“Wear it down yourself!”
That's the advice of former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr when it comes to people who prefer satin necks on their electric guitars.
Marr has come out firmly against the continuing trend for satin finish necks. Players love them for having a worn-in feel straight out of the box. Gloss finishes, in contrast, can take years to break in. They can also be perceived as ‘sticky’ in certain situations, especially during live shows, where players tend to sweat.
Satin-finish necks also have less friction, making them the shredder’s neck finish of choice.
Marr, however, isn’t convinced.
“I have to try and talk about the neck without sounding offensive or angry,” he says in the new issue of Guitar World. “Satin finishes: Why? No need. You’re really playing that fast that you need to have a satin neck? Really?”
The guitarist has just finished building two new signature Martin guitars, the imaginatively named M-6 and M-7. As you would expect, both offer gloss necks; there’s no satin in sight.
Speaking in the promo video for the acoustic guitars, he says, “I deliberately chose a gloss neck because I'm a bit old school. I like the idea of getting the guitar like you used to in the '70s and wearing it down yourself. I don't have any issues with the way that it feels.”
Fender and PRS are the two biggest names to embrace the satin-neck trend. Fender even sells stand-alone necks for Stratocasters and Telecasters for those wanting to swap out sticky for sleek.
Aside from that option, a quick search on YouTube brings up a host of instructional videos on sanding down gloss necks, a quick way to get the vintage worn-in neck feel that would otherwise only come from the wear and tear of time. Guitar Player also has a guide on how to achieve smooth relic necks.
On the other hand, Gibson guitars have stayed fairly firmly in the gloss neck camp, seeing it as a high-end finish befitting of its builds.
“A beautiful glossy neck, that was on all the old guitars since time immemorial,” Marr's tells Guitar World. “Your technique is so dazzling, or you’re so uncomfortable putting your hand on that gloss, or you’re so affronted by it that we’ve had to have years of really bad finishes on necks? Wear it down yourself, you lazy sod!”
This isn't the first time Marr has given a rather frank take during an interview. Famously chatting with Guitar Player in 1990, he said that “people like Yngwie Malmsteen should be forgotten as soon as possible,” believing his look-what-I-can-do playing style “has got very little to do with music.”
In that same interview, he brandished “the traditional idea of the guitar hero irrelevant,” but did concede that Eddie Van Halen and Joe Satriani have his respect as they are “disciplined players who really know what they're doing.”
Best not to mention what type of neck finish Eddie typically preferred...
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