Remove the neck, or not?

[Steamthief]

I finally tracked down the Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil and Wax to treat the dry neck on my SR4. Question is, do I leave the neck on, or remove it? Here's my list of pros and cons:

PROS:
* Easier to apply finish to entire neck
* No worry in using 0000 steel wool, re. pup contamination
* Less work space required

CONS:
* Mar finish on body in removing/reattaching neck
* Damage neck pocket, either with dings or tightness
* Messing up the perfect playability of the bass

If I end up removing the neck, should I loosen the tension of the truss rod? I won't leave the neck off for long, just enough to apply the oil & wax per the EBMM FAQ recommendation.

Any and all advice, especially from those of you who have done this maintenance, is much appreciated.

 

[Colin]

make sure you mask the pickups when using steel wool.

 

[jongitarz]

I finally tracked down the Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil and Wax to treat the dry neck on my SR4. Question is, do I leave the neck on, or remove it? Here's my list of pros and cons:

PROS:
* Easier to apply finish to entire neck
* No worry in using 0000 steel wool, re. pup contamination
* Less work space required

CONS:
* Mar finish on body in removing/reattaching neck
* Damage neck pocket, either with dings or tightness
* Messing up the perfect playability of the bass

If I end up removing the neck, should I loosen the tension of the truss rod? I won't leave the neck off for long, just enough to apply the oil & wax per the EBMM FAQ recommendation.

Any and all advice, especially from those of you who have done this maintenance, is much appreciated.

I have done this. If you are comfortable with removing the neck , I would do so. I would also use a fine grit sandpaper (1200 grit or so) instead of steel wool.

If the neck feels really tight as you try to remove it, leave it on the instrument. The body and neck are made from 2 different types of wood, and sometimes expand/contract etc. 99.9% of the time neck removale is OK, just be careful. If you remove it for a short period of time, you won't need to touch the truss rod adjuster.

 

[Mr Light]

So where did you find the Birchwood Casey Oil & Wax?

 

[jongitarz]

www.birchwoodcasey.com

 

[Steamthief]

So where did you find the Birchwood Casey Oil & Wax?

Turner's Outdoorsman in Riverside. I believe they have 9 locations in SoCal, should be one relatively close to LA.