Sometimes it's better not to mess with your guitar. As the story goes, someone tried to lower the action on this Washburn Ox Series Strat by deepening the nut slots. And went a bit too low. So low that the open strings started to buzz badly. Well, let's go and file the first fret. Ah, much better --- but now the second fret is buzzing, let's file that too. Oooh, now them first two frets have stopped buzzing; but the third is acting up. What the heck, I'm gonna file that pesky third fret now. Uh-oh, now the fourth fret is buzzing like crazy. And I've scratched that lovely fretboard too! What am I to do?
I'm glad someone stopped the guy at the third fret. Lord knows what would have happened had he continued on his well-intentioned; but doomed odyssey. Those three fret tops were ragged, and the guitar was unplayable; for sure. The most practical remedy would be to replace the first three frets, level; and re-crown them. This is what those in the business call a "partial refret." And yes, something had to be done about those deep fretboard scratches.
As luck would have it, I had on hand matching fretwire, as far as width is concerned; that is. So I pulled the first three frets, prepped that section of the fretboard; and installed new ones. Truing and prepping the fretboard took care of those deep scratches -- talk about killing two birds with one stone! The fret tangs were cut with a
StewMac Fret Tang Nipper, and tidied up with a file. I know, some people are able to get an ultra-clean cut with just nippers; but I'm not one of them.
Meanwhile, the trashed nut was removed. Maybe I could re-cut the slots and raise the nut a bit; that would save the owner some money. So tap tap I go with my wooden block, and the nut comes off all right; leaving chunks stuck fast to the nut slot bottom. Seems like someone had used super glue to glue in the original nut. Well, so much for saving a few bucks. Now I'd have to install a new nut anyway.
That issue being settled, I proceeded to cut the frets to length and reshape the ends with my trusty tiny triangular and square-shaped Japanese files. Seems like I can't find them anywhere in Kuantan nowadays. I have two sets; the last one being found (and bought immediately) at a hardware store in Air Puteh a few years ago. That store doesn't have them in stock any more. If anyone knows where I can get my hands on another set, do give me a holler; thank you very much.
During the course of this partial refret job, the fretboard needed to be straightened a couple times by adjusting the truss rod. The truss rod on the Washburn Ox Series Strat is rather interesting because it features a
"spoke wheel" truss rod nut. Nothing could be easier, I tell you. Just insert a suitable tool into one of the exposed holes (I used an Allen key) and turn left (loosen) or right (tighten) as needed.
Leveling was done with sanding beams and successively finer grades of abrasive paper. Next came fret re-crowning, scratch removal and polishing --- you know the drill. And then, it was time to fit a new nut. Turns out the Washburn nut was basically the type you'd put on a typical acoustic or electric LP-style; only taller and slightly narrower. After removing remnants of the old nut and leveling the bottom of the nut slot, an LP-style nut was installed.
By carefully aligning the new nut using "stunt" low and high E strings, I was able to ascertain the correct lateral position. A little bit was jutting out on either side of the nut slot, as expected. This was taken care of using files, sandpaper; and
3M Flexible Polishing Papers. As for nut height, well; it was way too low. Fixed the lack of height by gluing four slivers of teakwood veneer to the bottom of the nut slot. Wood glue was used, by the way. Once the nut was glued on and the glue had cured, everything was fine and dandy. Nut slot radius was not a problem, as it was already 12"; which matched the fretboard radius perfectly.
Now that everything was as it should be, all the frets were polished as there was a noticeable "shine factor" difference between the original frets and replacements; and I didn't want them to stick out like a sore thumb. Subsequently, the whole fretboard was treated to a generous dose of lemon oil. Yes, the fretboard was dry; so dry that three applications of oil were soaked up in no time at all.
Finally, the guitar was strung with Ernie Ball Super Slinkys (009-042), tuned and set up. The owner just picked up his Washburn Ox Series Strat earlier tonight, and exclaimed that it had lower action and was more playable than even his go-to Squier Strat. I'll take that as a compliment. Thanks for dropping by; and I'll see you again real soon :)
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