RG 7260 - Fingerboard Replacement

[Linny]

I have only posted here a few times but i read here most days

I am copying this off the UK Guitar Builders Forum and i thought it might be some interest to some of you guys here. This is a little job i did about a year ago.

Maybe this can serve as a tutorial to someone.

The guitar in question, the ugliest fingerboard ever i think. Dry and brown

Lets make an Ebony one.

Joint one edge

Flatten 1 face

The router table to thickness

Mess!

MMMM

Slot

Score around old one

Iron on hot with plenty of steam and a stew mac wedge knife (great tool)

Keep working down......

Until it pops off. You can see that ibanez drill their dots all the way through the board.

 

[Linny]

Board has now been tapered oversize by about a mil, using the old board as a template.

Flatten both gluing surfaces.

2 screws to provide alignment and clamping pressure.

Fire a staple in.......

Cut head off at an angle to leave two sharp points

Glue on both surfaces.

All my bigger clamps.

And remember kids don't drink and play with staple guns.

 

[Linny]

After the excess glue was cleaned off i started making the little ledge for the floyd rose nut to sit on.

Still a little fine tuning to go.

 

[Linny]

Fretboard has been radiused to 16"

Bevel the slots

Bending the wire

Drilling the side dots (2mm)

Tap them in

Done

Frets going in, tangs are under cut.

Finished, still got to bevel ends, level and fill fret tang slots on the side.

 

[Linny]

I had to make a tool to bevel the fret ends. Just a beech block with a file in it at 35 degrees.

I think you will agree it looks better than before.

 

[BigPhi84]

What wood did you end up going with?

 

[Linny]

What wood did you end up going with?

Ebony

 

[Goatchrist]

Wow! Great Job!

Looks nice!

 

[jay133]

Clean work, man, respect!) Looking good!

 

[Mwoit]

Nice job man! That staple gun wound seems painful!

 

[guy in latvia]

great job! congrats!

 

[Floppystrings]

Looks FANTASTIC.

He made it look so easy too.

 

[djohns74]

Nice work, the finished product looks great! By the way, I am a really big fan of the staple idea to help locate the board during clamping. I will totally try a variation of that on my next build.

 

[demonx]

good work!

Ive never heard of someone hammering in side dots.

After I mark and drill the holes, I just put a blob of glue on the bench ( I usually have cardboard layed out over my gluing bench so I can pick it up and throw it out when done with) - then I just dip the side dot stick into the glue, push it into the hole, then cut it off with pliers, then move along. Takes maybe a minute to do them all. Then I leave them like that until final sanding as they sand back real quick and easy.

 

[Linny]

good work!

Ive never heard of someone hammering in side dots.

After I mark and drill the holes, I just put a blob of glue on the bench ( I usually have cardboard layed out over my gluing bench so I can pick it up and throw it out when done with) - then I just dip the side dot stick into the glue, push it into the hole, then cut it off with pliers, then move along. Takes maybe a minute to do them all. Then I leave them like that until final sanding as they sand back real quick and easy.

These are pearl dots, only 2mm thick. I didn't hammer them in as such just a tap to align them, i used 2mm dots which are tiny and used a 2mm drill bit so tolerance was tight. I probably lost more than a few on the carpet due to my sausage fingers.

 

[demonx]

These are pearl dots, only 2mm thick. I didn't hammer them in as such just a tap to align them, i used 2mm dots which are tiny and used a 2mm drill bit so tolerance was tight. I probably lost more than a few on the carpet due to my sausage fingers.

aahhh - ok, in the pics it just looked like normal plastic dots - cant see the detail!

My err..

 

[BlackMastodon]

Very nice clean work man. Sausage fingers unite!

 

[Ruins]

good job clean executed and awesome result.

 

[Metamurphic]

Amazing! Thankyou for this!

 

[WarriorOfMetal]

Looks a lot nicer than stock, and probably sounds better, too...but it'd look so much better with binding!