Finishing neck

[aj_slr]

I am about to lacquer a new Electric guitar neck. I will be using a single pack nitro lacquer. My question is do you spray over the frets and clean the up after or do you mask them off before spraying.

[Sebastiaan56]

Ive never done it but I expect masking the frets would be a bit of a trick. I would spray and then clean up the frets. Is this a blonde fingerboard? If it isnt i would mask the entire fretboard to spray the neck and oil the fretboard.

[aj_slr]

It is a blond fingerboard.

[dpm]

The usual approach is to simply spray over the frets. Another approach used by some luthiers is to spray the bulk of the finish prior to fretting the neck, install frets, then spray a couple of final coats. This prevents excessive finish build up on the frets and more importantly in the corner between fret and board.

[MikeLee]

I always mask off the fretboard before spraying using blue low tack painters tape. I run it down the side then fold over the top. After spraying 3 coats I remove the tape and rub down the edge with fine sandpaper just to remove any excess. Then I use orange oil and rub it into the bare wood
Fender spray over the fretboard on newer necks. Someone I know bought a 50 year anniversary strat, and then removed all the lacquer from it with a razor blade. It took him some time