Let's discuss sticky necks... Myth or?

[Futuron]

I always thought the complaint about sticky necks had more to do with the friction your hand feels sliding up and down the neck, rather than a sticky/sugar feel.

Same

[PorkyPrimeCut]

I always figured it was “hand chemistry” too. Occasional clammy palms being the main cause, for me.

I’ve never been a fan of super glossy necks anyway so I always run a Scotchbrite pad up & down the neck a frw times. Instant fix.

[Dave]

To me, this is another on the long list of “guitar related qualms I read about all the time but don’t really have a strong opinion on personally.”

That said, I can think of a time I played a guitar with a sticky neck but it was because the owner ate a lot of gross Doritos and bullshit, and was never particularly hygienic regarding frequent hand washing.

[mwmeci]

I had a an Allparts nitro finished Strat neck that felt sticky. Rubbed it down with a Mr. Clean magic eraser which made it satin like. Just did it to a CV 70's Jaguar with a thick poly finish neck. Satin feel now. Works great.
https://imgur.com/a/IQTjtkA

[Fiddy]

I sweat a lot, more than the average joe...my palms don't for some reason. Necks never feel sticky to me for some reason. Doesn't matter what the finish is.

[JSett]

Coming into this thread with a dilemma.

I've been playing my AO60s Tele a bunch recently and the recently hot weather here has shown it's colours in the form of sticky neck syndrome on it. Last night I took it to rehearsal - a hot and sweaty airtight room situation - and after about an hour I was really struggling with the finish on the neck going almost goopy to the touch. The finish felt like it was almost designed to be tacky.

No amount of polishing/cleaning the back between every song seemed to help. All my other nitro guitars are long played-in or refinished with thin matte lacquer so don't suffer from it.

What's the general consensus on best action? Tempted to acetone the back of the neck and apply a little TruOil but will just sanding it back a ton do the job as well?

[Fiddy]

I was actually thinking about this last night, i got a 3 pack of D’addarios im finding make my Guyatone neck just a bit harder to glide around

[JSett]

The guitar actually needed a restring anyway, so before work this morning, I pulled the neck and started cutting back the finish with 400 grit. It's starting to smooth out but no sure if I wanna go further and oil it (linseed?) or right back and shoot in satin clear.

Decisions decisions

[distressed]

I sweat a lot, more than the average joe...my palms don't for some reason. Necks never feel sticky to me for some reason. Doesn't matter what the finish is.

The same goes for me. All of my guitars have glossy finished necks, but I don't have a problem playing them.

[Larry Mal]

I've never really noticed any sticky neck, but I can say that I had a MusicMan Stingray bass that had a satin/barely finished neck and it was really, really good. I can totally see why people would want that instead of the fully finished necks.

[Embenny]

I've never really noticed any sticky neck, but I can say that I had a MusicMan Stingray bass that had a satin/barely finished neck and it was really, really good. I can totally see why people would want that instead of the fully finished necks.

Agreed, Musicman are just about the best feeling I've encountered. I looked it up and they use an extremely thin application of tru-oil and gunstock wax.

I found a forum post by someone who visited the EBMM factory and got to hang out with the employee who was finishing the necks:

Yep, it's not a big secret. It's been documented elsewhere. I was very curious because I've been doing my own necks and wanted to see if I was doing it correctly. I spent about 20 minutes at that station and actually talked to the woman who was doing the finish on the necks.

She applied the oil to the neck wiping a coat over the entire neck and I'd say within 15 seconds she grabbed a paper towel and wiped it off. Then she applied the wax, let it sit for 10 seconds or so and with fresh paper towels wiped it clean and then with another paper towel she did a final wipe down and moved to the next neck. If you blinked she was moving on... I was surprised by how fast she was doing it and asked is that all there is to sealing the necks and she said yes that's it.

[ldp54002]

The AO necks seem overly sticky to me. I've played 3 or 4 and they all felt that way. There's just something about that particular nitro or how they shoot it, I don't know.

I found the neck on my AO60s Jag to be almost unplayable due to the combination of the stickiness and the shape (too much shoulder). I contemplated sanding it down, but that wouldn't have fixed the neck profile so I ended up just replacing it with a satin finish Musikraft neck.

[DeathJag]

I often get the idea to use sandpaper on all of my guitars, except for the vintage one and the one that has an unfinished neck. But then the thought of pulling the tuners out ends that thought. I wouldn't want the sanding to end at the headstock. in fact I have an 80s Japanese Strat that (before I got it) my friend took the tuners off and sanded the whole neck down (including the decal!), and that neck feels freaking brilliant. I do not like a glossy neck, but I have not experienced anything close to sticky. I count myself very lucky that my hand sweat does not seem to do anything to strings or finishes.

[PapaB]

Great post. Thanks for the Virtuoso suggestion! I've got a recent acquisition, a 2007 SG Special Faded with a nitro-finished GUMMY neck.
As for my favorite neck finish, love the look of gloss, have always enjoyed playing satin, but my best necks are on EVH's guitars. I think they are oiled. Eddie always talked about how he preferred the body oils from his playing finish the wood .... (Lol. Kind a weird typing it.)