Guillaume Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 Hi, First off, sorry if I make mistake, I'm a french Canadian. I had a ~2000 American standard Fender stratocaster. I sanded all the body and everything is fine for this. The problem: I wanted a flater radius (near 10.5~11°). Stewmac only had 12° sanding block so I bought one of them and tried to do with it. Now I've messed the fretboard as it's flatter in the center and more round at the edge. I tried to fret the higher octave but the fret's end is just too much bend and the center section is almost flat. I don't want to continue to completly mess the neck so I'll take some advice / tips / hints from you. Right now I'm telling myself I should have bought a crowning file and just recrown my frets but it's too late. A picture worth thousand words? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemm012 Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 I think if you just sanded it further, it may work. I don't know for sure though, so I'd wait for more responses. Galen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 Thank god I have a full bottle of Everclear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guillaume Posted January 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 So I just sanded it further more in the center... it's comming close to 12°. I was trying to avoid a radius of 12° as it's a little bit too flat for my taste but it's better than nothing I think... and it's not that bad. I was also a bit worried about the thickness of the inlay but it seem that they're ok! Everclear... because I'm not clear? Again sorry for that. :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwedishLuthier Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 It’s actually not in the centre you should remove more wood. It’s in between the edges and the centre, but I think you figured that out... I'd get a radius gauge before I'd go any further. Also use a long straight sanding stick to avoid unevenness in the fretboard. With those tools you can get a flatter board, but still keep a consistent radius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MzI Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 I personally at this point would just go on ebay and get the fender neck that you want and save that neck for another project with a 12" radius MzI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guillaume Posted January 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 I have 4" and 8" stewmac 12° sanding block as well as a 12° fret caul to check the radius. Yes, that's almost what I meant by sanding on the center. However to go from 9.5 to 12 I've removed a good quantity of wood from the center. I gone through my lower 12 fret inlay by sanding too much... I see a brown point in the center and a brown line on the bottom. It still need a bit of sanding, probably with a softer sandpaper, to be right on 12° Why buy another neck? I would still be stuck a 9.5° radius and don't have 250$ to spend on another neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 Um, yeah, if you have a 12" radius block, you're either going to eventually wind up with a 12" radius fretboard, or a really messed up fretboard if you don't go all the way. I was thinking about doing that to my MIM Strat, which is a 7.5, but after seeing that I think I may just leave it alone... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 That picture looks like your side dot marker is close to coming through the top of the board (as in a board that's getting sanded down too far), which reminds me of my first couple of fret-jobs that were pretty disasterous ( I had read some about some method where you are supposed to level the board flat, then put pressure under the headstock, then "plane from the 5th fret to the end". Well, that didn't work out so well, but don't ask, it was long ago). Which is why I was tempted to become an alcoholic from looking at the photo. LOL Sounds like you have radius blocks from hell or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guillaume Posted January 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 Seriously the fret board was already really thin on the edge. What we see in the picture is the worst place because I accidently sanded the edge. It's coming back pretty good right now.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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