shimmy Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 Hi all, Ive jst aquired a original 63 Fender Duo Sonic that is in desparate need of work....the frets are extremely thin and I have started pulling them out to replace them with fat frets.... the problem is is that hte fret board is very thin...in order to deepen the fret slots enough for the new tangs, I will pretty much have to cut thru to where the rosewood meets the maple. Is this a problem? Im going to be respraying and redoing the whole guitar...Ill be posting pics Thanks alot Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluespresence Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 Ive jst aquired a original 63 Fender Duo Sonic and you're ripping it apart I know, I know, it's yours to do with as you please......sorry I brought it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shimmy Posted May 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 hahaha....no really the frets were so small and flat they were nearly non existant... anyway...it turned out that i basically cut thru to about where the fret board just ends but the frets seemed to sit in there ok... I have come across another dilema tho...the truss rod appears to be loosened all the way off and when i go to tighten it, it is extremely hard to do....i cant actually get it past a certain point and it is still not tightened enough.... I was wondering if there is a way to mabye lubricate it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 I have come across another dilema tho...the truss rod appears to be loosened all the way off and when i go to tighten it, it is extremely hard to do....i cant actually get it past a certain point and it is still not tightened enough.... I was wondering if there is a way to mabye lubricate it? ← You have to take the truss rod out and put a washer or two in there because the wood has probably compressed behind the adjustment screw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 If you have to monkey with the truss rod you may as well pop the fretboard , fix the truss rod and then install a new fretboard. Yeah I know, its a vintage guitar, etc. etc. But somewhere down the line its going to be necessary, may as well get it over with now. You shouldn't have to be cutting into neck wood to install frets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 If you have to monkey with the truss rod you may as well pop the fretboard , fix the truss rod and then install a new fretboard. Yeah I know, its a vintage guitar, etc. etc. But somewhere down the line its going to be necessary, may as well get it over with now. You shouldn't have to be cutting into neck wood to install frets. The old fender necks from the '60's had a fretboard that was like 3/32" thick, and was laminated to the neck AFTER the top of the neck was radiused, so the board is the 3/32 all the way across. And, I believe the trussrod is also installed from the back, with a "skunk stripe" filler. Also, Fender used to push the frets in from the side, rather than the top, so they need to be driven out with a small drift from the side of the neck to avoid tearout. Often a Fender neck just takes on a bow or twist that the trussrod simply can't correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 QUOTE(shimmy @ May 24 2005, 03:47 AM) I have come across another dilema tho...the truss rod appears to be loosened all the way off and when i go to tighten it, it is extremely hard to do....i cant actually get it past a certain point and it is still not tightened enough.... I was wondering if there is a way to mabye lubricate it? You have to take the truss rod out and put a washer or two in there because the wood has probably compressed behind the adjustment screw I tried this as a last resort on a '70 P-bass neck, and the board started cracking down the middle. Is the problem that the nut is not turning on the threads? If so, yes try taking the nut off and put a couple drops of WD-40 on the threads, and put the nut back on. Work it back and forth until it frees up. If it is just that the rod can't put enough tension on the neck, well... I think there is a way to lightly clamp the neck for a period of time ( days maybe ) against a jig with shims to pull a bow out of it, but you would have to do some research on that. As for the fret slots, shop around and see if you can find a fretwire with a shorter tang. Probably someone makes one just for this purpose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 I am with southpa. If you gotta mess with frets and the trussrod has issues, pop the fretboard and do a proper job. Hate to on a vintage but you gotta do what it takes to make it playable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 And if the trussrod is not under the fretboard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 I think that's your problem right there.. if it's as orgmorg says.. then popping the board won't get you anywhere.. espercially if the bed the fb sits on is radiused.. you don't want to have to curve a fretboard. Allparts sells about 15-20 different varieties of fretwire.. all different tang heights. Surely you can find some vintage fretwire that will work. I'd keep the board, and work on the trussrod from the outside. I saw an article online about that kind of problem. I've seen cutting through the FB and matching a piece of rosewood to cover up, i've seen blowing away the skink stripe by rerouting it, and i've seen the fingerboard removal. Your best bet is to try to work with the rod from an exterior basis and dont' cut the neck open unless you just have to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 OOPS! I just looked at that old P-bass neck, as well as one from a '66 Coronado. Neither one have a skunk stripe. I really pictured them in my head as having it. Ah well... Sorry for the confusion. The real problem would be getting the super thin fretboard off. Like Shimmy says, the original fret slots come within 1/64" from the bottom of the board- all the way across. Another thing you could look into, for the neck bow, is what is called "compression fretting", where you use wire with a thicker tang. When it is pressed or hammered into the slots, it makes the neck bend back a little. If the slots are already wide, or have been buggered up by pulling the old frets out, the slots can be filled with epoxy or (maybe?) CA glue, and recut. Stew mac/Dan Erlewine has a real good book on fretting techniques, I have it somewhere.. If I find it, I'll post the title. Or you can probably find it on their website. It includes a bunch of vintage refret jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shimmy Posted May 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 Thanks alot for all the feedback..... I have proceeded to fret it and with accurately measuring the fret tangs, i mananged to cut the fret slots jst deep enough to fit the tang and it managed to stay in the fretboard ok.... about the trussrod.......the bend is not extremely major...Im hoping that when i string it up, the tension will pull the neck right.... But yes, I would like to try and work it from the exterior only... Thanks again for the feedback Shimmy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 about the trussrod.......the bend is not extremely major...Im hoping that when i string it up, the tension will pull the neck right.... So, the neck is bowed back? I had assumed that since you were trying to tighten the trussrod, that the neck was bowed forward. If it is bowed back, then yes, wait till the strings are on. If it is still bowed back, try heavier guage strings. The trussrod will not take out a back bow. It makes a back bow to counteract the string tension. That is probably why the nut was backed all the way off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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