dude, nightmare fret job.....

[subanots]

theodie, you thought warmoth fret jobs are janky? :sigh:

they are better than fender, thats for sure.
so this new strat i got......

i was messing around with it after a quick set-up. i was playing to a lighnin hopkins cd. (bendy, bendy) and noticed it fretted out on the b and e string, when i bent it up around the 14th fret. totally dead. :boggled:

(even though i have a lot of luthier tools at my house, i dont have the tools at my house for fret work. after this nightmare.... i will.)

i dont have a fret rocker, so i used the end of a metal ruler. which meant i could only check the frets from the 13th fret to the 22nd.

all kinds of high/ low frets. :thumbsdow

now, i dont have a fret pounding arbour either. so i used a chopstick and a normal hammer....

carefully i started tapping away.

i wasnt getting anywhere because the frets wouldnt stay seated, so i packed it up and went to the shop.

the frets on this thing were sooooo loose. i had to jet them in on the ends.

i finally got them leveled, but it took waaaaaay longer than it should have. :grumble:

by that time, i knew i needed to refret this neck. mg:

but, i had it playable, so im gonna wait until i feel like it. at least the ends are nice and dressed. and there are no more high frets.

at least i got to work on a guitar. its been a while, since i switched from breedlove to weber, i went from set-up to cnc, i dont get to touch guitars.

 

[cream123]

Re: dude, nightmare fret job.....

wow/ that sucks.

 

[tubeman87]

Re: dude, nightmare fret job.....

Dude that must have been a nightmare. Godd luck with that.

 

[subanots]

Re: dude, nightmare fret job.....

it did suck.

at least its fixed.

 

[BigAlTheBird]

Re: dude, nightmare fret job.....

Aren't you replacing the neck with that crazy beautiful neck?

By the way, beautiful strat. Best color ever. Congrats!

 

[theodie]

Re: dude, nightmare fret job.....

WOW!

I would most certainly float some glue under those frets to keep them where you want them. Some wax, 10W epoxy, a rag, and a quick hand.

 

[subanots]

Re: dude, nightmare fret job.....

yah, but i dont have the neck yet.

and if i do sell this neck, i dont want to sell it with the frets all screwed up. thats why i spent the time on it.

 

[subanots]

Re: dude, nightmare fret job.....

WOW!

I would most certainly float some glue under those frets to keep them where you want them. Some wax, 10W epoxy, a rag, and a quick hand.

i wicked some jet in there. its a nice trick i was taught at breedlove. you take a piece of 10 guage string, and dip it in a puddle of jet. you can carefully get it to seep right into cracks and stuff, without it going all over the place.

you can use this to fix finish lifts too. we did it all the time.

 

[theodie]

Re: dude, nightmare fret job.....

i wicked some jet in there. its a nice trick i was taught at breedlove. you take a piece of 10 guage string, and dip it in a puddle of jet. you can carefully get it to seep right into cracks and stuff, without it going all over the place.

you can use this to fix finish lifts too. we did it all the time.

Ya, basically the same thing. I use the bottle of glue with a very fine whip-tip to apply it though.

Its all good.

 

[BigAlTheBird]

Re: dude, nightmare fret job.....

yah, but i dont have the neck yet.

and if i do sell this neck, i dont want to sell it with the frets all screwed up. thats why i spent the time on it.

Oh ok that definitely makes some sense. Well good luck with that! That new neck is stunning, thought I should say it again.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: dude, nightmare fret job.....

If there's one thing I can't stand, it's trying to make a 'cursed' piece of gear perfect. Somehow, you always look at it as a flawed POS.

I'd get it working OK, then sell it. Put a flawless new neck on there!

 

[WhoFan]

Re: dude, nightmare fret job.....

sounds like it was maybe a combo of wood not being kiln died enough and frets that where not slightly over bend to stop them from springing up... it happens....

I have a new MIM strat that the frets were not crowned right... there is some flat spots along the High E string that looks like someone used a file to smooth out some high spots but never re-crowned the fret tops...