Fret Level Help

RVA said:
Thanks! With this shim, the saddles need to be LIFTED an appreciable amount to get the strings off of the board, but nothing too high. I will have to leave it at that because I do not have the ability to make micro adjustments at a taper

Also, the neck settled in nicely and goes dead straight if desired.
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That's perfect. A neck set solidly at the right angle is better than one leaning on a micro-adjustment screw. And that's what you have now.
 
Ray, if I am not mistaken, I have even heard of players using matchbook covers, playing cards or other easily trimmed things to shim a Fender neck. Also, if I may say so, I really like that type neck for those era Strats. I suspect you are very lucky it has the bullet style T Rod. The ones with allen head nuts that fit in that hole in the head stock are often stripped out and one can't easily see if the wrench is in there properly and actually turning.

The one pro to the recessed nut " Bi Flex" T Rods like on my 1989 and 1990 Strats is they can address back bow and forward bow.
 
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RVA said:
The frets are fighting me a bit, but coming out nicely.

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Ray, when you went to remove the frets, do you score each edge of the fret where is meets the wood with a sharp razor blade?

DonP said:
It looks like most of its life has been spent unplayed; there are no visible finger-wear patches in the lacquer. That could account for at least part of its condition. I saw a wire in the corner of one of your pictures. Did you use a soldering iron to heat the frets before pulling them? I always find that helps minimise tear-out.
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DonP, I have a well used and played 1930's Archtop where the fingerboard is considerably gouged in the first few frets from what I presume was someone with longish fingernails, a heavy fret hand, and years of cowboy chords. My questions are pertaining to fixing these depressions and R and I of frets. The fingerboard is rosewood, the frets are likely original 1930's and the guitar is a Recording King Roy Smeck model.

If the guitar were yours, would the best fix be to remove frets and do like Ray did to level the board and then install frets and likely trim down the saddle to bring the string action/relief down to a playable height? I will try to get some good pictures to help with evaluation. I am also pretty sure the neck does not have an adjustable truss rod since this is a guitar made for Montgomery Wards stores by Gibson.

Mine looks like this one, but I will try posting pics of my fretboard ASAP

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chilipeppermaniac said:
Ray, if I am not mistaken, I have even heard of players using matchbook covers, playing cards or other easily trimmed things to shim a Fender neck. Also, if I may say so, I really like that type neck for those era Strats. I suspect you are very lucky it has the bullet style T Rod. The ones with allen head nuts that fit in that hole in the head stock are often stripped out and one can't easily see if the wrench is in there properly and actually turning.

The one pro to the recessed nut " Bi Flex" T Rods like on my 1989 and 1990 Strats is they can address back bow and forward bow.
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Have you ever come across back bow? I haven't. But I do like dual action truss rods because they work, not by pulling on the neck and adding strain, but by actually bending which I reckon is a much kinder way to do the job.
 
chilipeppermaniac said:
Ray, when you went to remove the frets, do you score each edge of the fret where is meets the wood with a sharp razor blade?



DonP, I have a well used and played 1930's Archtop where the fingerboard is considerably gouged in the first few frets from what I presume was someone with longish fingernails, a heavy fret hand, and years of cowboy chords. My questions are pertaining to fixing these depressions and R and I of frets. The fingerboard is rosewood, the frets are likely original 1930's and the guitar is a Recording King Roy Smeck model.

If the guitar were yours, would the best fix be to remove frets and do like Ray did to level the board and then install frets and likely trim down the saddle to bring the string action/relief down to a playable height? I will try to get some good pictures to help with evaluation. I am also pretty sure the neck does not have an adjustable truss rod since this is a guitar made for Montgomery Wards stores by Gibson.

Mine looks like this one, but I will try posting pics of my fretboard ASAP
Click to expand...

I think I would be tempted to ignore the finger wear depressions in the fingerboard and just deal with whatever issues the frets have. If the neck isn't actually warped like Ray's Strat, I'd leave it alone and if possible just do a fret level and crown (at best) or a fret replacement if necessary. If you do replace the frets it may be an idea to sand away the depressions - I'm betting they aren't deep. But I would consider them honestly earned battle scars.
 
They are a few mm's deep, Don. Picture the grandfather to scalloped neck type deep. I will likely have the guitar looked at by a pro in vintage instruments and get their suggestions for overall setup, maintenance and care recommendations.
 
A few mm is quite a lot. That would be a lot of lost fingerboard to get rid of them. I can picture Dan Erlewine finding some matching wood and patching it in instead.
 
Thanks D. I suspected not.
DonP said:
A few mm is quite a lot. That would be a lot of lost fingerboard to get rid of them. I can picture Dan Erlewine finding some matching wood and patching it in instead.
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I am in the process of de-stringing it and will hopefully get some good angles to photograph the board. In just picking up the guitar, I forgot there is some roughness of wear clear up to the 12th fret which is minimal and easily sanded smooth. The worst divots are up by the 1st -3rd fret in between the 2-4th strings.
 
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