2009 Ibanez JEM-JR Overhaul | Part 3

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Cleaning the Fretboard

Thanks to the sun making a cameo appearance today, I've been able to work outside. Let's work on that grungy rosewood fretboard first, shall we. Now, this is one of the worst cases I've ever seen. Deep cleaning with naphtha hasn't done much as the grime and crud is deeply embedded in the wood. So, out comes a blade, and a scraping we shall go.

Scraping the Rosewood Fretboard

Cleanup | Maroon Scotch-Brite Pad

Fret Leveling

The frets are in poor shape, and you can clearly see lots of divots. Fortunately, there's still enough height left for a fret level, which should flatten out them pesky divots. We'll start out with a sanding beam, and work our way up to diamond sharpening stones. The diamond sharpening stones should remove most of the scratch marks left by the sanding beam. And of course, we'll be checking periodically for low spots and/or uneven frets with a fret rocker.

Far Too Many Divots

Fret Tops Marked

Initial Leveling | Sanding Beam

Post-Sanding Beam Results

Fret Tops Marked Again

Final Leveling | Diamond Sharpening Stones

Fret Tops Are Level

Recrowning the Frets

The fret tops are now nice and level, and the next step is to recrown them. Recrowning leaves a narrow strip of "land" right down the center of each fret, which is absolutely necessary for accurate intonation. Today, my fret crowning tool of choice is a StewMac Z-File Fret Crowning File.

Fret Tops Marked Yet Again

Recrowning the Frets | StewMac Z-File

 

Recrowning the frets leaves a slight burr all along the left and right edges of each fret top. These burred edges need to be rounded over for a smoother playing experience. For this purpose, I'll be utilizing successively finer grits of silicon carbide abrasive paper wrapped around a piece of high density foam; starting with 600 grit and stopping at 1000.

Rounding Over Fret Tops | Abrasive Paper

Polishing the Frets

The fret tops have been now been rounded over to 1000 grit, and one could very well call it a day at this point. However, going the extra mile and polishing the frets is well worth the effort. On this fine day, I'll be starting off with a Gray Scotch-Brite Pad, and then move on to steel wool. The first round of steel wooling will be with regular grade, and the second, with ultra fine 0000 grade. This should leave a silky smooth playing surface your fingers will thank you for.

Polishing Frets | Gray Scotch-Brite Pad

Polishing Frets | Regular Steel Wool

Polishing Frets | 0000 Steel Wool

Frets After Polishing

Conditioning the Fretboard

With fretwork taken care of, I'm shifting my focus back to the rosewood fretboard. After dusting off the metallic residue left over from all that grinding, sanding, and polishing, the fretboard is looking a little dry. It's time, then, to hydrate and condition it with a few applications of Dunlop Formula 65 Fretboard Ultimate Lemon Oil.

Fretboard Conditioning | Lemon Oil