What stain would get a good butterscotch Shade?

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M

mainestratlover

Strat-Talk Member
Apr 21, 2012
96
South Portland, ME
I was thinking of putting a stain on my Squier Strats neck. What would get a good Butterscotch shade? :confused: Please help!!!!

Something like this:
picture.php
 
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stevierayfan91

stevierayfan91

DEEPLY SHY.
Feb 20, 2011
12,302
Private.
hey, man
do you mean on the back of the neck? if so the poly will have to be completely stripped off,lol.
But, ReRanch does have good dyes and other finishing supplis if you choose to undertake it..Thanks :) .

However, I believe truoil darkens over time and is easier to work with than ..Just wipe on thin coats with a coffee filter(Reranch has a good tutorial on the FAQ section of their forum).

I just wanted to caution that it would take some hard work to get the neck ready..And might be a bit of a pain.
 
barbrainy

barbrainy

RIP
Sep 8, 2011
849
England
mainestratlover said:
I was thinking of putting a stain on my Squier Strats neck. What would get a good Butterscotch shade? :confused: Please help!!!!

Something like this:
picture.php
Click to expand...

The pic you have is not of a neck that has been made to look that way using 'stain'. It's either a poly or nitro finished neck that has an amber tint in the poly/nitro (what model strat is the pic from??) - or it could be an original vintage neck where the clear nitro has yellowed with age - you'll find endless debates on the forum over nitro vs poly.

As the previous reply says, getting a finish like that (ie by the same method/product) depends on what your neck is like now. As it's squier, it will be a poly finish. (unless a previous owner had done a refin to nitro - very unlikely). If it's a light shade, and you want to make it more amber like the pic, you may be able to simply apply an amber tinted finish over the top of the existing finish. But:

a) success of this will depend on what type of finish you use over it (eg will it be nitro over poly?)
b) you will need to clear coat over the tint coat to allow you to sand/buff/polish back to a smooth finish without removing the tint
c) it will also tint over the headstock decal

Stripping back to bare wood (whether you do or don't leave the front of the headstock to protect the decal) is also an option. Takes some work to strip all the poly off, though....


Someone else will be able to tell you if you could achieve that look through something like truoil (though this may also require stripping the neck back to bare wood)
 
barbrainy

barbrainy

RIP
Sep 8, 2011
849
England
mainestratlover said:
Sanding is a pain?
Click to expand...

Poly is basically like a fairly thick layer of plastic. It's not too much work to sand off the back of the neck, but it is from the fretboard (if you have a maple fretboard; if it's Rosewood, that would be left alone anyway)

You can't sand the poly off the front of the headstock fully without also sanding off the decal; so then you'd need to replace that too, and again you'll find plenty of debates on here about doing that - especially if you apply an aftermarket 'Fender' decal (ie a fake) to a Squier neck.

If you have a look at my current build thread ('Strat Talk made me do it') you can see me stripping a poly neck to refin in nitro, with a pretty heavy 60s amber tint. You'll see it was not without some small hiccups....

Do you have a pic of your current neck?
 
M

mainestratlover

Strat-Talk Member
Apr 21, 2012
96
South Portland, ME
barbrainy said:
Poly is basically like a fairly thick layer of plastic. It's not too much work to sand off the back of the neck, but it is from the fretboard (if you have a maple fretboard; if it's Rosewood, that would be left alone anyway)

You can't sand the poly off the front of the headstock fully without also sanding off the decal; so then you'd need to replace that too, and again you'll find plenty of debates on here about doing that - especially if you apply an aftermarket 'Fender' decal (ie a fake) to a Squier neck.

If you have a look at my current build thread ('Strat Talk made me do it') you can see me stripping a poly neck to refin in nitro, with a pretty heavy 60s amber tint. You'll see it was not without some small hiccups....

Do you have a pic of your current neck?
Click to expand...

Well I won't have to sand the fretboard here is a (Bad:oops:) pic of my neck
picture.php
 
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barbrainy

barbrainy

RIP
Sep 8, 2011
849
England
mainestratlover said:
Well I won't have to sand the fretboard here is a (Bad:oops:) pic of my neck
Click to expand...

No pic there!

Anyway, in general, nitro is fine over poly (in fact there are a number of modern Fender bodies that have nitro over a poly base/sealer coat). But there may well be other ways to get the look you want, I just don't know about them myself. Have a look at Reranch. It will have the products you need if you want to go down the nitro route (amber tinted nitro and clear nitro - you may want to think about whether you want a satin or gloss finish) and some how to guides.

Another thing you may find helpful is to go and join tdpri.com - there are far more build and finish resources there, and actually just more people in general in the DIY section, so you can often get more responses and more info over there.
 
barbrainy

barbrainy

RIP
Sep 8, 2011
849
England
Ok, that is very light in color, so would be fine to get a more amber tint to. Also, as the decals are solid black, amber over the top of that won't be as obvious as if there were any less dark colours in the decal (ie like the gold in the 50s/60s Fender logo), but it will still affect how it looks a little.

Now you just need to decide how much work you want to do, how much you want to spend, which method you want to use.

Do plenty of reading and be prepared to make a few mistakes (nitro is not such a big deal if you make a mistake, as it is VERY easily removed with cellulose thinners)

ReRanch Guitar Refinishing

Good luck!
 
barbrainy

barbrainy

RIP
Sep 8, 2011
849
England
mainestratlover said:
one last thing. What do you need to remove the tuners?
Click to expand...

Looking at your pic, I think you'll just need a spanner for the nuts on the front side of the tuners, and a screwdriver for the screws on the back....


I think it's unlikely, but be sure to check you haven't got staggered tuners (ie they are not all the same height). It's almost a certainty you don't, but the best bet is to take them off one at a time, label them individually, and put each back in the same hole it came out from when you're finished with the finishing...
 
J

jflintmac

Most Honored Senior Member
May 2, 2010
5,157
Canada
If you are thinking of just putting a coat of tinted lacquer over your existing neck, you will definately come to realize that all you have done is devalue it. Stain is meant for wood. It is hard to devalue a really inexpensive neck but it can be done. I would suggest that you consider to sand the old finish off completely, Decal and all, and then stain it and lacquer it or Tru-Oil or what ever you are going to use. You can do it all in less than a week, including drying time, (if that is really a factor)
The end result can be something that can improve your overall outlook on the guitar and you can apreciate what you have done...
As opposed to regret and disapointment that you rushed and wrecked a playable neck.
However, it can be fixed by starting over.
 
M

mainestratlover

Strat-Talk Member
Apr 21, 2012
96
South Portland, ME
jflintmac said:
If you are thinking of just putting a coat of tinted lacquer over your existing neck, you will definately come to realize that all you have done is devalue it. Stain is meant for wood. It is hard to devalue a really inexpensive neck but it can be done. I would suggest that you consider to sand the old finish off completely, Decal and all, and then stain it and lacquer it or Tru-Oil or what ever you are going to use. You can do it all in less than a week, including drying time, (if that is really a factor)
The end result can be something that can improve your overall outlook on the guitar and you can apreciate what you have done...
As opposed to regret and disapointment that you rushed and wrecked a playable neck.
However, it can be fixed by starting over.
Click to expand...
I know what Stain in meant for. I have been using it since september.
 
Torren61

Torren61

Strat-O-Master
Dec 28, 2008
966
California
Do not be afraid to wreck the guitar. You won't. Hard to devalue that guitar. Besides, you want something cool that YOU like. Just do it. It'll be fine. Better to learn on this guitar. Sand the whole dang headstock down. You gotta remove the tuners.
 
L

lendryesky

Strat-O-Master
Jul 18, 2010
974
Michigan
Isn't there a trick that you can use somethng (and somebody correct me here...) called Kiwi shoe polish that you can hand rub over poly that darkens it into an amber color? I've seen a few threads on these forums over the years about it.
 
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