Called SCGC yesterday afternoon, Richard Hoover himself answered the phone! Had a very pleasant chat about potential causes of my sticky neck backside and prospective remedies.
Last night I rubbed the back of the neck down with naphtha (very small amount on a paper towel) two times, followed by some buffing with 0000 steel wool (lots of icky white stuff came off onto the steel wool pad), followed by a good buffing with a clean white cotton T-shirt to clean up all the steel wool dust.
Feels like a different guitar. Feels magnificent.
Can I get a Hallelujah?