22 year old PRS that has seen better days - Part 2

Last time, we left off with a sanded fretboard, now let's look at the back of the neck.

The first step was color matching the original finish on some maple scraps.

I used a variety of different stains for this.

Gave these a chance to properly dry, so that I wouldn't run into any discolouring surprises later on. You'd be surprised what an extra hour can do to the color.

I then lightly sanded one of the damaged parts as a test piece.

You can see me applying a test coat.

This will be a bit darker while wet, but it's a nice match once it dries.

After that, the neck was sanded smooth, taking care not the alter the shape in any way if it can be avoided.

Here we go! The trick is to keep moving so you don't create any darker spots. These can be thinned out again with some water and sanding, but it's an extra step I want to avoid. Ignore the burned 'Zenn' logo's, those were tests from another project :-).

Now it's time for a finish; one that won't react with any kind of polish.

Can you guess what finish it is?

This pic was taken after the first couple of coats and some light sanding.

The front got some finish as well, look at that figuring in the wood. Mesmerising!

Time for frets. We went for stainless steel on this, so that it would last a lifetime of playing without any major work needed in the future. It's a b*tch on your tools, but boy does it feel good to play a mirror smooth surface.

And that's the entire neck done! Look at those perfectly even rounded fret ends.

Let me tell you, that takes a long time to master, and I still get nervous every time I do it.

But I couldn't be happier with the result.

A picture of the buffed back of the neck. Kinda hard to photograph this, but you get the idea.

Onto some final setup work, and this beauty can go back to its owner. Happy days!