One-piece Maple Neck - Fret Slot Filling

[Lale]

Ok, my first guitar and first major slip-up.

I tried to search the web for an answer, but wasn't able to find any.

I was in a hurry (that was the first mistake in the beginning to start with - never will do that again.) and marked the frets onto one piece maple neck. When I started to saw the fret slots, i did couple of them and suddenly noticed that there was something wrong. Couple of first fretslots were tilted - not in exact 90 degree angle with neck center line. I guess my jig moved a bit at some point when I was marking the slots. I thought it was well clamped, but obviously not well enough.

Situation is that I screwed up couple of fret slots on a one-piece maple neck.

I was ready to begin with a new neck blank but I thought that maybe I would be able to fill the fret slots in a decent way and make new slots.

Has anyone done this with maple neck?

If so, what would be the best way to do it so that:

A ) It would be as non visible as possible. The filling might peak a bit under the frets. Finish is going to be either lacquer or oil, possibly with a hint of vintage stain.

B ) It would be strong and stable enough. New fret slots will be sawed in the area where the filling would be.

C ) It wouldn't affect the fret tone? Or would the filling really matter tonewise in this situation?

Do you think it's worth it?

Maybe new maple fretboard would be the solution. I just think that I'm not going to like the joint between the maple neck and maple fretboard. In another words: I would prefer to have a one-piece neck.

I'm totally fine to start with a new blank - I would be able to use this neck with rosewood or ebony fretboard later.

I just thought that if I'm able to fix my mistake easily, I would go on with this neck.

By the way, I haven't installed the truss rod yet.

Thanks a lot in advance!

[westhemann]

you canuse maple veneer to fill the slots..sick the pieces in edgeways(with wood glue) and after it dries trim off the excess and sand it back flush...it should be almost completely invisible if you do it right...especially when you reslot...since part of it will already be covered by the fret

[Lale]

Thanks a lot!

I was thinkin about that, but was unsure about the method.

I just have to make them fit right and tight.

Would it be better if I mix some maple wood dust with the wood glue?

Titebond is a bit yellow so maybe i should use some other hard, colourless, wood glue.

Or would it be ok to use some superglue with wood dust?

[westhemann]

use titebond..it is yellow but it dries mostly clear and makes more invisible glue lines than anything else...

no i would not mix the dust in...all you need is a snug fitting veneer...order the veneer closest to the size of your slots.

be careful of the glue you use...superglue for example is completely clear,but it will seep into the wood and make a darker spot where you won't be able to sand it out..and poly glue foams and makes a mess

i use titebond all the time for multiple piece necks...and the glueline never shows....

[Lale]

Ok!

Thanks a lot!

[Southpa]

Are the frets you plan to use wide enough to cover the errors? If so then you could get away with the glue 'n dust scenario. Otherwise, go with the veneer. You CAN do the glue and dust on dark surfaces especially ebony but it would really show on maple.

[Lale]

Are the frets you plan to use wide enough to cover the errors?

I use medium jumbo, so they cover quite a lot, but the marking error sort of went more false the more I marked the frets. Calmps (or a clamp) must have moved more and more as I proceeded.

The first frets are the worse, but I'm pretty sure that medium jumbo frets will cover the filling.

Actually, now when I come to think about it, I'm not that worried about the fretboard side. Fret slot endings are something that might come out quite ugly... but fortunately I didn't saw the slots even near to the final depth and I haven't done my radius yet, so possibly my radius is going to get rid of some of the mess there.

Also, one problem is that I made a shallow slot for a nut and that's the worstly tilted slot. There's nothing covering that one.

It's a bit do/don't -situation. It might drive me nuts if the fillings shows clearly after the finishing... on the other hand, if everything comes up nicely, i'll be happy that I didn' go back and begin from the scratch, It's a nice piece of wood anyway. Unfortunately I would able to see the final situation after I have finished the neck.

Maybe I should experience a bit with scrap wood and make a decision based on that.

Edited December 5, 2006 by Lale

[postal]

A *LOT* of actual fender maple neck/maple board are separate maple fretboard. I don't know why.....

But clearly it is an "acceptable" practice. Even the Geddy Lee and Marcus Miller have separate maple fretboards.

Maple glue and dust is about the ugliest thing I have ever seen. Dont do it.

Dust and glue works great on darker woods though.

You can replace the neck and use this one with a rosewood board for another project.....

or plane it down and replace with a maple fretboard.

or consider adding binding to hide the edge of the crooked slots. I've seen custom shop strats/teles with binding.

[westhemann]

A *LOT* of actual fender maple neck/maple board are separate maple fretboard. I don't know why.....

so that you can hide the truss rod rout...it is by far he easiest way to install the truss rod(under the fretboard i mean)

i use the dust and glue thing to fill in fret slot ends if i am not doing binding...but i really am starting to prefer binding the neck..it hides the slots and REALLY looks classy...especially if you bind with flame orquilted wood strips instead of cellulose

[Desopolis]

+1 on removing the top layer and using this neck blank for another project(say, ebony fretboard?)

problem is every time YOU look at it, you'll see it.

then you'll just build another one.