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- Fretboard Removal
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Fretboard Removal - Written by Kevan Geier
It is a project you can do if you're famaliar with wood, glue and plastic and how
steam/heat interacts with them. I do NOT have a full wood shop here (contrary to
Rachel's thoughts that the kitchen is actually my shop...LOL), but I make due with the
tools and facilities I have. The results are, so far, great.
Prep:
•Remove ALL hardware except for the nut. Locking nuts can be removed, but I
like to leave standard nuts on so I don't have to re-measure when I attach the new board
on. Lazy? Maybe. Smart? Yup. :-)
•Leave the frets in. Your board will curl if you take them out. You can
do fretwork once the board is on it's new neck.
Tools I use:
1. Regular household iron. It must have the "steam" option.
It'll save you some time if it has the "steam full on" button.
2. 2.5" or 3" putty knife/paint scraper. Use your Dremel to make that edge
sharper than Dennis Miller taking apart GWBush. :-) Possible subsitute:
Steak knife. NOT the one with the serrated edge; make sure the edge is
straight and sharp. I still use this one on occasion. It's pretty damn sturdy.
3. Razor blade. Preferably the rectangular kind, but it doesn't really matter
as long as it's SHARP.
4. T-shirts. You'll need at least 3. Make sure they're either old, or
not yours.
5. Ball-peen hammer. Doesn't have to be a 12lb. sledge...just something small
you can use force with.
6. Extra bucket of patience. This is the most important thing you can bring
with you.
NEVER EVER EVER NEVER EVER NEVER start at the nut-end of the fretboard. This is far
too visible to the public and usually contains wood you'll need later on. Don't
start here. Go to the other end.
Start at the very butt-end of the neck. Look for the joint where the fretboard meets
the neck. Put the razor and hammer away; we won't be touching them for a LONG time.
Get the iron. Set it on "WOOL" if it has such a setting. The middle
of the "steam" settings is fine...maybe a touch hotter. Let the iron warm
up. Now, with rosewood/ebony/darker woods, I set the iron on the fretboard bare (no
shirt). On maple/lighter wood boards, I like to slide the neck into the t-shirt, as
if it's wearing it (i.e. only one layer of cloth). There is no flame that touches
the wood, but I like to be careful. You can put the t-shirt on any board. It's
just a personal preferance. Put the other shirts under the neck to support it's head
and to keep it from getting dinged.
Set the iron on the end of the neck...right on top of the frets (hot side down for all you
Harmony Central writers). Make sure the steam is going. Leave the iron there
for about 5 minutes, or until the steam runs out on the iron. NEVER EVER EVER NEVER
let it out of your sight!!!!! Keep a watchful eye on the neck and the iron.
When the steam is done, it's time to get that razor in there.
Insert the razor at the seam of the neck and board directly at the back of the butt end.
Push (with your hand at first) very firmly. You want that razor to get between
the glue and the board. Be careful- don't carve any wood away from the neck or
board. This is probably the toughest part. Move the razor from the center, to
the sides..opening up the first 1mm of the board. This is VERY tedious and takes
some time. It may require more heat. If so, put more water in the iron and hit
it again with the hot steam. You'll be a pro at ironing when you're done with this.
:-)
Now that the razor is in there, we need a little more "umph" to lift that board
off the neck. This is where your scraper/knife comes in handy. Once the razor
is in the neck (stuck fairly good), insert the scraper UNDERNEATH the board, but above the
razor. This should put you right at Glue Level, and point the scraper towards the
neck instead of the fretboard. Give it a VERY LIGHT tap with the hammer to seat it
in the gap. You may have to work it a little left-to-right. That's fine, but
make sure you've given the board PLENTY of steam heat. Keep water in that iron and
keep it on the board when you're not tapping on the paint scraper.
NEVER EVER NEVER EVER EVER "lift up" on the scraper/knife. Let it work for
you. ALWAYS keep it angled down...towards the wood of the neck. NEVER lift up
on the scraper/knife.
Now that your scraper is seated, grab the iron again. Set it on the next 8 or so
frets. Let it ride that neck (remember- steam full on!) for another 5 minutes or so.
Check it with a LIGHT TAP from the hammer to see if the scraper can move a little.
If it moves, give it a few more taps...get another 5mm of board off (maybe more, maybe
less). ONLY TAP UNTIL THE BOARD IS STRUGGLING. If you feel resistance, STOP.
Apply heat/steam and come back and do another 3mm.
No- this does NOT take 5 minutes to do. A fretboard can take me up to 2 hours.
It's not speedy, but it works great. If it takes you an hour to go 5 frets,
you're doing great.
Even if you keep good heat/steam on the board and point that scraper/knife blade towards
the neck (away from the fretboard), you will probably have a few tiny chunks of fretboard
that just plain don't want to come unglued. Don't worry about those; no one will
ever see them. If it's a big chunk (the size of your pinky), try to chizel it off
the neck later, and glue it back into place on the back of the board. Pain in the
azz, but glued wood is stronger than regular wood, and we want a strong fretboard, don't
we? :-)
When you reach the last few frets (5 thru 1), you'll want to be very careful- JEM inlays
are big, and don't flex as much as wood does. Plus, you need to be careful of that
wood that's under the nut. It already has two holes in it; we don't want any more.
Go VERY slow. Take your time. Use LOTS of steam/heat. If you're
impatinet, don't do anything above.
Now that your fretboard is off, and your neck is bare, you'll be able to see your truss
rod and other stuff- bits of wood, glue stuff..all that needs to be touch-sanded off the
neck. Only use 400 grit or above on that. JEM and Wizard necks are thin
enough. :-) Also, as tempting as it may be, DO NOT flatten out your fretboard on the
coffee table. It will have a slight upward arc to it. That's completely normal.
You should really just park the board in a safe place until it comes time to attach
it to the new neck.
If you have any doubts as to doing this by yourself, do what I did my first time: I
bought a $5 POS neck from a local shop (I think it was a Hondo neck). I practiced on
a few of them before attempting my Novax fretboard.
I'm sure glad I did.
I'm beat. I'll finish this verbal project in the next 48 hours. I promise.
Let me get some pics going; they really do speak a thousand words (which is slightly
smaller than this post. LOL)
Posted by Kev in this
thread on the Jemsiteforum.com
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Under Construction
[This is the answer to the question.]
[This is the answer to the question.]
[This is the answer to the question.]
Stiff - The ability to bend strings and have that smooth, silky,
'buttery' feel.
How stiff your guitar plays depends on a few factors. The guage
and brand strings you use, the number of springs you have on, the angle of the trem, the
height of the action, and the contact between the strings and frets.
I've been using DiAddario XL120's for years and what I use on all
used guitars. For a 7 string I use a .052 on the bottom. I just happen to like the feel of
them.
4 springs will always feel more stiff than 3. Even though they
exert the same tension from a more closed position, the more closed a spring is, the more
force it takes to get it open. 2 springs in arrow formation will give you the
spongy-est feel as they are the most 'open' of any configuration.
I've always found the springs get stiff from lack of use, like
they're static. They need to be used, and alot to get spongy. Springs react wierd to
lots of things. Getting tweaked too much doing a setup they get *confused* until they
finally figure out what you're asking them to do! And then don't fully settle in for 24
hours. Not being stretched at all for long periods makes them really stiff until they get
abused a little to soften them up again. So abuse them!! :-)
It also seems to make a little diference if the trem angle is just a little past
perpendicular tword the strings. Like the angle preloads the tension to the string side so
the trem will 'give' easier to that side when bending.
Another thing that can make a guitar play stiff is mild fret corrosion if it hasn't been
played or is kept in a bad atmosphere. Heavy corrosion and you would instantly notice the
strings *sticking* to the frets on bends and vibrato, but a real light coat just stiffens
the bends giving far from silky feel. Make sure the fret crowns are polished.
Author information goes here.
Copyright © Ibanez Rules!! All rights reserved.
Revised: August 08, 2006.
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