Hi guys :/, terrible mistake while refreting

[Leonardo Silva]

you know when you do something really really stupid, but you just realize it after you did it?

well, this is the case, I was refretting my "velvet" guitar as a customer purchased it but wanted bigger frets, it also need to be re-laquered.

my saw is a bit off I suspect, it's the frets slots are too thin for the fret to go in easily and it gives a bit of fight before getting hammered in, I need a better hammer too, I'm using some sort of steel hammer like the next picture.



and of course my technique might be a bit off.

now, cutting to the chase, I wanted to press the frets in...


so I decided to use an oak radius block and clamp it hard to the neck.... (there was a wood block between the neck and the clamps)

and I sorta, uhm, compressed the wood around the 3rd fret, leaving a little groove in the neck..., you know, the weak area just below the truss rod channel

- first attachement is an explanatory drawing, possible can't be seen at bare eye, but it certainly can be feeled with touch, the drawing its a bit exaggerated, it's more like a "flat" area.

first an incredible headache, then I tried to calm down, trying to fix the problem I applied tons moisture and heat, hoping the little groove would "pop out" and make like nothing had happened, but the moisture revealed a really small crack right in the middle, it's easy to get it confused with the grain of the wood, but I guess heat and moisture won't solve the problem.

I guess the moisture did help a bit, not sure at all, but the next step I guess is to lightly sand the affected area and apply some sort of CA parchment, the sand everything to match the current profile.

so here is the plan....

get the CA parchment, sand down to profile, the neck will have a clear laquer so after polishing it shouldn't present any issue at all, not noticeable I hope, hopfeully the CA parchment will reinforce the area I don't want an extra "weak spot" but I guess it's one of the sane reasonable things to do that can save the guitar.

call me crazy?, call me stupid?, I don't know but I surely would love some ideas to fix this :/


PD: clamping the oak radius block actually helped getting the frets more evenly pressed inside.

PD2: any advice on how to improve my fretting would be really and I would be really grateful.

[Barry Daniels]

Don't do anything untried or untested or you will likely make the situation worse.

What the heck is CA parchment? I don't think you will be able to fill in a large divot with CA without it running everywhere and making a huge mess.

You can run a small dremel bit down the slot to open it up a bit if your slots are too tight. Wait a bit for other ideas to see if the situation is salvageable.

[Leonardo Silva]

by CA parchment I mean just a drop of CA glue, then wait it to cure and start building up the layers of CA glue until the small groove is filled, I've seen this technique for filling laquer divots (if that's the right word for it.) the point is to get a great amout of CA layers until it overboard the groove and the sand to level everything.

I think I could use wood sealer for this, but CA glue dry more quickly.

[Barry Daniels]

A photo might help. OK, I understand CA fills but doing this on a curved surface will be more difficult than a flat one. CA can fill a hole in a flat surface but building up a divot on a curved surface may not be possible with CA. Epoxy might be a better choice.

[Michael Lewis]

CA is a poor repair for lacquer most times. For one thing it is much harder than nitro lacquer and will sand more slowly than the surrounding lacquer. Lacquer drop fill is the generally preferred method for spot touch ups.

The important point is whether the wood is just compressed cells of the wood or whether the weak area below the truss rod (should be about 1/8" or 3mm+) was actually just pushed into the slot. You MIGHT be able to remedy this by refinishing the neck. Any spot repairs will show one way or another, and it is far too easy to make them into bigger problems.

It might require a new neck to be made.

From now on use a larger pad or caul in the back of the neck to spread the load of the clamp, but you already figured that out.

[Peter Wilcox]

Just a thought, that probably won't work. If it's one of those fairly thick double action rods, you might try gradually tightening it toward putting back bow in the neck. Apply heat (and moisture if the wood there is unfinished), then gradually tighten some more and do the same to see if the truss rod will put pressure where you need it from the inside of the channel. You'll know you went to far when the truss rod pops through the back of the neck.

[Jason Rodgers]

This would be some major surgery, but you could do a really long backstrap. This would require shaving off the back of the headstock all the way down to just past your divot. A hand-held sanding drum might do the trick. Take off as much wood as will remove the width of the blemish. Then, laminate a backstrap using the wood of your choice (maybe something darker, for constrast) and reshape the neck.

I've not done anything like this myself, but it's the conclusion I would have come to had I made such a mistake. I think there is an example of this on frets.com. Especially since this damage is right over the truss rod slot, this repair would also strengthen this weakened area. Good luck!

And next time, tell your customer that you'd gladly build him another guitar, once you've sold this one.

[Patrick Hanna]

Like they said, photos would be a huge help. These guys are offering the best advice they can offer. But, if you post photos of your situation, they will be able to give you advice that is SOOOOO much better. Don't make them stab in the dark. Post photos which show your situation--okay?

[Leonardo Silva]

I would really love to, but I don't have any way to take pictures :/

I'm currently getting the CA glue on the small grove (it's 0.5mm in depth and 1cm in length, quite shallow) teh CA needs a lot of curing time but so far I think I can get the outcome I wanted, tomorrow I'll check how the CA is building up.

I will make sure to post a picture on the finished repair though, sorry for not getting pictures, I usually post 100 pictures on all my process, but right now I'm kinda limited.

[Mario Kessels]

I dont like the ca patchup too much. If its nitro finish i would defenitely prefer NC dropfill. NC tends to blend in well with other layers. If its PU or some other finish i would always try to dropfill with the same as the original. The harder finishes dont blend in as well though.
Ca would defenitely not be my preferred method here.
When frets dont get in 'normally' you have to adjust the slot or the tang. sounds like you are compression fretting now without wanting that. And a hammer like the one depicted damages the frets.

[Leonardo Silva]

Hi guys, back now with some pictures this time!

I had to use some time making the CA glue to build up in order to be sanded down evenly with the neck surface, I think I did a fine job making this technique work, with the sealer on the surface the feel is almost perfect, I can baaarely feel the difference, will see if with the laquer it gets even less noticeable by the fretting hand.

now, the client probably won't notice the difference at all, its the sort of fixes that only you know it's there.

oh, and visually you can barely see a darker patch, which is the CA, but I will need to see if the laquer will hide the patch even further. (the patch was a little more extense than I thought, but still it isn't that deep)





it's hard to see in the picture, but it's a bit more evident in real life.