that prevail. While it seems that to other people the main discrepancy is that it is the medium rather than vintage tint.

Last edited by Salmon on Tue Dec 17, 2013 9:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I would give you a big Ole Hug if you was nearby ....

I may be mistaken but I am pretty sure there was once a contact person at the G&L factory listed on the G&L website for something like this.

Looking for a G&L phone number, aside from sales, I did not see anything except reference to going through the dealer that sold you the guitar.

Can I contact G&L myself?

I'd rather deal with G&L directly than relay messages through someone else.

I may be mistaken but I am pretty sure there was once a contact person at the G&L factory listed on the G&L website for something like this.

Looking for a G&L phone number, aside from sales, I did not see anything except reference to going through the dealer that sold you the guitar.

Can I contact G&L myself?

I'd rather deal with G&L directly than relay messages through someone else.

In my opinion, this should be handled by the dealer to get this resolved, to your satisfaction.
So, I suggest you take the guitar back to the dealer, along with the photos of neck tint you were expecting,
so that the dealer can see the difference in what you got versus what you expected. If you can convince
them that, either the wrong neck finish was ordered or applied by the factory, they should be able to
get this resolved for you.

As you mentioned, the factory may already be in their annual December holiday shutdown, so you
would have to wait until they return from the shutdown anyway, before it can get resolved. Aside from a
visual difference in appearance of the neck, that should not affect the playability of the guitar.
So, why not spend that time with your guitar before the dealer sends it back to the factory?

Just my $0.02.

If you still want to contact G&L, see the Support page on G&L's main website.

Seeing your neck on my computer screen, not my phone where I saw for the last post I made, it looks exactly like the vintage tint on my Jr. Did you mean to order the GOT neck, the full on yellow/orange one, and mistakenly order the vintage/light tint?

@ Blargfromouterspace, Just to use different words, of three choices in color 1. Plain 2. Light 3. Dark I ordered 3. Dark. The build sheet shows 3. Dark (G&L term Vintage Tint and in Satin). Is the Korina Jr the 3rd from the left in your avatar? Can you post a picture of the back side of the neck if so? What is the finish on that 4th guitar from the left? I have seen Korina bodies that are yellowish-greenish but I didn't connect them with my neck because the Korina wood has a linear sparkle (iridescence) to it where my neck is basic wood.

@ Craig, I will play it as much as possible. Part of my dilemma is that this neck is so nice to play. There is the bird in the hand being better than the flock in the bushes thing. I don't know for certain yet but I think the factory would rather replace than refinish a neck. They build things. So there is a risk of getting something less although it could look better to me.

@ Fumble fingers, I was looking at all of your guitars. I think it came from dreaming about guitars in magazines when I didn't have a guitar and it might have been a Jimi Hendrix photo but I like white and vintage white Strat style guitars like your S500. Your SC2 is gorgeous. Ruby Red looks like a cross between a Deep Red Metal Flake with finer sized flakes and Candy Apple Red. Whenever I had looked at sales images the darker color didn't photograph as well and it just looked like a very dark red. Outside you can see how luscious the red really is.

@ Blargfromouterspace, Just to use different words, of three choices in color 1. Plain 2. Light 3. Dark I ordered 3. Dark. The build sheet shows 3. Dark (G&L term Vintage Tint and in Satin). Is the Korina Jr the 3rd from the left in your avatar? Can you post a picture of the back side of the neck if so? What is the finish on that 4th guitar from the left? I have seen Korina bodies that are yellowish-greenish but I didn't connect them with my neck because the Korina wood has a linear sparkle (iridescence) to it where my neck is basic wood.

Okay. So G&L have changed the names of the finishes since I last looked. The Jr has the light tint, which I thought was vintage tint - sorry to add another layer of confusion!!! I think there is the slightest hint of green in the Korina, but it only really shows under flouro lights.
The guitar on the right has the GOT neck - now the vintage tint? - and has a bit of the cheetos effect, the body is "Old School Tobacco Sunburst". The guitar on the far left has the same GOT neck, but is a fair bit lighter, no cheetos. The blonde ASAT is just old - and I think has the best looking neck of the lot.

The Ruby Red is just .. WOW .. when it's outside ......, inside it looks dark/blah like most of the pictures you see of Ruby red , the SC2 and my ASAT Classic are tied for first place in my G&L ranking for sound ....

the Legacy Honeyburst was my first custom order , I was second guessing myself on the color after I ordered it , kinda wish I would have ordered orange burst instead of the Honeyburst but it still looks nice and just feels perfect in my hands , I have no plans of ever getting rid of it