Official Luthiers Forum!

As a beginner, I have noticed some fret the entire fingerboard before gluing
it to the neck.    Some fret after gluing to the neck and after neck
positioning. Is one way much better than the other? Does it matter? What
is the consensious.

Andy

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Concensus: none, really. Decide what makes sense to you, and go with that.

Issues: potential upbow if you pre-fret, and you don't get to correct any irregularities in the board that may or may not (but shouldn't) appear post-gluing. Fretting prior to gluing onto the neck may make it a little easier to do things like level, dress, etc. but I don't think there's a huge advantage there.

Personally, I fret with the fingerboard on the neck, but the neck off the body. Don't see any point to adding the additional stress/risk of damage incurred by fretting with the neck on (slip of the file is all it takes...)

I do it prior to gluing onto the neck. For me it's just easier to get one flat board into my arbor press than to have lots of support cauls set up for the neck and then a seperate set of cauls for the fb extension. There is always a back-bow in the fingerboard but it always presses right out when gluing to the neck. I wouldn't recomend leveling with the board off the neck as the back bow could cause problems with this step.

I do it both ways and can't decide which I like the best

I never seem to get a perfectly dead flat fretboard extension, so I like to be able to level the fretbaord (After) its been glued to the body, so there for, fretting after words is my choice.

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

I have the same problem as Lance, so I do mine the same way he does.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

I have been getting better results with those long aluminum sanding bars that Stewmac sells.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Like lance I level the FB in position I just find this to be the logical and natural order of things. But I must say It would be nice not to worry about hammering those last 6 or 7 frets over the body.

being some what old fashioned i am still fretting on the assembled instrument but have been considering using my ancient arbor press to install frets before assembley, trim and file the bevels, fill the ends, then install, level and finish.

whilst i don't often make dings in finish (i use a lot of protection) it just seems it may be good insurance.

some comments please.

Thanks
Clear as mud!!!!

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

andrew

i think to some extent you answered your question when you asked it in saying that you recognized that folks do it differently, i.e. there is no concensus.

there are advantages in both ways; you just have to decide which you like better.

Andy,
It is interesting how many methods exist for fretting.
It is better to know the issues that are involved with fretting, so you can anticipate problems that could happen.
The method I learned was to cut your fret lines and glue it to the neck blank. Then do all your shaping and leveling before fretting. If you have a good leveled and shaped board, and your frets go in smooth, you will not have to do too much re-crowning etc.
Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Wade

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Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com

I don't glue my necks at all, they are strictly bolt-on so I fret after I apply finish to the necks and have them polished, it's something I learned from Harry Fleishman and it seems to work very well for me.

Also Harry taught us a very very cool trick for putting in frets (hope he doesnt' mind me sharing this), put in the first and 14th first, then the 7th and use a straight edge to make sure they are level, repeat on each side of the 7th by adding a fret in the middle and keep going until your done. If you do it this way you come out with a fret-board that needs little to no leveling.

There's no real rule, just what works best for you...

-Paul-

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

Paul,

That is a great tip from Harry, and you!

How do you hold down the fret board over the body in your bolt on system?

Thanks.

Jeff

Jeff I've provided pictures of it before but essentially I have two CF rods that come out of the neck and float down to support the tongue, that part of the fingerboard actually floats just above the top of the guitar.

Here's a picture of what it looks like without the fingerboard:



Those two rods are then glued to the tongue, when I set my neck angle it just barely floats out over the top.

-Paul-

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars