Damaged m-307

[msherman]

I guess I`m spoiled over here, I use accelerant with the CA, so it hardens as soon as the accelerant hits it, and is fully cured in 5 minutes.

 

[dpm]

Ah yeah, accelerant... duh... I'm really not with it today

 

[JJ Rodriguez]

Yeah, I'm not fucking with that, super glue is bad enough for me. I'll end up glueing my face to the guitar or something

Okay, these pics are shitty as hell because I only have my mom's digital, which is extremely shitty. I couldn't get any close up pics because it wouldn't focus right, and if I turned the flash off, the camera wouldn't take pictures at all:

And look what I picked up today:

My friend gave it to me for 15 bucks + tax. It had been sitting in the store he works in forever, and I can buy a bunch of it at cost

 

[dpm]

Cool. Do a thorough test on scrap first so you get an idea of how it sprays. MDF is good for that.

I'd probably go the superglue route with that. You'll certainly want to clamp it using Mike's wax paper method. You need thin glue to get in there properly, do a trial run first, prepare your clamps etc. Good luck!

 

[JJ Rodriguez]

I'm thinking I might try a refret on this thing too. I've got a shitty old bass I can do it on first. I'd like to do stainless, but since I've never done standard frets, I have a feeling jumping right to SS would be a bad idea

 

[Sebastian]

Great you finally got it

Hope there will be a good tutorial/picstory here

 

[JJ Rodriguez]

Well, since I'm a noob, it won't be much of a tutorial. I will however make a picstory so you can avoid my mistakes that inevitably will happen

http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdpr...retting&NameProdHeader=Fret+Tang+Removal+Tool

Anyone with any experience fretting know if this is worth it? Especially if I'm dumb enough to try stainless steel frets for my first refret experience?

 

[Sebastian]

Thats great there will be a picstory - a lot of pics please

EDIT: I'm too lazy to read this topic (no offence...) but what color will the guitar be ?

 

[JJ Rodriguez]

Blue to red color changing. I'm pricing up fretting tools, I'm up to over $400 US, I guess since I'm a noob I'd need more tools. I imagine some guys can probably level/crown/polish frets with their eyes closed, but I figure specialty tools would probably be best for me. I don't know if I'm going to order them up or not...

 

[dpm]

I'll post when I'm home from work JJ

 

[JJ Rodriguez]

W00t. Professional input is always welcome

 

[dpm]

Ok, first up buy these books , one of these...do I see binding on there? if so you'll need this. Levelling files, cutters and pullers you can make yourself by modifying other tools. It's heaps cheaper and the details are in the books. You will need a crowning file too. I like the diamond ones, but they are expensive. A standard one should do fine if you're not using several times a day like me. Myself and my boss have gone through about half a dozen diamond crowning files in the last 10 years. Add some wet/dry papers of various grits, some kind of metal buffing wheel and compound, thick super glue and fine applicator nozzles, and probably a few other things I'm forgeting. Sometimes the frets don't want to stay down so it can be very handy to have something like this. It might be possible to make a caul to do that job specifically for that guitar. That covers the actual fret related stuff...sort of.

The fretboard itself might (meaning probably will) need levelling to some degree, which is what these are for. I find using the next flatter block than what you're aiming for generally gives the right radius given the thickness of the sandpaper and human movement. You will need a quality straightedge to check your levelling, and a few short ones for checking fret level.
Regarding fretwire, a good 18% standard wire is quite a lot harder than what most factories use. They use soft wire because it's cheaper, and primarily because it's a hell of a lot easier to install by unskilled labor. Unless you're a complete animal 18% wire should give many years of service. Having said that, I do like stainless, however it is much harder to work. You really need to radius it quite accurately, it takes longer to grind, it's harder on tools, and if you need to undercut it for binding it is a total bitch. On the other hand I find it less springy so it tends to stay put a touch better.

As far as the work itself goes, it is partly a matter of having the right tools for the job, and a whole lot of using them properly. I can guarantee your first attempts won't be perfect. Refretting is significantly more difficult than fretting a fresh fretboard. You have old glue, torn up slots, fretboard wear and grease and grime to deal with, amongst other things. There are a ton of variables involved, though that particular guitar should be relatively friendly to you given it's age and manufacturing methods.

I'm sure there's much more to be said here, but it's late and I'm tired....

In essence, what I'm saying is - prepare yourself first, learn as much as you can, and do it properly

 

[JJ Rodriguez]

You rock Dan. Most of that stuff is what I had priced up so thanks for verifying I'm mostly on the right track. What do you think of that fret tang remover from LMII, the one that clamps the fret wire so you can file away the tang instead? They say they came up with it specifically because undercutting stainless is a bitch. I have an old bass here I might try to refret before I try this, the only sad part is that the bass is a peice of shit and I don't think it's worthy of new frets But still, practice is always good.

 

[dpm]

The bass is certainly worth practicing on no matter how crap

The LMII device will work better on stainless for sure. I've been contemplating whether to buy one or make something similar as it is on the expensive side.

 

[JJ Rodriguez]

Cool, I think I'm going to order it up here in a couple weeks along with some files and shit. I have friends that I know who would love to have fret jobs done, could charge them a small fee so I could practice on their instruments and get experience at the same time