Brian's Guitar from Conception to Birth or How to Build a Guitar in 62 Easy Steps!
27 Finish-Sand the Fretboard
You need to sand the fretboard before the frets go in; they would obviously be in the way. Proper sanding requires a lot of forearm stamina. This is what all those years of vigorous masturbation have prepared you for. You will not be applying any stain or lacquer to the fretboard; the strings would scrape it all off. You’ll need to get that smooth, sleak shine without it. The idea of sanding is to make scratches in the wood, move to a little smaller sand, then scratch out those scratches progressively working toward the smallest possible scratch. Skipping a grit will not completely remove the previous scratches, so don’t be tempted; there’s no easy way out here. If you want a great looking guitar, you need to apply some elbow grease.
Use your radiused sanding block and work through these grits of sandpaper: 60, 100, 150, 220, 320, 400, and 600. Don’t skimp on the sanding or you will not achieve the fine finish you’re after. With each grit, apply about 25 heavy strokes to your wood and about 25 more strokes with a lighter touch (still working that masturbation analogy). After each grit, blow off the sanding dust, massage your arm a little, then grab the next smaller grit. Once through the sandpaper, switch to the Micro-Mesh abrasives. They’re not cheap at about $20 for 9 sheets of paper, but the payoff is worth the expense. Use the included foam backing block and work through the whole Micro-Mesh series: 1500, 1800, 2400, 3200, 3600, 4000, 6000, 8000, and 12000. The Micro-Mesh series does not correspond to sanding grits, but I guess the 12000 series correlates to about 2000 grit. As before: 25 heavy and 25 light. Blow off the sanding dust between grits like before, but this time wipe off the top with mineral spirits. Start sanding again before the mineral spirits dries out; the spirits will provide a little lubrication. After about 30 minutes of sanding, you will get immediate gratification. The right photo above shows the fretboard after sanding. The fretboard is dry with no finish and you can clearly see the fluorescent lights above.