SG, the... next-next-next project

[Vallhagen]

As the glue is drying on the Predator, i started up this project in parallell. I heard a lot good about Hosco (quality stuff from Japan. My friend the luthier said his best strat neck ever is a Hosco), so i orderred a complete (cheap, about 300 USD) SG kit from them. The neck and body fits good but maybe not with "W-precision", the routing job is good as expected, and all hardware feels like "standard", though of course it has to be tried out before final judgement. The only thing i orderred directly for replacement is a Graphtech nut, and i concider orderring some locking nuts as well, still to be decided.

This will be my first glue-in neck. It all arrived coarse sanded - my sanding job starts at 180 grit - and with a paddle headstock. So, i had to shape the headstock myself which really is part of the fun.

The first small step, routing done, sanding to come:

Cheers

 

[Vallhagen]

Sanded, oiled

 

[fdesalvo]

Nice work.  That contour looks comfy!

 

[Vallhagen]

Thanx Frank. Yes, measuring 0.85" at 1st fret, this neck feels perfectly comfy to me.

Cheers

 

[Vallhagen]

A few steps done for this build too. Guitar is wet on the picture, taken just seconds after the last(?) green coat. Clear coat to come

It is waterbased lacquer from Rothko and Frost, and Mixol tints; 1)  Primer, 2) Silver, 3) Green (actually a mix of R&F lime green, Mixol green and Mixol yellow, as i found the lime green being a bit too much... lime green . I rather aim for something pretty close to Fat Petes monsterpiece up in the right corner^^ (nov -15 gotm winner) ).

Cheerio

 

[mayfly]

Hmmmm!  Lots of green SGs cropping up lately!  I like it !

 

[Vallhagen]

Thanx Mayfly. yes i think this will end up great

cheers

 

[Vallhagen]

And as the lacquer cures... Why not do one of those scary things. As in one of those things never done before. Fret work! Nothings like the first time and i am excited and scared as hell.

I've watched my videos, got a few basic/cheap tools... read Cageys advices... what can possibly go wrong? A lot, i guess. I'll be back, with or without ¤%&/()-words.

Q: Why is that 12th fret masked?
A: Because Sully does so, and it made sense to me.

 

[Cagey]

You'll do fine. But, be aware that those notched rules aren't as handy as they seem at first blush. It's a rare "new" neck that isn't flat to start with, and even with used ones you have assess the information they give you properly. They're more useful for telling you whether or not you want to refret something old than anything else. Some fretboards can be so worn that trying to level them before you install frets can be an exercise in futility, as they may not relieve properly afterward.

On most necks, what you want to know is if the frets are level. That's where the rubber meets the road. So, more than anything else a highly accurate straightedge and a fret rocker will give you more information about what you need to do to get the thing into shape.

 

[Vallhagen]

Hey Cagey, thanx for comments.

Yes i got myself a fret rocker too, though i notice now that it is missing in the "well arranged" picture above. And indeed it turned out to be The important tool for this work. The notched ruler works quite good as a straightedge for the frets as well, i just have to adjust it "half a fret" to make it rest on the frets, not between them.

By now, the frets are levelled (to me it looks fine), and i have started - but not finnished - the crowning.
Then for the fret ends, I have no proper tool/file, maybe have to buy one suitable.

What tools do you use for crowning? I have that double-edge fretfile (which i actually got for nothing in a box of bargains), "R3" wide. Then i got that diamond tool (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pro-Fret-Repair-Kit-3-pcs-Fret-Rocker-Diamond-Crowning-Tool-Leveling-Board-/252029624582?hash=item3aae22e106:g:QXIAAOSwMmBVp6mg), which is a bit more narrow. I cant really decide, so i play with both of them.

 

[Axkoa]

Love the look of the headstock on this neck already...looks very devil like...

 

[Cagey]

What tools do you use for crowning?

I have a number of files designed for doing that, but the one I use most often is the 300 grit version of this one...

One side is for medium frets, and the other for wide. It's a pricey little rascal, but I've been using one for years almost exclusively on stainless and gold frets and it works as good now as when it was new. They also make one in a 150 grit, but I prefer the slower/finer cut of the 300. One thing I learned long ago was you can't put metal back, so better to file it off slow to keep from going too far. Also, it's easier to get rid of the file marks if they're finer.

For dressing the frets, again I have a number of files for doing that, but find I use this one most often...

It's a fairly simple file, but I like the control it gives me. The only downside to it for me is it's not a diamond file, so they wear fairly quickly on stainless/gold frets. Usually needs replacing after about a dozen setups. Fortunately, it's not an expensive tool.

Once everything is level, crowned and dressed, I cut narrow (~1") strips of polishing papers running from 400 to 6000 grit in 5 steps, wrap them lengthwise along the crowning file, and commence to cleaning things up. Has the effect of changing the grit on the crowning file, but you get to keep the shape so cleanup is consistent.

Follow that up with increasingly finer grades of MicroMesh for polishing up to 12000 grit, and you got some pretty nice frets.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Good tools are good tools!
I've used the quarter round fret file too, http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Types_of_Tools/Files/Quarter-round_Fret_File.html as it can help you really shape the top of the fret to get that fine line.

On a bolt-on guitar, I prefer to remove the neck if I'm gonna do a complete job, but if I'm spot leveling only, I'll stick with the above file.

For set neck, neck through, and acoustics, getting up to the body presents a challenge, and I first off, always mask that area off to protect it, and prefer to use one of these: http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Types_of_Tools/Files/Offset_Diamond_Fret_File.html  It just helps to avoid dinging the body.

Right tool for the job, neat to hear how everyone uses different tools/techniques.

I got one of these sets a while back, and so far, the rocker gets the win, but I lean on the side of thinking that the leveler is too course a grit.  Having a finer grit will help prevent removing too much material too quickly.  The crowning tool is "ok", but I think the Stew Mac files are better.  It does a decent job of fret end dressing though.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pro-Fret-Repair-Kit-3-pcs-Fret-Rocker-Diamond-Crowning-Tool-Leveling-Board-/252029624582?hash=item3aae22e106:g:QXIAAOSwMmBVp6mg

 

[Vallhagen]

Thanx Tony and Cagey for useful hints. Axkoa for horns-up compliments

What confuses me a Little bit is the width of those crowning files; what exactly means "wide, medium, narrow" if translated to frets? The double-edge file i have is r3, which i guess better suits wider frets than mine? (i guess all my necks, definately this SG neck, is "standard medium" or "medium jumbo").

 

[Cagey]

What confuses me a Little bit is the width of those crowning files; what exactly means "wide, medium, narrow" if translated to frets? The double-edge file i have is r3, which i guess better suits wider frets than mine? (i guess all my necks, definately this SG neck, is "standard medium" or "medium jumbo"). 

Crowning files often have the fret crown profile built into the file to make it easier to put consistent crowns on the frets, which come in different widths. For example, these fret profiles show 5 different widths/heights/shapes...

...although there are many others. They can be roughly categorized into narrow (6230), medium (6105) and wide (6100), and shaped files exist to accommodate them.

Some frets are very low or perhaps triangular-shaped, so a shaped file is less useful and you might use one of the flat or tri-cornered files to recreate the shape.

This can be tedious to the point where one might be tempted to do a total refret rather than fight with re-shaping 20-some frets after leveling.

 

[Vallhagen]

Thanx again for thinking and advice.

I've been away for the weekend, but am back now. maybe ill give the crowning an hour this evening, or any soon upcoming day.

I find it hard to capture on photo, but here is where i am now:

The most of the crowning is done, but im not 100% there yet.

Cheers

 

[Vallhagen]

Well i've done it, i think. Hard to capture on picture; but i give it a try below.

All levelled good, and i guess the crowning - finished with 0000 steel wool - is "good enough". Still no fret end dressing, but it feels nice. The final setup, maybe upcoming weekend, will most likely reveal if i've succeeded or not.

Cheerio

 

[Vallhagen]

Here it is ready. Fantastic picture quality as usual :icon_scratch: !

The verdict is... pretty good but not fantastic. Actually, the pre-drilled holes for the bridge inserts were a bit much off axis, which led me to "force" the neck a bit too much to get perfect string line-up. This - in turn - made it impossible to place the bridge pickup perfectly centred under the strings. Look close and you can see that it is off. I could have solved this with some additional routing, but i just placed it as good as possible.

The neck is nice, and i think i succeeded with the fretwork. Fun to do a set-neck project.

Cheers!

 

[rgand]

looks pretty good. That green is vibrant. Thumbs-up!