How to make a guitar neck thinner!

  So, you bought a guitar on the Internet which was a great deal, opened the box and voila!: the guitar has a neck profile that's close to a baseball bat... Great disappointment...
 We 've got the solution! You can make that fat neck a lot thinner and much more playable! It' not a difficult project but it requires some patience, some technique and the right tools for the job.
 Here are the tools we will use:
 a Philips screwdriver
 a set of Allen keys
 sandpaper (fine, medium and hard grit)
 an electric sander for wooden surfaces

Step1: Remove the strings from your guitar and straighten up the neck by adjusting the truss rod. Remove the neck from the body. Remove the tuning keys or cover them with tape & some newspaper. If you got a set-neck guitar, just cover the body using some cloth/newspaper. Place the neck on a straight surface/table so that you can work on the back of the neck. Place a piece of cloth under the neck to protect the frets and nut.

Step2: Sanding time! Now you can start sanding down the back of the neck using the electric sander and some hard grit sandpaper. Be gentle and careful not to dent the neck and make pauses to check your work. Use medium and fine grit sandpaper towards the end of the procedure to avoid any harsh surface on the back of the neck. The neck should be thinner towards the nut. You 'll also have to shape the profile of the neck: C, D, V, U etc. Read more about the neck's profile here:
http://www.fender.com/en-GR/news/index.php/?display_article=422
http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/necks/backcontours.aspx

Step3: Paint it!
Once you have sanded down the back of the neck and shaped it to the most suitable profile, you have to eliminate any harsh spots using fine, high-grit sandpaper by hand. The back of the headstock area could be painted as well. To paint the headstock, first strip it down using high-grit sandpaper. Clean up the neck with a piece of cloth and it's ready for some paint!  If you want a colored neck, apply a sealer first and then paint the neck whatever color you wish. I prefer natural matt finishes, so I spray some clear coats on the back of the neck, sand down any harsh spots with some fine grit and the respray some clear coats to achieve a nice finish. Matt finish makes the neck feel "faster" when you play, therefore more playable than a glossy one.

Step4: Ready to rock.
Put the neck back on the body and set up your guitar using a fresh set of strings. Enjoy your new,  playable guitar!


 Here are some pictures of the Harley Benton HBMS60 strat guitar I modified following the steps above. It's a 99Euro nice and solid strat guitar with Wilkinson pickups but it came with a fat neck... Problem fixed!
 http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbms60_vw.htm?partner_id=73786
 The neck profile is much thinner and playable now:

-Thanos