DrummerDude

No, I haven't mount and strung up the neck yet because the spruce/beech body I made cracked. I will be making a new body, this time out of ash or oak - whatever I managae to salvage. Yes, I did use a straight edge and the frets are disastrous - they really are too f*cked up to describe how bad they are. Once I glue them all down to the fretboard, I will do some fret leveling and crowning (just the very thing that I tried to avoid by purchasing a pre-made neck). PS: Funny, I spoke to a well respected luthier who lives in another city and he told me that the Super Glue method of clamping down popped up frets would "destroy the neck". Not sure what he meant, though. Gotta do some investigation on this.

Actually, do you buy the Super Glue accelerator separately or is there a Super Glue "pack" of some sort that contains both the glue and the accelerator? Any brands to look for? Thanks

If I somehow manage to get the soda bicarbonate underneath the fret, how fast would it make the Super Glue? Would this method allow me to completely avoid clamping? For example: this luthier just keeps the fret pushed for a few seconds after applying accelerator to the Super Glue and that's it. Seems that the accelerator makes things go really, really fast. http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/Te...calooseend.html Will I be able to do the same using baking soda as an accelerator? Thanks.

So I just have to try to get some baking soda in the gap between the fret and the fretboard and then pour the Super Glue? Hmm...

Awesome, thanks. I thought of using some oil instead of wax as an insulation and protection against super glue spills but I was afraid that it would run under the fret and screw up the adhesion of the Super Glue. By the way, there is a fantastic web site online that has tons of fretting tips and tutorials by some Very experienced gentleman and he explains that the Super Glue does not actually "glue"anything but rather acts like a reinforcement making the fret more stable. Or at least this is what I concluded from his article with my bad Englsih. That gentleman also showed how to glue the popped fret ends FAST using accelerator liquid that makes Super Glue harden in seconds (something that I have not available). I am trying to find another tutorial/article that showed a pretty easy to make fret clamp - something that I will be needing because I don't have Super Glue accelerator liquid and I will have to keep my popped up frets clampd in place for 24 hours each. Any tips on how to make a simple fret clamp are welcmoe. Meanwhile I will be working on inventing my own too. Thanks!

My real problem are the popped frets. Staining the board was just an extra that I may simply skip. I hammered in a few of the frets that were popped in the middle. It worked pretty OK - they are lower and closer to the fretboard now. Don't know how long they are going to hold in there, though. Maybe i should have added some Super Glue after all? Now it is time for gluing and clamping the edge-popped frets.

Yes. I guess I will have to stain the board first and only after that try to fix the frets with Super Glue. Actually, I am not sure if Rosewood would stain well even if it is clean - it's a rather oily wood and has plenty of oils inside of its cells. Haven't tried to stain my other neck yet but I guess it would be wise to try the stain on it first. Damn, what a mess...

I don't, but I guess I will try it anyway. I will use acetone just like some guy adviced me in this thread about another neck of mine: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...c=29986&hl=

I am posting photos of the frets - just about any fret has more or less popped out of the fretboard. Some in the middle, others at the edge, as seen on the pics below. The fret work on this neck is DISASTROUS!

That's a nice DVD, thanks for the tip. I will buy it when I get that spare $90. Meanwhile any tips and advices on how to do the Super Glue repair without messing up the neck even more by spilling SG all over it are welcome.

^ The link does not work for me.

Thanks. I will do the job the the Super Glue way but how to prevent the SG from soaking itself into the fretboard wood, so to be able to stain the wood jet black afterwards? Or should I simply stain it black first and do the gluing of the frets afterwards? Also what super glue would be the best for this job? I am guessing those runny waterish kinds that are almost as thin as acetone? My experience shows that Super Glues and especially the waterish ones harden pretty slow, though (about one day for reaching full strenght), so it would take me 24 days to glue all the 24 frets in place.

Hi guys, I bought a neck for my current project because I didn't want to build one myself. I was scared of the fret work I had to do on a from-scratch neck, so I decided to use a pre-made neck. The neck I bought second hand from a fellow forumite is from a BC Rich Bronze series guitar and is in awesome shape - it is like new, no nicks, no dents, zero fret wear, etc. and I am VERY pleased with its overall condition. But. It has several frets that have popped out of their sockets - some at the edge, others at the very center of the fretboard. As I said, fret work is what scares me and what I was trying to avoid by buying this neck, and now, when it turned out that the neck I bought has fret problems, it appears to be Absolutely Useless for me, unless there is some way to fix the problem. I know that I can pour some Super Glue in the gaps and then clamp the frets but that would f*ck up the fretboard wood and make it un-stainable where the Super Glue has touched it (I intend to stain the board jet black at some point in future). Even if I mask the wood, there is a huge risk that the Super Glue would soak in via "capiliar action" or whatever it is called in English. I just tried to hammer the bad frets in - it didn't help either. Once again - I don't want to do a full re-fret because this would make the purchase of a pre-made and pre-fretted neck Totally Pointless. Heck, I bought this neck for the sole purpose of avoiding any kind of fretwork!!! Any tips or advices on this situation? What would your advice be? Should I get rid of it on eBay? It would be pretty ******* hard for me to get another one in that shape and at that price, though. This is the only neck that complied to my requirements that I managed to find in a 4 month period of searching. I am pretty much loving the neck if we don't count the fret disaster and it, apparently, is one hell of a big problem. Help, please. Thanks!

That's an awesome score indeed. With all that stuff only at 100 Canadian dollars - it's like for free. The inlay style on those fingerboards reminds me of this guy's work: CLICK He's been doing heavy floral inlays like that for quite some time. I guess your workmate got them from him. Rock on!

Neal Moser's favourite guitar has its neck made of oak. He's been using it for years when he was an active musician. He swears that it is freaking stable. He says that oak delivers lots of sustain. Don't know about the tone, though. Some people like to fix tone problems using an EQ pedal, others rely completely on their tonewoods. Guess it all depends on what kind of guy you are.

Yeah, looks like oak to me. The European oak has very rough wood with huge pores and pretty deep grain. It is very hard to grainfill it. You say yours is smooth and silky and denser than Ash - well, sounds less work grainfilling it. Looks that your oak would work for tops.

Some people use oak for bodies and necks, so it has to be OK for tops too. Can't tell anything about the American oak, though. Is it at least relatively close to the common European oak?

Hi, the poll didn't work for me. I am using self-made plectrums. 1. Because I am cheap. 2. Because I can't find picks that are thick enough for my liking.

I have a guitar fith a flat fingerboard. Love it for soloing, bends, etc. If you are a "shredder" type of guy, a guitar with a flat fingerboard would fit you great. Jason Becker's favourite Carvin had a huge radius - can't remember the figure but it was pretty close to completely flat. Also, it's not THAT hard to play bar chords on flat fingerboards. It depends on many factors - type and gauge os strings, your experience, etc... It requieres some time to get accustomed to it, then you're OK.

Yes, it is, but people insisted that I do a real binding job, so here you go - I already pulled out all the frets of the neck. You hate the look of bindings, but yet you want your fretboard to look like it has binding? Read the rest of my post where I explain why I need a binding for this one. I decided that SOME necks on SOME guitars actually look cool if bound. Anyways, will see how my binding job would turn out. Thanks for all your help, guys. PS: And damn it, soapbarstrat, I have a girlfriend. Without her, I won't be able to post here because I am using her laptop (I am too cheap to buy my own and I am too lazy to post from my desktop PC because I will have to get out of bed ).

^ Ray, I *WILL* do a real binding. Thanks.

If you check my other video HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V722vIfrQ8 you would know what I use that rubber mallet for. That's right, it is a hunting tool...

The truth is somewhere in between a really bad joke and reality. But it is true that I have never touched drums in my life.

I don't mind the binding job itself. It is refretting a perfectly healthy fretboard that annoys me. Not to mention all the costs (I am cheap, remember?). Heck, I will do a real binding job. :D

Damn, I may try real binding after all. @Prostheta, I may try drums some day but I guess it won't work - too much movment for a lazy guy like myself. Plus you can't play drums while rolling in bed (which is my hobby and job at the same time).