Hey Jonathan, haven't seen you around these parts lately.  Hope you're having a fine holiday season.  Did you ever get your Scott Walker guitar?  One came up on ebay a couple of weeks ago that looked a little shady.  The auction, not the guitar.  The guitar looked beautiful.  The auction was pulled early for error in the listing.
 
To steer this thread back in the right direction, My '76 Series I guitar is currently at the mothership getting the neck re-shaped.  They've pulled out all the electronics and stuff - down to bare wood - and will be refinishing.  Steel wool certainly wouldn't work for changing shape, but it does a great job of satinizing the neck.  The little pieces that break off are a PITA.  A good mini vacuum and some masking tape (both to mask and later to pick up little pieces) are a must.  I've never heard of the plastic steel wool of which David speaks, but I will certainly check it out the next time I attempt this process.  Thanks David, As usual you are a marvelous font of all knowledge Alembic and related topics.
 
Happy New Year to all.
 
Bill, tgo

David...an amazing story.  
 
Happy New Year, all!

Bill,
 
Yeah...I haven't chimed in in awhile. I've just been sitting by watching everyone elses' babies being born.
 
To answer your question, I don't have the Walker yet. I wound up buying an R9 Les Paul and had a '79 Koa Mockingbird restored by Neal Moser...all this happened at the time the guitar was due. So as to avoid so many huge expenses all at once, I told Scott to take care of his other customers and finish mine after the Holidays. I'll let you know when it arrives.
 
Happy New Year to you and yours.
 
Regards,
 
Jonathan

Great story David; thanks!

Bill,
 
While 0000 steel wool will work fine, I'd recommend the equivalent in a 3M pad, since it won't leave little bits sticking to the pickups.
 
Bradley

Bradley:
 
Good to see you've come up for air.  Pretty nice when you finally get to hold the instrument in your hands that you've been watching on-line for a couple of years, ain't it??!!  A few posts above, David Fung mentions a 3M synthetic plastic steel wool.  It that what you're talking about?
 
Bill, tgo

Yup.  I picked some up in the paint section of my local Fred Meyer.
 
Did the first adjustments (loosened truss rod, fiddled with the bridge height) to my bass last night after church-- but wasn't paying attention to time, and all of a sudden it's 11PM, and my son is saying Can we go home now? for the eleventy-first time.