Best masking tape for guitar necks?...

[PorkyPrimeCut]

In the past I've used regular, tearable stuff. The stuff you'd find in every art & design class when I was at school.

Not so long ago I used it to mask a guitar fretboard while I treated the maple with Tru-Oil & it was a bitch to get off without leaving residue behind. Admittedly I'd left it on for easily over a week but still, it was a pain I wasn't expecting.

I'm now planning on staining the fretboard & need to find something better to use. I've seen people on YouTube clips use blue stuff & green stuff. Can anyone recommend a tape that's easy to remove & that doesn't leave a sticky residue behind? The job I'm planning will only take an hour, maybe more, so it won't be left on for ages, like before.

[Shadoweclipse13]

For only an hour or two, I think either the blue or green would work great! The last time I sprayed the head of my Srazz head, I used one or two of them (both in places) across the whole neck. The tape was left on for weeks and there was residue from either. From what I can tell, the blue has more tack to it (stickier), but for what you need, I think you'd be fine with either.

[vandahm]

I've seen people on YouTube clips use blue stuff & green stuff. Can anyone recommend a tape that's easy to remove & that doesn't leave a sticky residue behind? The job I'm planning will only take an hour, maybe more, so it won't be left on for ages, like before.

I use blue painter's tape from 3M to mask my fingerboards and have had good experiences. On my last project, I left tape on the neck for about 3 weeks while the nitrocellulose hardened, and it came off cleanly with no residue. My understanding is that the green tape is stickier than the blue and therefore more likely to leave residue behind when you remove it.

[empyrean]

Blue all the way. Used to use green and made the switch when I saw Paul using it on an oceana build I believe. 100% of the time it works every time.

[kdanie]

I use 3m blue with no issues but if I'm using tru-oil on a neck with a rosewood fretboard I don't bother to mask it at all. I'm just careful to make sure I don't get any on the top of the fretboard, any on the sides disappears when I buff the maple with 0000 steel wool.

ken

[PorkyPrimeCut]

Huzzah!!

Blue it is. Thanks, guys!