New Neck Finally Arrived...Fail?

[Cactus Jack]

I order a custom neck for a Jazzmaster project. After 6 weeks it finally arrived...

What the heck is up with these frets? I ordered standard 6150s...these are some sort of satin gold. Also, the tangs on every single fret were cut so short there's large gaps between the neck and bottom of the frets. Honestly, this is worse than a Squire. What a bummer...I just placed an expensive order on a custom body...I'm pretty darn nervous now!

 

[Rick]

Cactus,
Call customer service.  They’ll be able to help you. 

 

[zebra]

Is that a vintage tint finish on the neck?  I think they shoot that over the frets.  Maybe it's just what the frets look like with the finish on them.  Have you polished the finish off yet?  Don't really know, I'm just throwing an idea out there...

 

[bagman67]

They shoot the finish over the frets and do not remove it - that is for the end user to do.  I have no opinion as to the gap under the fret tang; if it's not to your liking, definitely call Warmoth to discuss.  I would do so before going to the trouble of taping off the neck to scrub or scrape the finish off the frets.  But if you decide to keep the neck, tape off the fingerboard and scrub with a coarse scotchbrite or steel wool, and it will come off quite easily.

 

[Cactus Jack]

Wow...I had no idea they shot finish over the frets and I'd have to finish them. If that's the case it's a total oversight on my part. I never would've guessed in a million years I'd need to clean the frets...never even crossed my mind.

The finish is vintage satin.

 

[Cagey]

It's a new neck, ready for setup. While a lot of users will install them as delivered and have a great time, for some players they still need some attention. The finish isn't removed from the frets, which are installed but not leveled. Since the fretboard is freshly milled, they're usually fairly level, but not perfectly. The slots are slightly deeper than the tangs, so as to prevent the neck meat from preventing the frets from seating completely. The ends are beveled but not dressed, as they don't know what you're going to prefer. Once all that work is done, you generally polish the frets. In the case of EVO (gold) or stainless frets, that'll probably be the last time you ever touch them except to play. Finally, the nut will be slotted nicely, but slightly shallow so you can adjust the slot widths/depth to suit your strings and playing feel. Once installed, it'll quite likely require some truss rod adjustment as well.

These are all things you do as a builder/luthier. Warmoth's parts and supplies are all good enough to use as delivered, but they're not optimized. It's kinda like being a cook//chef. You go buy meat, potatoes, veggies, etc. to make a stew, but while all that stuff is usable as is, they require some prep to really make a good meal.

 

[Cactus Jack]

Thanks for all the insight.

You guys are 100% correct. Warmoth shoots finish over the frets and leaves everything as is for the user to decide what to do. After a quick spin through the website they print it plain as day. I just missed it.

Also, the black area under the fret tangs are not gaps. They are some type of filler. All my other necks are all dark raw woods so I just never noticed them before. However, on the vintage tint they stand out.

My bad. Nothing bad on Warmoth's part.

 

[Cagey]

It's not "filler", per se. I don't know what they use, but they do glue the frets in. The glue isn't much of a holder, really, but there's a school of thought that says the glue has the effect of filling in any gaps created by the tang barbs cutting into the wood as they're pressed in and any leftover space under the fret so the fret is more positively connected to the neck meat. Theoretically, there's less chance on of a "dead" fret. I'm not sure that's necessary on a new neck as the slots are as tight and the frets as well-seated as they're ever going to be at that point, but perhaps it's a "belt and suspenders" kind of thing. It may also protect the wood a little bit from those who think the fretboard needs oiling on a regular basis.

 

[AirCap]

Wow...I had no idea they shot finish over the frets....

Fender did it for decades on maple fingerboards.

 

[Cactus Jack]

I talked with Warmoth. They were very helpful. They said the black area under the fret tangs is glue, and they provided the following video showing how their necks are made. https://youtu.be/hwuFgq64mT4?t=60

Ultimately, I think I'll RMA the neck. Visually the glue in the fret slots looks weird to me, and to be honest the vintage tint satin looks and feels a bit cheap. It would probably look better with a gloss finish, but as is, it reminds me a bit of an import neck. Just my opinion. I think toning down the yellow and making a light vintage tint would be a win.

 

[Cactus Jack]

Circling back to this old post to touch on the frets for a moment. Now that I've done a few fret jobs on my own guitar, cleaning the finish off the frets would be stupid easy. I was intimidated when I received that neck because I wasn't informed and ignorant about setting up guitars. My post should not discourage anyone from purchasing a finished neck...heck, you could simply play the guitar as is and the frets would clean up.