refretting a bound fingerboard
Here is a newly fretted fingerboard of a wonderful vintage Gibson L7 cutaway.The pickguard and pickup were previously removed by the owner.
Safe-release painter’s tape is used to locate the bridge and secure it’s parts.
The fret wear is extensive. The divots are too deep to allow for grinding and re-crowning.
The frets are carefully removed using tile-snips. The outer surface of the jaws have been ground to provide a sharp edge in order to get under the crown. Squeezing the wedge shaped jaws lifts the fret out of its slot. Pressing down while squeezing protects the fingerboard from chipping. This procedure is done in small increments along the length of the fret.
Some minor chipping is unavoidable due to fret wire design
The radius of the fingerboard is noted before proceeding.
Leveling (not flattening) of the fingerboard is done with 220,320 and 400 sandpaper taped to a level block of mohogany (visible in the background). The objective is to restore a level line between the surfaces that support the frets removing no more material than is necessary. The area between the frets is of less concern along with the degree to which the divots are reduced. The truss rod has been previously adjusted to provide as level a surface as possible.
A bound fingerboard is difficult to prepare for refretting. It requires patience and control to clean the slots of glue without chipping or scratching the fingerboard.
A special fretting saw is used to provide the correct width of the slot.
A portion of the fret wire chosen is fashioned into a tool I use to verify the depth and width of the slot is adequate. Notice the tines have been carefully filed away to allow the tang to be inserted.
The fretwire is curved before inserting to insure that the ends seat tightly. The binding requires snipping away a portion of the tang allowing the crown of the fretwire to extend over it.
The ends of the frets receive a drop of superglue and are filed flush to the edge of the fingerboard. Safe-release tape is used to protect the edge of the fingerboard.
The fret ends are then beveled and dressed for comfort. If the ends are seating properly a minimum of filing is needed to remove sharp edges.
It is important to preserve the as much length to the crown as possible. If the ends are rounded over too much the strings will slip off the frets.
The fret board has been restored and made accurate with a minimum of material removed from either the fretboard or binding.
