Repair And Restoration
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Shredder Ski Jumps
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Shredder Ski Jumps
I have a new client with 100+ shredder type guitars. He gave me a couple of the easier ones to work on. The first is an ESP which fretted out with bends up above the 12th fret. I thought it was just the 2/64th” low action, but the last two frets seemed really high. I suspected there was a shim in the pocket, and yeah, there was.
The bottom of the neck heel is deformed where the shim was. The shaded/dirty area at the bottom edge. Not dented, but it ramps up towards the fretboard. It does not look that way on the fretboard side, though. There are just a few high frets that have enough meat that I can sand in some fall-away. My question is: Do I install a full-pocket shim and put the neck back on, or should I be leveling the bottom of the heel?
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7 Replies
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Your mileage may vary but I probably wouldn’t worry too much about working on the back of the heel. I’d install a full-pocket shim and level out the discrepancy from the frets (since you mention there’s plenty of height). I don’t think the back of the heel will deform in the other direction after all this is done (there’s nothing to pull that area down in the same way it was pushed up) but, even if it does, any fret-side movement of the last fret or two will be in the ‘downwards’ direction.
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One thing about working the heel down is that you will definitely be blowing though patina that is visible. Might not seem like a big deal, but it could look quite white out beyond the neck pocket.
If it was super annoying, you might blast of the dented area and glue on a nice permanent shim and give it a little finish.
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Thanks, Ian and Gerry.
The second guitar is a Kramer with an obvious upward ramp at the end of the rosewood fretboard. I put a long straightedge on the side of the fretboard, keeping it aligned at the top edge of the fretboard between the 1st and 12th frets. The fretboard starts rising above the straight edge at the 18th fret. By the end of the fretboard, it’s almost 1/32″ above the ruler. Interestingly, the bottom of the neck heel seems nice and level. My plan is to pull the last 6 frets, reshape the fretboard end, cut the fret slots deeper where needed, and put frets back in. I am concerned that shaving the fretboard down will likely be right down and into some of the aluminum side dot markers. Any suggestions or words of wisdom?
No shim in this one, but something left that lightened shape in the heel. Not sure what it could have been.
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Can you post a pic of the side too.
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I am rethinking “ski jump” when looking at the pictures, or at least the possible cause. In the side shot of the neck heel, you can see it rise slightly upwards at the last fret. In the picture with the straight edge, you can see how it ramps up over the last 6 frets. In the picture of the bottom of the heel, I can see glue; it could be squeeze out. In the last photo, side of the neck around the 7th fret, there a bit of mismatch in the rosewood and maple seam. Maybe the fretboard was re-glued?
The tongue of the fretboard has a little more thickness, so maybe I won’t have to shave as much as I thought in the areas that have side dot markers. What do you think?
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Those side markers are a real concern. Here are some options
- Drill the markers out, fill and instal new markers after the leveling.
- Make as much improvement as is possible without hitting them
- Pull the board and re-level the maple (probable refret)
- Kerf the maple (high risk)
- Avoid the project all together.
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Thanks very much!
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