Sanded Maple Neck (Before and After)

[Jimmy25]

Finally, I've decided to sand down my Fender 57 Reissue Stratocaster Made In Japan Since 1993's Poly Vintage Maple Neck. Basically, what I did: I used both sandpaper 1000 & 2000 grit, then wipe down the neck with a cotton rag with hand soap, sand a bit more at the area that still felt sticky to me, then lastly a microfiber cloth with a damp of water and wipe it down completely clean.

I must say, the result turned out great ! Just like what I wanted, a smooth neck. I hesitated a lot before I made this move, but now I have absolute no regret in doing this, since it's probably a guitar I'm not planning on selling in the future, and with a guitar, playability is always more important than appearance, it's not a museum guitar, it's a guitar you want to be able to pick up and play for a long time comfortably. Besides, I think the change in look is not even that noticeable unless you look at it extremely close, even from close view, the real difference I can see is the gloss is gone. What do you guys think? judging from the pics below, is the change in look obvious?

QUESTION
1) Right now my only concern is, I've heard sanded maple neck gets dirty and turns gray very easily. What's a good solution to avoid that from happening? I want it to age well and turn yellowish not gray. I see people tend to use Car Polish or Tung Oil to give it a protection after sanding? should I use one of these as well? But isn't that just going to make the neck sticky again?
2) Is it right that eventually it's going to become glossy and sticky again and I'll have to sand it down again? But usually how long does the sanded smoothness last?
3) The first picture of AFTER, there's a scratch, but I think it was there long before I sanded the neck, it's not from sanding, just wondering, is there any way I could remove that scratch?

BEFORE

AFTER

 

[Jimmy25]

or should I use Naphtha instead of Car Polish or Tung Oil after sanding?

 

[Wedge]

If you did not sand deep enough to remove the tint then you are fine, wood is still protected. You would have o sand as deep as the scratch to remove it and that likely would expose raw wood.

 

[Giraffecaster]

All you did was take off the gloss finish and turn it satin by sanding with 1000 and 2000 grit. So it's still finished, no need to apply anything.

 

[buddastrat]

I like it better post, but it'll gloss up again and then you just need to degloss it again. You could strip/sand it all the way and then use some Danish oil. That's real nice stuff for a feel that doesn't get glossy.

 

[Mike9]

Don't take it to bare wood if you don't want it to grey. Human hands sweat has a very high tannic acid content - some more than others, but that's what turns maple grey.

Naptha is a solvent - it contains no sealer. Some car polishes contain silicone I'd steer clear of those. Tung oil, or a thinned urethane rubbed on and buffed smooth feels great.