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Private member DiscussionGeneral

Installing frets.

So I’ve finally gotten around to hammering a couple frets in after sawing the slot. There is the tiniest gap between the fret and fingerboard is this normal or did I not saw enough. I think you would like the fret to be completely flush right? You can barely fit a piece of paper under there. How much leeway is there to this? Also I will be using CA glue.

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I don’t, I should’ve bought it in my last order. I realized my problem. I thought I could get away without a fret radius machine. The jescar frets (47095-S) I bought are 10” radius and my neck is a 14…
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Repair

Classical intonation puzzler.

I have a Yamaha Classical on my bench that's giving me a run for my money with a mystery intonation issue. All but the B string are perfectly intonated with the usual compensations we see. The B string however is almost an entire 1/2 step off (sharp) at the 12th. Right from the get go the scale starts going sharp incrementally at every fret. I can find the fundamental harmonic on that string but it's sitting halfway between the 11th and…

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I recently had a similar experience with a Yamaha classical, only in my case the B string was flat at the 12 fret. This was with a new set of name-brand strings. The harmonic was almost halfway to the…
Private member DiscussionElectric Builds

Issues pushing frets into ebony fretboard

I've only built a handful of necks and most of them have been roasted maple fretboards. This time around I am using a beautiful and incredibly stiff/hard piece of ebony. I am doing a light hammering in of the frets to get them seated and then using the hand-held vice clamps from Stewmac with the correct fretboard radius to push them down evenly the rest of the way. This process works just fine on roasted maple. It's just a softer wood t…

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Thanks all. I widened the slots with a bigger blade and deepened them a bit. It's to the point where they kinda slide in and I'm using CA glue to get them all the way there. Hammering them in just doe…
Private member DiscussionElectric Repair

Mystery Buzz

Hi Everyone,I hope you’re having a great weekend! Can anyone help diagnose my mystery B string buzz? I tried to attach a video but the site won't take it. I’ve tightened all hardware and the b string is not hitting any frets. I’m giving it a set-up and when I had to lower the nut slot height of the B string it improved a bit. When I capo at the first fret the buzz disappears so it seems to be something going on at the nut. …

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Hi Ian, I just sent the email. Thank you for your time and attention!
Private member DiscussionElectric Repair

Wiring Overhaul - Music Man Reflex Game Changer

Would you have any recommendations on wiring configurations and piezo controllers to replace the electronics in my Music Man Reflex, which used to have the Game Changer system? The guitar has an HSH pickup configuration with a piezo bridge pickup. It has three existing holes for Volume/Tone/Blend, a blade switch slot, and a 3-way switch hole. When I bought this guitar about a decade ago, the Game Changer system offered a mind-numbingly a…

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You might even consider the Free-Way switch such as on StewMac. 5-way/10-position switch, lots of wiring options there.
Private member DiscussionElectric Builds

Truss Rod Length - Is there a "rule of thumb"?

Friends - My "go-to" truss rod for my basses has been the rod sold by LMII; however, since they are now out of business, I am evaluating what other rods are suitable for bass guitar necks. The attached photos are all showing truss rod lengths from the front edge of the nut slot location on the blank. One photo shows my last LMII rod (23 1/2" in length) vs. 2 other rods, one longer (23 11/16") and one shorter (22 1/4") -- all measured f…

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I think that the 22.25 is fine to run. It lands over the neck pocket and those last few frets are getting sanded down to create a fall off anyway. Have you ever thought about changing the design and…
Private member DiscussionFinish Repair

When chips happen--customers, expectations, and responsibility

Hey all, I am really enjoying digging through the looth group. I have not yet watched all the ding kings vids or read all the amazing comments and articles here, but I've been appreciating some of the loothing for dollars stuff, seeing other people's intake sheets, discussions about dealing with customers, and it led me to this question: How do people deal with customer expectations, liability, and the inevitable accidents that can happ…

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@member some really solid perspective here, thank you. You're so right regarding the bit about some of the more abusive customers being the most obsessed with cosmetics, to paraphr…
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Repair

Nut overall height vs slot depth

Question for the group.. Let's say you start with a new nut blank and leave it too tall, but cut the slots to the proper depth. So you are left with a scenario where the strings are fairly buried in the nut (not protruding from the top), would that affect playability or just potentially cause binding issues and look bad? Thanks, James

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Said above perfectly - I also believe that when having high "walls" in the slot, the strings don't ring out cleanly.
Private member DiscussionGeneral

Fretboard flatness during refret process.....

This may have been covered in any number of vids by Big Daddy Proper or Paw Paw Erlewine, but I wondered how flay everyone goes when it comes to fretboard prep and refrets. For example, I currently have an old 70s SG needing a refret, Ive begun to flatten the board. I have some low spots in the middle of some frets in "cowboy-zone", but the actual fret slots are all being touched by the leveling bar, and thus, level. This is usually whe…

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Private member DiscussionNeck Reset Database

1966 Epiphone Sorrento neck reset

The back of the neck pocket is under the 15th fret slot. Holes are drilled 3/8" from the outside edge of the fret board. Check out Ted Wordford's video at for extensive work he did on a '63 Sorrento.

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Private member DiscussionAcoustic Repair

New Gibson L-00 retro with whimpy bridge

Hi Folks. I have a new Gibson L-00 retro on the bench. It came in because the saddle had pulled forward and was extremely loose in the slot. the saddle was a narrow affair measuring out at 3/32. It had buzzing issues as well because saddle was low and neck angle is actually high (straight edge is 5/32 above bridge). Previous looth tried to correct by shimming saddle but recommended me for bridge work. I re-slotted the saddle slot wi…

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Ya…ugly bridge way cheaper then neck agogo which would entail dealing with bridge anyway cause of intonation. Customer may be able to get new one because that’s the obvious problem, but as mentioned,…