Repair And Restoration
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Fretting a fret slot that won’t hold the fret
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Fretting a fret slot that won’t hold the fret
Hey all,
I’ve got a Prewar Martin on my workbench (1932/33 0-18) and this thing has unfortunately been through the guitar center wringer.
I’ve had to reset a fretboard that was glued down with Gorilla glue and as well, rejoint the neck and underside of the fretboard.
I had to repair a large deal of tear out that was sitting underneath their fret job and because of that I now have a brittle fret slot all up the board that will not hold a fret in place at all. My method so far has been pressing and gluing them in place with the StewMac Jaws II and it’s been working great. All leveled perfectly and none are popping up, my issue is the 5 frets in between the heel and the neck block. I cannot reach these with a fret press and hammering just will not get these in. I am very afraid to chuck this thing in the drill press and press that way since it’s so old and delicate, I worry that I’ll crack the back further than it’s already been cracked.
Any tips on fretting these final 5 slots would be much appreciated. Thank you!
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16 Replies
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Do you have some pictures perhaps?
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Here’s the frets I pressed and glued. They’re seated perfectly, no gaps and no high frets
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Lets set up a time to hop on the loothalong and take a look at this.
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Sounds good, how can I schedule that?
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email me ian.davlin@gmail.com
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Thanks Ian, I just sent an email.
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That’s where the Jaws I bar clamp style comes into play. You’re right here in New Braunfels I think. If you want to swing by and borrow it let me know.
Dave Staudte, NB Guitar Repair
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Hey Dave that would be great! Thank you so much, it’d be great to connect in person as well.
Just to confirm though, you don’t mean this jaws style do you?
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Yes, that one. I clamp a board from under the heel block area that extends up the neck to about the 9th fret with a stack of blocks and neck caul. (hopefully that makes sense)
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Gotta rig up something like this. Been using that clamp for years. Just got the Jaws II a couple weeks ago.
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Ah! Why didn’t I think of this lol.
I’ve always; until now, hammered in these frets in question but that looks like a great way to do it.
Thanks Dave! Much appreciated
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Do you have a 3D printer ? I have an extension caul that works better than the one that comes with your version of Jaws.
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I have a nice selection of these little blocks but when I get a printer I’m going to print perfect size blocks for this application.
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Great rig!
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I had a similar issue where the frets wouldn’t seat in the FB extension. The cause was that the FB extension was not completely glued down in places and that was absorbing the force from the hammer. I found that out when the shadow of a piece of tape on the FB was illuminated by a work light, the tape’s shadow “amplified” the FB’s movement. I could not see the FB move, even with magnification but the shadow from the tape moved when I pressed the FB down. Re-glued the extension and the fret slots were so chewed up by then, I used the fret crimper to widen the tang. That may not be your issue at all but something I would check, with a long piece of tape sticking up from the offending fret area and casting a long shadow.
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