fret tang question.. gouging OK? (Full Version)

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turnermoran -> fret tang question.. gouging OK? (Jul. 16 2013 16:40:35)

Hey fellas - any help on this greatly appreciated.

I bought a Carlos Pina blanca sight-unseen from someone on Foro. When it arrived, I discovered the fretboard was concave. A repairman decided to address it when doing something else to the guitar w/out discussing - not that I would have objected to the idea:
he leveled the frets.
Now there is less fret on the edges - more in the middle. But they are level.

Weird thing is, Pina apparently does something to his frets where he covers up the tang that would be visible on the side of the fretboard. (See pic) So the only way to see where you are would be the visible top of the fret... but as mentioned, the frets were filed down. So basically, when lighting is low, I can't see anything that helps verify fret location. And of course, I use this guitar for all sorts of styles that has me doing big leaps on the fretboard and playing all over the neck.
I put a single dot to help, but a capo @ III is the kiss of death.

SO.. my question is: could I take a razor and dig away the material that is covering the tang? It looks like maybe he used some wood putty and then darkened it.
If I carefully scraped it away w/ a razor, would I be endangering anything? (so yeah, "gouging" was an exaggeration)

I bought this guitar to put a pickup in, and have better instruments, so it's not a sacred guitar or anything.

Thanks



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tele -> RE: fret tang question.. gouging OK? (Jul. 16 2013 20:05:44)

Do you really need to see fret location?

that is a trick done specifically with many builders and it takes some time to do. I have done it on two guitars when installing frets and its done with black epoxy.

you can use a dot at 7th fret if you need aid.

you need to replace the frets if you want to see the frets



jshelton5040 -> RE: fret tang question.. gouging OK? (Jul. 16 2013 23:02:51)

It looks like some of the fret ends are showing in the picture. If that's the case it wouldn't be a big deal to run a flat mill file down the edge of the fingerboard to remove the finish and a tiny bit of wood revealing the fret ends. I wouldn't hesitate to try it but I'm a guitar maker.



tele -> RE: fret tang question.. gouging OK? (Jul. 17 2013 9:28:02)

quote:

ORIGINAL: jshelton5040

It looks like some of the fret ends are showing in the picture. If that's the case it wouldn't be a big deal to run a flat mill file down the edge of the fingerboard to remove the finish and a tiny bit of wood revealing the fret ends. I wouldn't hesitate to try it but I'm a guitar maker.


It's possible that the fret was just placed that way to the edge even if there was a cut for the epoxy and that others were placed normally. One can always try to sand down the side a bit at the risk of ruining the finish. I would not bother because I dont even understand why is there a need to see frets



Escribano -> RE: fret tang question.. gouging OK? (Jul. 17 2013 10:54:40)

I used white liquid paper dots on the edge of the fretboard in the early days, when moving from electric. They wiped off with a little dilute alcohol.



turnermoran -> RE: fret tang question.. gouging OK? (Jul. 17 2013 19:13:57)

quote:

And of course, I use this guitar for all sorts of styles that has me doing big leaps on the fretboard and playing all over the neck.
I put a single dot to help, but a capo @ III is the kiss of death.


If you can trill E-D# in first position and then play the same thing 2 octaves higher, in sixteenth notes, with no rest, going back and forth between the 2 positions and hit it perfectly every time, I salute you sir!
Better yet, if you can do this in an improvised setting where you are soloing, with no preconception you'd do this in advance, and not even look at the neck because as you suggest 'there is no reason to look at the frets', then again.. you are the man.
But Vicente, Paco and the rest of them actually look at their guitar from time to time. This can be seen all the time.

Are you playing blindfolded?! Have you cracked the nut and ascended to the next level of guitar playing?! [:D][:D]



turnermoran -> RE: fret tang question.. gouging OK? (Jul. 17 2013 22:37:57)

John - if I would be removing black epoxy, wood glue, putty or who knows what - even if I'm filing away a millimeter of material - do you think I'll need to replace it with something?

if nothing else, I'd want the surface to be smooth.

If I were to fill that back in with something, any recommendations?



jshelton5040 -> RE: fret tang question.. gouging OK? (Jul. 17 2013 22:55:16)

quote:

ORIGINAL: turnermoran

John - if I would be removing black epoxy, wood glue, putty or who knows what - even if I'm filing away a millimeter of material - do you think I'll need to replace it with something?

if nothing else, I'd want the surface to be smooth.

If I were to fill that back in with something, any recommendations?

If the fret ends are simply uneven then I doubt you'll need to remove more than a tiny amount of wood (.5 mm perhaps). The fingerboard should be tapered slightly from the playing surface toward the neck wood so you really only need to remove finish and wood down to the bottom of the fret ends. The mill file will leave a very smooth surface and since ebony is very hard you can use a little polishing compound directly on the exposed wood and buff with a little wax. It will look like it's been refretted. If it were a high end guitar then maybe you wouldn't want to do this but a high end guitar wouldn't have ineven fret ends.



turnermoran -> RE: fret tang question.. gouging OK? (Jul. 17 2013 23:06:05)

Thanks John!
I'll try this and upload a photo of the finished result.

I recently bought a mixed set of needle files, and have various other. I doubt I have the ideal file, but I gather the whole operation is not brain surgery. (famous last words..)

But ultimately, you've confirmed my suspicions: it shouldn't be too difficult.

Thanks
Brian



Jeff Highland -> RE: fret tang question.. gouging OK? (Jul. 17 2013 23:18:10)

I often fret like this. The fret tang is cut off under the the fret ends before installation so that it ends up recessed back from the fretboard edge.
Pretty much the same process as fretting a bound fretboard
The end of the slot is then filled.
it gives a great clean feel to the fretboard edge.
I would not be trying to expose fret ends, they may be 1 or 2mm below the surface and you will end up with a huge mess.



tele -> RE: fret tang question.. gouging OK? (Jul. 18 2013 9:45:23)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Jeff Highland

I often fret like this. The fret tang is cut off under the the fret ends before installation so that it ends up recessed back from the fretboard edge.
Pretty much the same process as fretting a bound fretboard
The end of the slot is then filled.
it gives a great clean feel to the fretboard edge.
I would not be trying to expose fret ends, they may be 1 or 2mm below the surface and you will end up with a huge mess.


THIS IS WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY.[8D]

There can be easily even three millimeters of epoxy or whatever else filling material. BESIDES, the frets are not cut evenly, so you would have to remove uneven amounts from each fret. John, I dont understand your advice, you probably havent fretted like this.

The only option if the process is done normally(1-3mm filling material) is to replace the frets and cut the epoxy out.
If you start filing it out you will have to most likely replace the whole fretboard due to the mess.
The only way you would succeed is if the frets are evenly placed and very close to the edge(the inner fret part) which is very difficult to do. I did this twice and its easy to get the inner fret part 2-3mm away.
So ask yourself if its worth it and consider refretting if you cant learn to play without seeing the fret sides(which is weird IMO).
Fretting like that takes time and its almost like disrespecting the luthiers work trying to achieve exposed fret sides.[&:]



Wayne Brown -> RE: fret tang question.. gouging OK? (Jul. 18 2013 13:17:11)

If it were me, I would install side dots on the fingerboard at 5, 7, & 9 or at just 7 as some one suggested. Trying to expose fret ends would be a disaster IMO.



jshelton5040 -> RE: fret tang question.. gouging OK? (Jul. 18 2013 14:16:57)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Jeff Highland

I often fret like this. The fret tang is cut off under the the fret ends before installation so that it ends up recessed back from the fretboard edge.
Pretty much the same process as fretting a bound fretboard
The end of the slot is then filled.
it gives a great clean feel to the fretboard edge.
I would not be trying to expose fret ends, they may be 1 or 2mm below the surface and you will end up with a huge mess.

Jeff,
I did point out that it appeared in the picture that some fret ends were showing. This suggests to me that the ends are uneven rather than recessed.



turnermoran -> RE: fret tang question.. gouging OK? (Jul. 18 2013 18:49:52)

thank guys for chipping in.

John is indeed correct: the fret tangs are not recessed, but in fact protrude ever so slightly out from the fretboard in some cases.

Thus far, the very minimum of filing has exposed the ends, and I suspect I'll be able to either fill in the missing material with the smallest amount of compound, or do nothing and let this very very small amount of missing material be eventually filled in by dirt/debris which will maintain the subtle visible line I'm trying to achieve.
which I'm sure sounds like lunacy or ignorance, but practically I think it's no big deal on a guitar like this.



turnermoran -> RE: fret tang question.. gouging OK? (Jul. 18 2013 19:12:25)

i doubt anyone cares still at this point..but just cos I said I'd upload the final product..here it is.
no compound applied.
gonna leave it as is



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