Neck Refinishing? (Edit: Pics!)

[Maukio]

I won a bronco off e-bay from a guy who's local.  I think for what I paid it's a pretty nice little dude, the only thing really bothering me is the neck finish.  For the most part it looks fine, but around where the rosewood meets the maple I guess the finish wore off on the maple and got dirty over the years with some sweaty hand moving around on that unprotected wood.  You'll see below.  I am thinking about sanding down the back of the neck down and apply tung oil or something like that.  What do you all think?

Sorry for the poor quality, I don't own a real camera...


Overview


Top of neck (facing up when playing)


Bottom of neck while playing

The only place with decent lighting in my whole apartment is the freaking bathroom.

I think I may also refinish the body in a darker blue.  I think that would be a nice color combination, blue body, white pickguard, black pickup covers.  I'm not worried at all about finishing the body, but I don't want to jack up the neck.  So, what do you all think?

[Ninja Mike 808]

I'd leave it.  I mean, that neck is horrid, but think of the lineage...

I've jus been scolded for wanting to paint guitars, ya know, let the vintageness be unique and relic....

[painted wood]

cool guitar...I'd just leave the neck alone...If you refinish it, the authentic vintage value will be lost.  When I get necks like that, I take an old washcloth and some Martin guitar polish and wipe clean the neck.  Some of that dirt will clean off.  The play wear is cool; enjoy that bad boy!

[sookwinder]

Maukio ,  while I certainly do not advocate refinishing a vintage guitar or bass for the pure sake of it ...  if you are un happy about how the neck feels/looks then you have two options.

1.  go and get the neck refinished in a manner which pleases you.  in the end it is your bass and if it makes you feel better about the bass then go for it.

2. buy a new after market neck and have it painted and fitted to the body.  save the old neck in the case.

in the end you do have options

[Maukio]

Thanks for your suggestions.  I cleaned it off as best I could with a wet rag and a bit of soap.  While it looks better it doesn't feel any better.  I hate the way it feels, with all these random edges between finish and no finish.  I was thinking before I go and sand down the entire neck I may just try applying tung oil to those areas.  I'm really not too worried about it losing it's vintage value.  I mean, the body has already been refinished, it has also had a pickup added, and the tuners aren't original.  I guess really with proper tuners the neck itself could be restored back to its vintage state, but I want to play this dude!  I'll update you all on the results of whatever I end up doing.

[1946dodge]

Did you buy this guitar for yourself or for someone else?
It is YOURS now. If you dont like the neck feel, then refinish it.
If you want to sell it, dont refinish it, and get rid of it, and buy a guitar with a neck you like the feel of.
JMHO
ED

[Ninja Mike 808]

If you're gonna get rid of the tuners, take some pics and lemme check em out.

[Maukio]

Well, I guess I wasn't that clear with my initial post.  Really, I fully intend to fix it so it's playable and I don't intend to sell it.  I'm really just curious of the various ways to go about fixing it.  That's what I should have asked.

See, I'm not scared at all to refinish the body, but I don't want to sand the neck and make it unplayable or something else.  So I was wondering what all you would suggest doing since I have no experience with fixing a neck.  Should I sand it down with various sandpaper grits then tung oil it?  Or should I use steel wool?  Or should I spray on some sort of clearcoat?  I've been reading around and tung oil sounds interesting (mainly b/c it seems very easy!).  I tried to search around on the Internet for refinishing necks, but all I came up with was relicing tips!!!  If you like relicing, that's cool I guess, I'm really not that into though, so it was a bit irritating.  I want to know how to fix it so it's playable, not how to tint it so it looks aged, gah!  So, any suggestions?  Links?

Ninja Mike, as far as the tuners go, they aren't original and I do intend to replace them.  If you want better pictures of them I can snap some for you.  Just let me know.

[Yessongs]

This is a beautiful guitar, man!  Never seen a Bronco other than red, let alone 2 pick ups on one.

Ouch, those scars do jump at me.  Owning a vintage Fender is a good thing.  But if you are not satisfied with its esthetic appearance, owning it does not mean much, does it?

If you decide to refinish the neck, I would do so on the entire neck except fingerboard and top face of headstock to preserve the logo.

Or, as sookwinder suggests, buying a new neck for playing and keep the original unplayed is another potential alternative.