1984 Ibanez RoadstarII RS130 Fret Dressing

The first time I worked on this vintage RS130 was way back in 2016. That was a major overhaul involving a full refret and refinish, as I recall. Since then, I've worked on the guitar a couple times, one of them to replace the stock Super 5 pickups with a set of Fender Tex-Mex™ Strat single-coils.

It was now here for a fret dressing [level, recrown and polish] as the guitar had seen a lot of use and the frets were not only full of divots; but worn flat in numerous places. After straightening the maple neck with a little judicious truss rod tweaking, the fretboard was taped off. The frets were then leveled using an aluminum sanding beam, with extra effort taken to incorporate a "fall-away" into the upper frets. Following this, the tops of the frets were re-crowned carefully; and the frets abraded and polished. Finally, the guitar was strung with Ernie Ball Super Slinkys and set up in the usual manner.

Besides fretwork, this guitar's electronics needed a thorough check-up. As it turned out, everything worked fine after servicing, save for the five-way switch; which was replaced. Then there was the matter of rusty pickup height adjustment and pickguard screws; which had to be put out to pasture. Oh yes, the Tex-Mex pickups were also treated to a fresh set of pickguard tubing.

Let's see. Have I left anything out? No, I think not. And so, I humbly take my leave. Thanks for checking in, I deeply appreciate your doing so. Till we meet again, stay home, stay safe; and God bless :)

2010 American Special Stratocaster® | Part 4

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Fretwork

In this post, we'll be taking a brief look at the fret leveling and recrowning (fret dressing) carried out on this American Special Stratocaster®

Jackson JS30 Dinky Gets Some Love

Work done on this Jackson JS30 Dinky included fret dressing, hardware servicing, parts replacement; and electronics upgrade. As there was already conductive shielding paint beneath the top coat, I merely added aluminium foil shielding to the back of the control cavity cover; and a ground tab from the back of the volume pot to the control cavity wall.

2008 American Standard Stratocaster

Work done on this black Strat included fret dressing, volume pot replacement, re-wiring, replacement of rusty screws and rubber pickup tubing; as well as general de-griming and polishing.

Late 70s Fender Jazz Bass Neck Straightening Challenge

According to The Guitar Dater Project, this Fender Jazz Bass "was made at the Fullerton Plant (Fender - CBS Era), USA in 1977 - 1978." That's the good news. The bad news is that it was submerged during the great flood of 2013, and damaged beyond repair (so thought the original owner). Rather than let this beauty go to waste, he gifted it to the current owner; pro bass player Albert Yap. Albert, in turn, wasted no time in sending the bass to a luthier friend in Jakarta.

That luthier did an awesome job of restoring this vintage Jazz Bass, I must say. As the original sunburst finish was a goner, he stripped the body and refinished it natural. The neck was also refretted with jumbo frets and refinished in a very impressive vintage tint. One critical point: the luthier did warn Albert that the truss rod was maxed out, and could snap if anyone ever tried to tighten it further.

Everything was roses until the day when the neck started to develop excessive upbow, resulting in overly high action that made the bass unplayable. Remembering that the truss rod was already maxed out, Albert brought it to me in the hope that I had an alternative solution.

Flexing the neck told me that the truss rod was still intact and doing its job. I inserted a 1/8" hex wrench into the bullet nut, and it was frozen solid -- I couldn't even loosen it! After a few days of heat/cold treatment and lots of lube, I managed to loosen and remove the nut completely. There was lots of gunk to be removed from the inside threads of the nut and threaded portion of the truss rod, that I can tell you.

After taking measurements, I realized that it wasn't the truss rod that was maxed out; but rather the nut itself. The threaded end of the truss rod had reached the end of the threaded channel of the bullet nut, and that's why the nut could not be tightened any further. So now, I had to find a way to create more space in the threaded channel of the nut. 

Based on this understanding, I fashioned a couple of truss rod washers that would be slid onto the truss rod before threading on the nut. If all went well, I'd then be able to tighten the truss rod even further. But first, I had to clamp the neck and use heat treatment to gradually force it into a backbow, exposing more of the threaded portion of the truss rod; thereby creating space for the washers. This approach was effective, thankfully; and I was finally able to tighten the truss rod until the fretboard was dead flat.

This being achieved, it was time to do a fret dress. The frets were leveled and recrowned in the usual way, and the bass restrung and tuned to pitch. The sun was shining, and the birds were singing. It was a happy day when Albert came to pick up his beloved bass. Understandably so, for he'd not seen his baby for close to two months.

Then, about two weeks later, he called me to say that the bass had become unplayable once more. History had repeated itself! I was sorely disappointed, to say the least; and told myself that I had better settle this matter once and for all. This time round I repeated what I'd done earlier, albeit going a little more aggressively on the heat treatment. After a month or so, I managed to get the neck to behave itself under tension. Final adjustments were made by Albert himself (he normally does his own setup); who declared the bass playable.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the neck stays this way for many years to come, and gives its owner countless hours of bass-playing pleasure. 

 
 

2011 G&L Legacy USA Electric Guitar

Specifications
Construction: Bolt-on
Scale: 25.5"
Pickups: CLF-100 Alnico single coils
Body Wood: Alder
Neck Wood: Hard-Rock Maple with Maple fretboard
Neck Profile: G&L Modern Classic with 9.5" radius
Nut: 100% natural bone
Frets: 22 medium-jumbo, Jescar 57110 18% nickel silver
Tuning Keys: 12:1 ratio, sealed-back
Bridge: Leo Fender-designed G&L Dual-Fulcrum™ Vibrato with forged brass saddles
Controls: 5-position pickup selector, volume, treble, bass (PTB system)
Case: Deluxe Tolex hardshell

Writeup
This G&L guitar was bought used, but came with its OHSC --- mighty kind of the seller to include it, methinks. It sounded as "stratty" as the best of 'em, and the beefy G&L Dual-Fulcrum™ Vibrato was as smooth as silk. The most amazing feature was the PTB™ (Passive Treble and Bass) system which actually worked on all three pickups. Hats off to the late Leo Fender for coming up with this innovation. Surprisingly, though, the only shielding was a small patch of foil on the underside of the pickguard. The main problem with this guitar was audible hum in all switch positions, even when played clean. I traced the problem to a broken bridge ground connection. This was soon fixed, and while I was at it, proceeded to shield the underside of the pickguard with aluminium foil, and body cavities with carbon paint. Additionally, there was string buzz, even after a proper setup; but this was cured with a fret dressing.

Reference
G&L Website