Fretting

TheOtherDennis

I have an acoustic that I built from a StewMac kit, and the frets at the body end of the body don't sit down properly. As a result, if you lay a metal ruler edge along the top of the frets you'd think the neck was warped. I'm pretty sure it isn't, because if I line up the edge of the ruler with the join between the neck and the fingerboard, it appears to be perfectly straight.

I live in Lutterworth, Leicestershire (junction 20 of the M1), so does anyone know of anyone relatively nearby who I can trust to do a number on my frets? I'd go to Sheehans but I fell out with them (long story).

Or any good advice on how to get it right? It's a bolt-on neck so there's no problem with removing it to get any work done.

FelineGuitars

Go and see Nigel and Danny at Leicestershire Luthier

http://www.leicestershire-luthier.co.uk/

TheOtherDennis

They look good, ta for that, I'll give them a call if Wez (who I've asked on a different thread) can't help me.

Ta for the link, I appreciate it.

WezV

I can certainly help if you are struggling but there are a few thigns you can try first

have you glued the end of the fretboard down, your comments make me think not.    even bolt-on necks on acoustics have that bit stuck down normally, removing the neck invovles a bit more work than a bolt on electric

 

are the frets seated properly.  it can be hard to get these last frets on an acoustic done   on refrets, but should be fine if building from scratch.  worth checking though.

 

 

 

 

TheOtherDennis

No, the frets haven't been seated properly, that's the problem - you can actually get your fingernail under a couple. For some reason they wouldn't go in when I put them in. Maybe I was too delicate, I'll explain if I see you. So I can see why it would be hard getting them sorted on a refret.

And no, I haven't glued the end of the fretboard down - the biggest problem with my first two builds was the neck angle. Despite all my measuring and fine-tuning and all of that, I still got them wrong, so I wanted to make sure I'd got that right before I glued anything.

Besides, a few years ago I went to the Acoustic Avalon thing that Sheehans in Leicester hold every year at Leicester racecourse. They had two Taylor techies there from their factory in San Diego who were sorting out actions and neck angles and stuff, and they say they have always used bolt-on necks and shims, and none of the necks they worked on had been glued in. I watched as they simply removed the strings, stuck a spanner inside the body, undid the bolts, lifted the neck off and replaced the shims in the joint. (They did this to at least three guitars while I stood there astonished at their speed and dexterity.)

I figured that the the tension of the strings pulling the end of the neck up would thus force the fingerboard down onto the guitar top as surely as any glue would. That's the theory, anyway.

WezV

the taylor neck join is very different to the stew-mac kit. it has extra support under the fretboard and a bolt to bring it tight to the body.  the shims are precision made for accurate adjustment of angle 

http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/Data/Guitar/Taylor/99NeckJoint/99joint.html

whereas most bolt-on acoustics look more like this

the fretboard section is not supported and really benefits from being stuck to the body, it can warp upwards and foul the strings if not stuck down

when the fretboard end is stuck to the body it will actually be on a different angle to the rest of the fretboard as it will drop off  too follow the body.  basically,  it gets it out the way in an are where you don't need great action.

WezV

on the loose frets, you can push them in with a clamping caul and a G-clamp, whilst clamped a bit of glue might help, eitehr way i would get that fretboard end stuck down.

i would offer to help in person but i know its not something i would be able to do for another few weeks at least 

TheOtherDennis

Thanks for all that, Wez, and for the offer of help.

I'll check out the other guys in Leicester, see what they say and then get back to you.

Appreciate the info.