I just ordered my flame maple neck from the showcase today and was wanting to hear any suggestions on getting the finish off of the frets. My thoughts are to mask of the board leaving the frets exposed and sand down on the playing surface of the frets. Thats about all i can think of besides playing the finish off, but i'm not sure how well that would work.
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removing fret finish
- Thread starter shanejw
- Start date
mask the board with two layers of plain old masking tape
get a soldering iron - not gun - just a low wattage iron and run the hot tip quickly across the fret tops to soften the finish
do one fret at a time
you can soften the finish and just scrape it off with a non-marring tool - like a plastic knife, or even a craft stick
Once you have the frets exposed then go back and hit then LIGHTLY with some synthetic steel wool (the spun plastic stuff)
clean up the mess and unmask
you needn't clean the frets down into the creases... just get the crowns exosed and cleaned up
get a soldering iron - not gun - just a low wattage iron and run the hot tip quickly across the fret tops to soften the finish
do one fret at a time
you can soften the finish and just scrape it off with a non-marring tool - like a plastic knife, or even a craft stick
Once you have the frets exposed then go back and hit then LIGHTLY with some synthetic steel wool (the spun plastic stuff)
clean up the mess and unmask
you needn't clean the frets down into the creases... just get the crowns exosed and cleaned up
Gregg said:I'd like to add if you get the fret too hot, you'll melt the glue holding it in the slot. (Not covered by warranty).
I haven't heard that one before CB; seems fraught with peril. :toothy11:
Agreed if you hold the iron on too long, and in one place... you're gonna melt the glue. Agreed you can screw up that way.
You can also screw up by SANDING the finish off, FILING it off, STEEL WOOLing it off, and SCRAPING it off.
About the only way you cant screw up, is to not do anything and just play it off, with the associated nasty tones and such.
The idea with the heat - just a quick pass is all thats needed. I mean QUICK like maybe a total of 2-3 seconds total time from one end of the fret to the other. The idea is to soften the finish so you can use a scraper thats not metallic. You got the a REALLY good fret job built in under the finish - its WARMOTH!~ I just hate to see somebody start filing, grinding, sanding, on frets... to get finish off when most of it can just be scraped off easy.
I did this on Vics birdseye neck and on the finished goncalo neck that I've got (total vintage, not the recent one). Not an issue.
Common sense is the key here.
-CB- said:Gregg said:I'd like to add if you get the fret too hot, you'll melt the glue holding it in the slot. (Not covered by warranty).
I haven't heard that one before CB; seems fraught with peril. :toothy11:
Agreed if you hold the iron on too long, and in one place... you're gonna melt the glue. Agreed you can screw up that way.
You can also screw up by SANDING the finish off, FILING it off, STEEL WOOLing it off, and SCRAPING it off.
About the only way you cant screw up, is to not do anything and just play it off, with the associated nasty tones and such.
The idea with the heat - just a quick pass is all thats needed. I mean QUICK like maybe a total of 2-3 seconds total time from one end of the fret to the other. The idea is to soften the finish so you can use a scraper thats not metallic. You got the a REALLY good fret job built in under the finish - its WARMOTH!~ I just hate to see somebody start filing, grinding, sanding, on frets... to get finish off when most of it can just be scraped off easy.
I did this on Vics birdseye neck and on the finished goncalo neck that I've got (total vintage, not the recent one). Not an issue.
Common sense is the key here.
I can appreciate what you're saying, CB, but it's not for the masses. :headbang: I might try this on my ordered maple neck, when it arrives, if it doesn't need further dressing. A brief heat and scrape.
Rickgrxbass
Senior Member
- Messages
- 409
-CB- said:Common sense is the key here.
Yes, until you factor in "common" sense would say "Hey, I can skip the scraping part if I just burn it off with the iron" ???
If you have doubts, as Gregg said... you can mask the neck, and steel wool it off. Keep all that far far away from any pickup!!!!!
Like totally outside, where shavings will quickly turn to rust and be gone.
The important point - important - is the fret crowns are pristine under that finish. Warmoth takes great pains in the fretboard finish, fret slots, and seating. You dont really wanna screw up the crowns, or do anything that will mar, scratch, gouge, lower, reshape... you got the idea.
Any tool you use, in my book, should be softer than the frets and harder than the finish. One way to achieve this is to soften the finish. Yes, masking is a good thing when using heat.
Yes a small wattage iron is best.
Yes you can still give it a real light "go over" with 0000 wool or better yey, synthetic, just to smooth out the finish transitions.
DONT go nuts and use a dremel with any sort of buffing wheel, rubber abrasive or wire wheel.....
Use care, and utmost caution to preserve the finish in all places except the fret tops, and to preserve those pristine frets under the finish.
Your mileage may vary.
Like totally outside, where shavings will quickly turn to rust and be gone.
The important point - important - is the fret crowns are pristine under that finish. Warmoth takes great pains in the fretboard finish, fret slots, and seating. You dont really wanna screw up the crowns, or do anything that will mar, scratch, gouge, lower, reshape... you got the idea.
Any tool you use, in my book, should be softer than the frets and harder than the finish. One way to achieve this is to soften the finish. Yes, masking is a good thing when using heat.
Yes a small wattage iron is best.
Yes you can still give it a real light "go over" with 0000 wool or better yey, synthetic, just to smooth out the finish transitions.
DONT go nuts and use a dremel with any sort of buffing wheel, rubber abrasive or wire wheel.....
Use care, and utmost caution to preserve the finish in all places except the fret tops, and to preserve those pristine frets under the finish.
Your mileage may vary.
jumpinjackf1ash
Newbie
- Messages
- 3
i've ordered two all maple necks from warmoth and the first time i took it to a local luthier to do and he ended up scraping my neck pretty bad and i was mad as hell of course.
the second one that came i ended up using blue painters tape on the wood, then used a razorblade to slice the finish along the bottom of the fret near the wood and then pull all the finish off of the fret in one piece or in a couple pieces. after that i used a little steel wool and it was ready to play.
the second one that came i ended up using blue painters tape on the wood, then used a razorblade to slice the finish along the bottom of the fret near the wood and then pull all the finish off of the fret in one piece or in a couple pieces. after that i used a little steel wool and it was ready to play.
Wana_make_a_guitar
Hero Member
- Messages
- 2,793
great
Rickgrxbass said:-CB- said:Common sense is the key here.
Yes, until you factor in "common" sense would say "Hey, I can skip the scraping part if I just burn it off with the iron" ???
Brilliant...why didn't I think of that???... :laughing7:
juanhonglo
Newbie
- Messages
- 22
I usually just mask off and use a nail (nail head) that I filed a notch the size of the fret into. a few scrapes on each fret is all you need.
Oh, i also razor blade the fret/fretboard joint to isolate the fret finish
Oh, i also razor blade the fret/fretboard joint to isolate the fret finish
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