The Hub

Hey Loothers, A client reached out requesting a neck with wider nut for his headless Ibanez 7 string. He would like it built with rosewood for the neck and the fret board which has been stored for years at a consistent 45 to 50 % humidity in his home. The frets are angled to make it play more ergonomically but it is not a multi scale instrument. He plays finger picking fusion style and simply needs more neck width at the nut to play mu…

I bought a used stewmac Fret Jaws but the black part that holds the fret inserts is missing the screw. I think it should be an Allen head grub screw. Does anyone know the size of that screw so I can get a replacement? Thanks.

The back of the neck pocket is under the 15th fret slot. Holes are drilled 3/8" from the outside edge of the fret board. Check out Ted Wordford's video at for extensive work he did on a '63 Sorrento.

Is it a common problem for the fretboard on an acoustic to develop a hump around Fret #12 and higher, where the neck meets the body? If so, what is the cause, and is there something that can be done, or avoided, during the initial build process? I have two quality Zager brand guitars that both have the problem, with the problem being worse on the cheaper model. I am a newbie to fret dressing and lowering, so I first tried adjusting the…

In the process of evaluating the repairs needed on this guitar I checked to see if the truss rod was working. There is hole in the transverse brace where you would normally insert a truss rod, but all I see is the end of a metal bar with a smallish hole in the center. I tried several allen wrenches that would fit in the hole, but nothing seems to grab. Did they really eliminate the adjustable truss rod on this vintage reproduction? Here'…

Refretted my Yamaha Studio Lord 550 with jumbo frets. This is my second fret job. First was on a bolt-on BC Rich neck. The Studio Lord (Les Paul copy) was my first set neck project. It is pretty good. No fretting out. I set the action at 4.5/64 on bass and 3.5/64 on the high strings. Today I noticed that if I bend a high F to G (13th fret on first string), the note frets out (I can get to F # no problem by bending from the 13th).

Hi Everyone, What do you feel is the best way to remove the file marks from the frets after leveling and crowning with a fret crowning file? I'm happy with the shape and overall feel of the frets after crowning so this is an aesthetic issue more than anything. These are the files I'm using. The centered versions of 150 & 300-grit: https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/types-of-tools/files/stewmac-compact-z-file-…

Looking for a luthier that can work on old Martin Ukuleles with bar frets. Please send suggestions

Hey all, I have a customer that brought a mid 2000's Gold Jazzmaster to get a suggestion on what to do to the neck of it. On the Low E side of the neck it has about .08 relief, while the treble side is at .05 relief, and the truss rod is maxed out. He has had several other well known luthiers in the area work on it, one of them tried a fret dress and a setup that only fixed it for about a month, and the other one heated the neck to add…

Is there a Pneumatic Fret Tang Nipper out there or did anybody ever combined a Tang Nipper with a pneumatic Plier? Or maybe it is possible to take the Stewmac Tang Nipper (i like the new version) and modify it? I always make 20-40 Sets of frets ready so i can make a lot of fretboards ready in one day. But after a while my hand really hurts. Thank you

Hi everybody, I have a Maton EBG808C TE Tommy Emmanuel Cutaway Ebony Fingerboard in my shop for a setup but the instrument is also in need for a partial refret. The customer agreed to do that. Now, is there someone here that did this before that can help me to choose the right fret type for this job? On an average I have 0.080" width and 0.040" height for the original frets Thank you :-)