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Post by heem6 on Feb 26, 2010 14:03:12 GMT -5
Hey Bo, If you had to guess, do you think the 1/2 ton model will be sufficiently sturdy for the task? My friend at work here is taking it home tonight to check it out and make sure the clearances are all sufficient, and then drill if everything looks good.
I called the shop yesterday that is painting this body. The painter is "behind" because he found some oil in his air hose lines. So he had them all cleaned out and is going to shoot mine in a couple days. I was reassured because he said he knows how important this guitar is to me and wanted to be sure that this one especially turns out perfect.
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Post by Bodaggit23 on Feb 26, 2010 14:12:53 GMT -5
If I had to guess, I would think that it would only take tens of pounds to press fret wire into a slot on a wooden fretboard. I think you've got more than enough oomph to get the job done properly. I could be wrong though, as I've never re fretted a neck.
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Post by lbeast on Feb 26, 2010 17:33:59 GMT -5
I say put the fret wire in the slot, then just bite down with medium pressure. You can smooth out the neck with a little wood filler and do a fret dress an you'll be good to go! Just kidding! Sounds like you are on the right path to Fretsville. Stewmac used to have a vice grip type device to fret with. It look pretty cool. Don't know if they still make it or how well it worked though.
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Post by heem6 on Mar 6, 2010 22:27:59 GMT -5
That's exactly the device I got, Beast. However, I bought mine at Harbor Freight for $80 less.
When I was looking at it, the press bar had a flat bottom and I knew it needed something to accomodate the fret press attachment which holds the caul (which holds the fret).
I called my buddy from work and he figured you could just drill a hole in the shaft of the press bar which (if snug) would hold the attachment just fine without any kind of allen screw or clamping. He took it home and drilled it out in 5 minutes and it works great.
I just installed the first fret that I've used glue on - on the practice neck.
The back end of the arbor press was lifting up when I would press down with the handle (the press part is in front). So I put it at the back of my kitchen counter (workshop) and used a pair of clamps to hold the back end down.
I'm using Titebond II Wood Glue, which cleans up easily. This fret went in a lot better - I used a .024" Japanese Flush Cut Saw to enlarge the fret slot to accomodate these frets better. They're Stew Mac .100" x .050" frets.
I'm gonna take the hound on a walk in a few minutes, then come back in a half hour to see how well the glue set. I used the same glue when I glued the fretboard on the nice HM neck, and after about 15 minutes it was rock solid.
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Post by heem6 on Mar 6, 2010 22:41:38 GMT -5
Here's a pic of my "workbench." haha.
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Post by Bodaggit23 on Mar 7, 2010 3:29:05 GMT -5
Nicely done dude! Holy crap you have a lot of guitars. More updates, and lots of pictures please!
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Post by heem6 on Mar 7, 2010 14:10:20 GMT -5
Thanks, Bo!
Got the 24th fret installed last nite. Seemed to go well. I'm finally gaining a bit of confidence.
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Post by heem6 on Mar 7, 2010 18:28:52 GMT -5
Got all the frets installing and snipped off the ends. Everything went well, no mistakes. I'm going to take it in tomorrow and have the guy at the guitar repair shop check my work. Then I can start leveling and dressing the frets.
Whew! That took the better part of 4 hours. I'm gonna kick back and order a pizza for dinner.
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Post by Bodaggit23 on Mar 8, 2010 1:09:15 GMT -5
That looks gorgeous.
How do you get the old frets out?
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Post by heem6 on Mar 8, 2010 11:11:48 GMT -5
Thanks!
I just took the sharp edge of a jeweler's screwdriver head and used it on the side of the fret. Pushed in and up and the frets just peel upward. Then you can grab them and peel the rest of the way off.
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Post by Bodaggit23 on Mar 8, 2010 11:25:58 GMT -5
Does the fret slot have to be pretty accurate in terms of width and depth?
You say the frets get glued in, so I'm wondering how precise you have to be when using the fret saw to clean the slot.
To be honest, my purple HM has a few frets (3,4 and 5 I think) that are bad, causing some buzz when I play those frets, so I would consider replacing them. Maybe.
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Post by heem6 on Mar 8, 2010 15:32:22 GMT -5
First you'll want to check to see if the fret has wriggled loose and popped upwards (changes in humidity would cause this). That will cause it to sit higher and create a buzzing on subsequent frets.
Or, if you play a lot down on the bottom frets, it might just be fret wear that could be fixed with a fret leveling.
I would definitely highly recommend taking it to a shop for a look over first.
I think the HM's frets were mostly not glued in, so you shouldn't have any trouble with that. The fret slots are usually cut to size, but I just used the flush-cut saw mostly to make sure there were no rough edges or anything. It was easy and I don't think you would be in any danger of messing anything up while doing it. You'll get the hang of it right away.
Here's the one I got. I just ran across some guys recommending them on a guitar website also.www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=39273
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Post by Bodaggit23 on Mar 8, 2010 16:47:00 GMT -5
Mine is definitely fret wear.
I'll post a pic when I get home.
You're saying you can "build up" the flat spot? That would be sweet!
Or you have to take the rest down to match the bad one(s)?
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Post by heem6 on Mar 8, 2010 23:36:34 GMT -5
Nope, you gotta take the rest down to match.
Took my guitar to the shop today and there is one thing I missed - apparently you're supposed to "pre-radius" your frets before installing. This means you run them thru a winder gear so that the fret strip (which is maybe 2 1/2 feet long, turns into a circle. Then you cut out the individual frets and they are already curved to fit the radius of the neck.
The machine is $90 ( ! ) from StewMac, but the guy at the guitar shop is super nice, kind of impressed I am tackling this myself and graciously offered to radius them for me for free.
I heated my newly installed frets up with my soldering iron and pulled 'em all out tonight. Will go in Wednesday with the new wire for him to radius and do a new installation this weekend.
The comforting part was that he had to redo his first fret job also, as did my friend at work who built 5 guitars from scratch last year. He gave me a few pointers and said I did a fine job otherwise.
So I guess that's like passing your driving test with flying colors but then T-boning another student at the end of the test. LOL
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Post by nickwellings on Mar 9, 2010 5:43:22 GMT -5
This is why I never tried fretwork. It's a real skill to get to grips with.
As far as pulling old frets out, I had great success heating the frets with a soldering iron and then using a pair of nail clippers to pull them. The clippers are smaller basic version of the "blunt profile" nippers that Stew mac sells for about $13,873.
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