Worried about Birchwood Casey self-treating your Axis? Don't be.

[cm_17]

Seriously. YouTube - Caring for your Music Man neck & Fretboard shows you the basics. I did not use the Oil Soap though, but the recommended Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil instead (see below).

* I ordered 600 grit and 1000 grit sandpaper from StewMac while ordering some spare parts. Got Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil and Gunstock Wax from an online store, too, plus some masking tape and generic kitchen paper.

* Taped off the heel as Drew showed. I stuck the tape first on my jeans, peeled it off and used it then to weaken the stickiness a little. Did the same with the headstock where the clear coat seam is.

* 600 grit sandpaper, few passes, turns the neck into a scary white dusty appearance. Don't fret. When done evenly it's perfect after a few passes. Wiped all off with kitchen paper. Some faint scratches appeared in a few places.

* 1000 grit sandpaper, several smoothing passes allover, always in direction of the neck. Wiped off all fine dust with kitchen towel again. Neck feels like bare wood and silky. Scratches all gone.

* Dab of well-shaken Tru-Oil on kitchen paper, evenly spread onto the clean neck. Just enough so the neck turns shiny. Went to check my e-mail, briefly sipped on my coffee. Then wiped/rubbed the neck clean with kitchen paper.
The thing is, you can use Murphy's Oil Soap or Tru-Oil for this step. I don't think the Oil Soap actually contains oil, so it's just cleaning, while the Tru-Oil will nurture the wood and protect.

*Dab of well-shaken Gunstock Wax on kitchen paper, evenly spread in direction of the neck on top of the Tru-Oil treatment. Went to check my e-mail again, finished my coffee. Then rubbed the wax with a piece of kitchen paper.
The trick here is that the rubbing with kitchen paper removes excess and smoothens the wax, like ultra-fine sanding. Feel the neck and rub a little more on areas that might feel uneven. They will also even out with playing as your hands work the surface.
Also, the wax was kinda clumpy when opened the flask. So I kept it in my pocket (no kidding) while doing the first few steps. Warmed it up and made it liquid.

*Removed all the masking tape. Quick shine of the whole guitar with a dry cloth (read: ripped off sleeve of an old T-shirt), and good to go. Wonderful factory-fresh feel on the neck.

Don't be afraid. Took all but 10 min total. It's easy and very gratifying .

 

[beej]

Sweet. Yeah, it's really not bad once you give it a go. I don't do mine all that regularly, but find it a cinch when I need to.

 

[Spudmurphy]

I do mine once maybe twice a year - sure feels great after!!

 

[Sweat]

Yep easy to do, but since i am basically going roasted/ sealed/ rosewood not in need of it as much!

So lets see who is awake first one to PM me and willing to pay actual shipping costs can have an unopened bottle of Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil and Wax

 

[cm_17]

Did I mention that experience made me finally go to buy a EB microfiber finishing cloth to clean my guitars better? The sawdust together with yellow fibers from my usual fleece wipes was a little much today...

 

[mikeller]

I keep mine very clean to begin with and wipe with wonder wipes with string changes, but once or twice a year and clean with Murphys and do the Birchwood Casey oil & wax treatment. I have never sanded, I will admit I am apprehensive about doing that!

 

[Fred?]

I'm thinking the Murphy's Oil Soap cleans off the old wax/oil, and then the new Tru-Oil and Wax treat and protect the neck? I too admit I'm wary of sanding at all, but then again, my Axis is brand new, so what would the point be? On the other hand, I'm thinking of cleaning/re-finishing it just because I'm not sure how old the guitar is (how long it was in the store) or how much it's been played. I'm wondering if cleaning w/Murphy's and then applying Tru-Oil and Waxing is overkill?

 

[cm_17]

AFAIK the oil soap only cleans the grime and dirt on top of the wax and does not do anything to the wax coating. The sanding is the part that removes the wax. No need to do the full treatment if you don't feel unevenly exposed wood on the back of the neck.

 

[Spudmurphy]

Hi Fred welcome on board. I've used Murphy's on wood floors,furniture, mosaic floors and of course guitar necks.

If you used Murphys on for example a Strat lacquered neck, then it would remove all the residue/dirt that sits on the lacquer itself . - really its a natural "detergent type" cleaner but contains no harsh chemicals or salt.
If you use Murphys on a well oiled/waxed neck then as it too is an oil then it won't really get right into the wood itself. I have used naptha (cigarette lighter fluid- it's fine!) to get all the gunk off a neck, then sometimes lightly sand, and we are only talking 600 / 1000 grade wet and dry paper so it doesn't remove chunks like the poor guy in the "is my evh dead" thread. Murphys diluted with water will clean most of the crud off - if the crud has penetrated deep then it won't get rid of it.

Murphys is great on necks/fretboards - but a very light sanding does pay dividends.

 

[shoominati]

Hey thanks for the runthrough, this is exactly what I plan to do with my Squier special edition Humbucker bass (NLA) weren't around for long actually.

Anyway it came with a raw, unlaquered or waxed neck and rosewood fretboard. (find a few drops of mould free linseed oil, maybe boiled works too, haven't tried it - works wonders on my unsealed fretboards)
Just putting on a bad ass bridge, graphtech nut and my favourite XL nylon tapewound strings.

Thanks for the info

(Oh, by the way I do own MM guitars also, in the midst of doing a deal to buy a majesty second hand right now

 

[MikeVt]

I've only done it once, with sanding, on a JP neck - and that neck is as smooth as silk. It really isn't hard, and does treat the neck nicely. That said, I really didn't care for the process, and I've never done any of my others. They seem to be holding up pretty well with simple conditioning. I usually use EB Fretboard conditioner on the fretboard and the neck, then wipe it off the neck. I'm not a gigging player and wash my hands before playing anyway, so until I have to, I plan to avoid it.

Mike

 

[Craiguitar]

I do this at least a couple of times a year, and top up with the wax as and when required. I do tend to give the neck a quick, cursory clean with the Murphy oil soap, and I usually find quite a bit of grime comes off on the paper towel. This is despite me always having clean hands (to OCD levels), and I don't sweat that much either, so it's worth doing. Don't be scared of the sanding either, you only need to do couple of gentle passes before the oil/wax treatment, just to get rid of any barrier that might prevent the the oils soaking into the grain.