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Okay... latest update on the Silvertone. The freboard was prepped beautifully. After following everyone's advice, I got the frets out with minimal chipping. I gave the board multiple coats of fingerboard oil to try and help it come back to life.

Granted, this was only my 2nd refret, but I'm very discouraged. I followed all the directions to the letter (even though I found the fret press to be rather cumbersome) and even without applying too much pressure, the board started to chip with the frets *going in.* On the ones that didn't chip, some of the ends just wouldn't stay down, which forced me to resort to CA to keep the ends down...

Now, I keep trying to tell myself that this is just how it was when I started doing nuts and saddles. They were bad at first, and now after lots of practice, I've got people asking me to make their guitars play like mine. I am just so disappointed in my efforts here. I know my uncle will look at this guitar and love it, however, all I will see are the flaws.

I can't help but think that ebony, rosewood, and maple don't behave this badly... This was almost like fretting flakeboard or MDF. I guess I should take solice in the fact that these guitars probably were never meant to be refretted in the first place. I even went back and refretted one of my practice stratocaster "junk" necks, just to make sure it wasn't me... that turned out fine and was done in less than an hour.

So, I don't want to blame it all on the wood or all on myself... at this point, I just wanted to ask if any of you all have ever felt disappointed in your work... as in, when someone else sees it he/she loves it, but all you see are the flaws?

Oh yeah-- Lance, if this should have been in the off-topic section (I honestly wasn't sure if it should be or not), please feel free to move it on over... :-)

Thank you everyone!

John C.

Regularly, keep your chin up, every now and again a process on one becomes a problem and it seems to get worse no matter what you try. I know how you feel. You are probably looking at it with a much more critical eye than anyone else will, I do the same. It will look great once you have gotten it all finished and your uncle as you said will love it. So move on and do the best you can with what you have to work with. Another problem child will show up soon enough.

Mike

I've been disappointed at some point of every project I've cared about. I've never completed anything that didn't involve SOME disappointment somewhere. Not a one. Maybe this is a good sign; you're holding yourself to a high standard. Mike's right -- your eye is more critical of your work than anyone else's. We've all been there. We just get used to the pain!

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Same here... normally we are our worse critics! Maybe you got a bad quality fretboard or just something not ment to be refretted but don't let that put you down. Keep your chin up and remember....it gets better and easier everytime!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

alas, most, if not all, of us can probably remember when we   had project(s) which seemed to go awry every step of the way.

the first thing i wondered was whether you radiused the frets before pressing them in? even on an unradiused board you need to radius the frets to help the ends stay down.

did you champfer the slots before pressing in the fret?

what sort of press were you using? were you careful to be gentle or did you apply too much pressure? it is so very, very easy to do when using a mechanical device where you don't get a direct feel of the force and the reaction of the wood!

Hi everyone! Thanks for the support and help. Interestingly, I was using the Stew Mac fret press and Jaws 2 to fret above the body on the extension. (Although this was VERY difficult through the soundhole and did not seem to work well at ALL-- Taylor fret buck next time?) I radiused the frets before installing them and was careful not to apply too much pressure. Belive it or not, I actually did chamfer the edges of the fret slots too. I was told by the guy I took a fretting class from that you really have to be careful with these presses because you can drive a fret through the fingerboard. As a matter of fact, he highly discouraged me from using one. With this board though, I thought the delicate nature of the wood warranted it.

In taking another look at it today, there are only 2 frets which I would consider as failure and must be replaced. The others may not look the prettiest in the world, but they are all level without any rocking in the 3 fret-span straightedge over them.

After reading all your responses, you really have made me feel better. I guess I can't expect perfection given that a) it is only my 2nd fret job and b) these guitars weren't meant to be heirloom quality anyways.    

Thank you all once again... More and more I'm beginning to see that as far as lutherie knowledge goes, this place is like the library from Alexandria! (In a good way-- not an ancient, burned down kinda way... as in a treasure trove of knowledge.)

John C.

John,

Man, chipping even when you chamfered the slots? Ouch! That board must be the flora equivalent of Spam. Well, the good news is that you've created a playable guitar where there was none before.

I seem to remember that you put a radius on this board, which was originally flat. Did you also deepen the fret slots on the edges? If not, that may explain your fret-end problem. If you did, please ignore this notice.

as far as doing a refret of the fb extension, i've never used anything other than a bag of shot or sand held under the extension and a hammer. have often wondered about getting one of the taylor devices but have wanted to try one out before parting with that much money.

then again if i didn't like it, it could serve as a paper weight!

the fact that you are not happy with your work should be seen as good thing it means you care and take pride in your work both of which are signs of a craftsman.
Hesh I dated the same girl

            BobP