Finish only on face of headstock...

[Claymore]

Forgive me if the answer is obvious but how do you do this without getting it on the sides?... Do you tape it off? Is there wax involved? Do you accept that some finish will get on the sides and then just sand it off afterwards? I want to to finish just the face of my headstock with multiple coats of Tru-oil and don't know the first thing about this. I guess an option is to just apply the oil on the entire neck and maple fretboard but I want to explore this possibility first. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Claymore]

(sound of crickets)

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Tape. Use this stuff, absolutely clean, crisp lines, and it conforms to curves without kinking. I use the 1/8” wide to mask binding, you could probably use 1/4” on headstock sides. Put the whole bass body in a trash bag if it’s neck through, If bolt on, tape newspaper around the rest of the neck.
https://www.amazon.com/3M-Vinyl-Tap...m+471+indigo+tape&qid=1581551923&sr=8-2-fkmr2

Put the tape on and burnish HARD with a fingernail. Shoot a mist coat of clear to seal the edges, let dry, then go to Town with color. Bob’s your Uncle.

 

[Claymore]

Tape. Use this stuff, absolutely clean, crisp lines, and it conforms to curves without kinking. I use the 1/8” wide to mask binding, you could probably use 1/4” on headstock sides. Put the whole bass body in a trash bag if it’s neck through, If bolt on, tape newspaper around the rest of the neck.
https://www.amazon.com/3M-Vinyl-Tap...m+471+indigo+tape&qid=1581551923&sr=8-2-fkmr2

Thank you!

 

[Beej]

Yup, tape it off and burnish it for a good seal.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Yes. That tape works very well. You would probably be fine using blue painters tape on the sides and fretboard and use the 3M tape at the very edges of the headstock. You might try just the tape and TruOil on scrap and see how it works. TruOil should cover over clear coat but it doesn’t hurt to check.

 

[Claymore]

Yes. That tape works very well. You would probably be fine using blue painters tape on the sides and fretboard and use the 3M tape at the very edges of the headstock. You might try just the tape and TruOil on scrap and see how it works. TruOil should cover over clear coat but it doesn’t hurt to check.

I like the scrap test idea. I may do exactly that.

 

[Claymore]

One more quick question... At what point during the drying process should I peel off the tape if I'm using TruOil... immediately after application, a few hours later or when it's completely dry?

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I didn't have any trouble peeling it off as soon as the paint was dry to the touch, but that was water based Varathane that dried in about 1 hour. Another test on scrap! In general you want to get tape off ASAP, but too quick will peel the Tru Oil film with it.

 

[bobdabilder]

If you peel the tape off while the tru oil is tacked up but not cured, you can burnish the edge in to the unfinished sides before it fully hardens so they're not rough.