Fretboard removal

Sarge

Today I'm embarking on my first rosewood fretboard removal to replace a snapped truss rod.
The neck has a poly glitter finish which I'm desperate to retain as much as possible
 



I've taken it upon myself to score along where I think the board meets the maple so when it comes to steaming it off there'll be as little damage to the finish as possible. 

I'm hoping to pull from the hive collective here on wether to remove the frets before taking the board off or after, the rosewood does look fairly thin especially for a Westone.
Does keeping the frets in hinder or enhance structural integrity? 

thanks for the space and time. 

Roland

@WezV ;

WezV

I have done it both ways, with and without frets.  I'm not convinced it makes much difference... the frets help heat transfer if using an iron, but I would still plan of refretting

Just make sure you score and score again on that finish. 


The most important bit if planning to reuse the board is to clamp it flat once its off... it will want to curl up

SteveRobinson

I'd keep the frets in, they'll help conduct the heat to the glue join.

Also you might be able to put it back and keep the original frets, saving the work of re-fretting it as they look to have plenty of height?

Sarge

WezV said:

I have done it both ways, with and without frets.  I'm not convinced it makes much difference... the frets help heat transfer if using an iron, but I would still plan of refretting

Just make sure you score and score again on that finish. 


The most important bit if planning to reuse the board is to clamp it flat once its off... it will want to curl up

Thanks.
Frets in makes sense, I've seen the use of a steel rule between iron and frets before for "better heat distribution" but that's possibly overkill as I'll be going as slowly as possible.

I've scored through to wood all way round but I'm not 100% sure I've hit the join, definitely at the head end where I can see rosewood meeting maple.

I have a set of clamps and a flat surface ready for the board. 

Sarge

SteveRobinson said:

I'd keep the frets in, they'll help conduct the heat to the glue join.

Also you might be able to put it back and keep the original frets, saving the work of re-fretting it as they look to have plenty of height?

There is plenty height but they're skinny and I've already decided to replace with jumbos  

Sarge

here goes nothing! 

Sarge

came off really clean and not a single fouling of the neck finish, phew.



same again with the fillet strips? 

Sarge

I really was hoping i could replace the single action rod with a dual action but don't think it will be possible with the contoured channel, am I wrong? 

SteveRobinson

How deep is the channel at its deepest point? Could you re-rout it flat to the height of a double-action rod?

And how wide?

Sarge

SteveRobinson said:

How deep is the channel at its deepest point? Could you re-rout it flat to the height of a double-action rod?

And how wide?

13.7mm at the deepest.
the neck is 17mm at that point, minus fretboard obviously. 

I don't own a router 

Sarge

looking at a northwest guitars dual action rod which is 9mm deep and 7mm width it certainly looks possible.
I'd need to find someone to do the rout for me though, wouldn't want to practice on this 

Jazzthat

Very cool and successful surgery  

Sarge

Jazzthat said:

Very cool and successful surgery  

thanks! 

Sarge

Trying to work out if I should replace like for like or try a dual action rod. 
A couple of concerns:
I couldn't fully straighten the neck with the old rod, it wasn't far off but not quite enough for my liking. Will I encounter the same problem with like for like? 

Was the problem that the rod was starting to rust and was stuck fast in the channel, should a single rod have any movement in there? 

WezV

It's hard to say really.   Can you repair the old rod and put it back, where was it broken.

At this point i would be considering filling the channel to reroute for my chosen 2 way rod.  But obviously yahts the trickier way forward

Sarge

WezV said:

It's hard to say really.   Can you repair the old rod and put it back, where was it broken.

At this point i would be considering filling the channel to reroute for my chosen 2 way rod.  But obviously yahts the trickier way forward

it broke off flush at the bullet nut.
I guess I could shift the anchor up a bit and tweak the bend in the rod but unsure how much thread I'd need for a new nut.

it is quite a slim neck and I don't know if a dual would fit at the headstock end 

SteveRobinson

Sarge said:

it broke off flush at the bullet nut.
I guess I could shift the anchor up a bit and tweak the bend in the rod but unsure how much thread I'd need for a new nut.

I've done that in the past. 20mm should be plenty I'd have thought.

Sarge

SteveRobinson said:

Sarge said:

it broke off flush at the bullet nut.
I guess I could shift the anchor up a bit and tweak the bend in the rod but unsure how much thread I'd need for a new nut.

I've done that in the past. 20mm should be plenty I'd have thought.

thanks Steve