Refinishing guitar's neck...

Here's my deal: my guitar's neck is painted like the body and headstock. Problem is that i don't really like the feel of the painted neck. Is it feasible to get the paint removed and finish the neck with, say, tung oil? Thanks.

[font=trebuchet ms]Before you do anything drastic, there's something simple you can try. Get some fine abrasive cloth, like ScotchBrite, and lightly rub the back of the neck. This will produce a fast-feeling 'satin' surface, while still keeping the wood sealed up.

Then, if you are still determined to do so, you can strip off the original finish and apply the tung oil.[/font]

Thanks LATS, i may give that a shot. I certainly wouldn't be doing any paint stripping and finishing by myself though. The neck just tends to get kinda grimy the way it is now and sometimes my thumb tends to get "caught up" on the neck, if that makes any sense. Is stripping and refinishing a job that a luthier could do inexpensively relative to something like a refret job?

[font=trebuchet ms]Smooth polished surfaces will 'grab' when your hand is a bit sweaty. That's why I suggested trying the 'satin' surface on the back of the guitar neck.

Sanding off the original finish and rubbing in tung oil is something you could do yourself. I'm just leery about what might happen at the boundary areas between the oil finish and the paint.[/font]

Cool, it appears i already have scotchbrite heavy-duty sponges - the ones you do the dished with...are those right? or too abrasive? If its cool, I'm gonna give that a shot and let you know how it goes.

[font=trebuchet ms]I would spend a couple bucks on a proper ScothBrite abrasive pad without the sponge. The reddish-purple ones should be about right. One of them is plenty. Start out very lightly until the abrasive gets worn away enough to allow more pressure. The plan is to just break up the surface finish a bit, not to remove the paint. Wipe the neck frequently with a clean cloth to remove the dust before it has a chance to get into places where you don't want it, like the strings or your pickups.[/font]