Reshaping a Fender Stratocaster type guitar neck and refretting with Evo Gold fretwire
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- Опубликовано: 15 июл 2018
- A customer asked me to reshape a guitar neck so that it is more like the thickness and feel of another Stratocaster he owns. We also agreed that I would refret the guitar using Evo Gold fretwire. At the end of the video I film his reaction to the reshaped neck. Fortunately he liked it.
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Well David, it's Rob here......
Just wanted to say a big thank you for the great job you did on my "Jessie Bluesbreaker" Strat type guitar.
This is a very special guitar to me, as it is one which I built with my daughter Jessie for her 6th form project, with the help of Tommy from "Tommy's Special Guitars" in Viersen in Germany.
All the components of the guitar we hand picked, however the neck was something I could not try out before ordering. Having played many guitars over the years, it became apparent that the neck shape was "not the best" lets say. Hence my reason for asking you to custom re-shape the neck for me.
From my point of view this is a very tricky operation as once you've shaved the wood off you can't put it back! However, after several meetings and once I decided what I wanted I was ready to give my trusted no.1 guitar to you to "shave away".
To cut a long story short David, I could not be more happy with the end result, you have done a really top job! The evo gold fret wire is also crackin'.
As I said in your video I have owned many Fender Strat guitars in the past, including several from their Custom Shop, however I feel very confident that if anyone were to play my guitar, in a blind fold test they would struggle to separate it from those Custom shop guitars...........
Thanks again & until the next project, hasta luego........
Rob
Huge respect to people who show and teach how to fix, repair and create. Cheers!
This video was satisfying to watch, visually. Well done!
Thanks Felix
Impeccable work you do! It's like every instrument you work on belongs to you. Very professional...Two thumbs up!
Thank you very much
Glad I found your channel, by no means I am a luthier but oh boy I really learn a lot by watching your videos. Thanks a lot Sr.
Thank you, glad you are enjoying the videos. More to come!
Had my JV Strat refretted with Evo Gold a few years ago - seems very hard wearing and cosmetically it's gorgeous.
Looks very nice! I want these on my guitar, too! I can’t wait..
Apart from the very nice neck and fretjob, the setup seems to have been great too, love how well intonated that sounds.
Thank you for taking the time to comment.
What a beautiful work!..
Great job that fret wire would look so good on my prs style kit I built during lockdown. Being left handed inspired me to build guitars as I could never find guitars I liked. Some of the new kits are outstanding in quality ( apart from the electronic elements) them evo holds are stunning. Great job.
lefty as well
Very cool video, pleasant to watch. Calming for some reason....
stunning work and that guitar build looks amazing now too :)
Thank you kindly!
Getting Evo gold on my Strat as we speak .. can’t wait to try it
How is working out for you?
Superb results.
Nice work, been wondering about doing this with some cheap necks, I also like the Fender necks, radius etc... can't stand a flat neck, would never own one. This was a great video.
Great work
Beautiful job
I love how it sounds more like a harpsichord, most of my brothers from across the pond have that.
excellent job , sorry for my bad English , but you work very very good
Very well done! The frets look perfect, I already did a refretting with Evo Gold and the hardness is between nickel silver and stainless steel. So not really easy to work on, but okay. I don't think that the color of the back of the neck fits well to the rest of the instrument, a more vintage yellowish would have fit much better. I espiacially like that you glued the frets in.
Very cool! Do you have a video or article on the neck finishing method? Can you tell more about the colored oil? How do you make that? What kind of tints are possible with that. I have watched a lot of guitar finishing videos but that was totally new to me. Thanks!
2:15 the soldering iron will also soften any glue inside the fret slots. Even crazy glue (C. A. glue) detaches when heated.
I wish you could do the same to my Strats! I live in Australia. Wipe on Poly - where do you get this from? How about the linseed oil finish?
Excellent!
Thanks for the feedback
Thank you for the great video. Only thing I would say is that I'd have tinted the back of the neck. The amber headstock face and the fairly pale rest of the neck looks a bit odd. I appreciate it probably was to save the custom Fender-esque logo at customer request.
I agree with you there, , , the two toned headstock screams out 'aftermarket treatment'. It's an easy process, why not do it? hmmmm, good observation.
Nice video, I'd have a guard on that big soft wheel tho.
Nice work You're an inspiration for me. Its looks easy to do But I need more tools and equipment. Please tell me where buy the wire for frets
Thank you for your kind comments. I live in the UK and I use several suppliers for fretwire.
Nice video! What specific compound are you using to buff the frets? Thanks
I think I am using Menzerna P164
God Bless Luthier's!
I am surprised the fretboard was not masked while the finish was applied to the neck! 😳
That's one giant buffer wheel.
you made the job looks really easy
Thanks for that. Technically it is not that difficult a job, if time consuming. The greatest challenge is meeting the customers expectation of what a "nicely shaped neck" feels like. Everyone has a different take on a "comfortable neck". Fortunately he liked it!
@@flameguitars5770 awesome channel keep up the good work you just got yourself a subscriber
What size fret it is? Med jumbo? Or jumbo?
Olá, qual a medida desses trastes?
Hi there, just wondering what you used for the finish on the back of the neck.thanks John.
On this guitar I used a wipe-on poly
What grid of sand paper do you used and how to smoothen it?
Hi mate, I made my own Tele 'El Cabron' a few years ago. It was the first guitar I ever made, and it is a very nice guitar apart from that same narrower vintage style fret wire, which I find to be uncomfortable for bends & vibrato.
I bought some of the same EVO fret wire which is more of a medium jumbo size, which I prefer.
The only problem is that I don't have one of those roller jigs to get the wire to the correct radius, nor do I have a press to press the fret wire in.
Is it absolutely necessary for me to have a radiusing roller tool? If not, what would be the best way of fitting the new fret wire? Or if it is really necessary to radius the fret wire, how much roughly would you charge me to replace the frets on my maple neck/fretboard if I supply the fret wire?
Cheers 👍
Probably better to have this conversation by phone or email. I suggest you contact me through my website.
Just buy the roller jig, Stew Mac sells it. I held off, I was going to make my own, then after about 5 years, it was time to just buy it. Without the press, you can hammer the frets in, but pre-radiusing them is a must.
late to the party but if you cant afford stew macs (very nice) jig, theres videos on youtube how to make them with a piece of wood and some simple hardware from virtually any local diy store. if you want premium, buy mac. but if you want cheap (theres a number of reasons that you would) then do a project of your own mate. they truly do work and you can adjust the radius easily aswell.
Very nice!
What do you call that tool to thinning the neck down ?
Spokeshave
Whats your experience with the wipe on vs spraycan?
music`s great too
Hi Flame. Beautifully done. I do have a question though. Did I hear you say you applied oil before using wip-on-poly? Oil under a finish. Please tell me, cause that’s interesting. Thanks in advance.
Yes, that is a good question. I guess you are wondering whether the oil will prevent proper adhesion of the top coat. Maple is notoriously difficult to stain. I know that to my cost. It can go blotchy when a stain is applied. Fender achieve that vintage amber look by tinting the lacquer. So if I am not spaying a neck, but want to add just a touch of colour, I am might apply a coat if oil, something like linseed oil which has more of a natural amber tint. Just apply one coat. Leave it for quite a few day and then wipe over with naphtha just in case there is any stickiness left on the surface. If all is well I then apply the top coat. Not had any problems with adhesion of the top coat.
I need to have this done to my Ultralux, I absolutely love the guitar and hate the augmented D neck, its horrible, and doesn’t belong on a strat unless special ordered. Some people must like it though. Its ok, but I reach for my Am II C 9.5 every time. I wonder how much reshaping the neck profile would cost.
But those stainless frets!
Is there a tonal difference between Evo Gold and SS? I’ve definitely noticed a difference between nickel silver and SS. Thanks
I've not done a side by side comparison to make a judgement. I don't notice any significant difference in tone between nickel, SS and Evo. I now do a lot of SS refrets. I always ask customers whether they hear any difference in tone once SS frets have been installed. Very few claim to notice any difference.
I like your careful techniques.
What grit paper do you use between finish coats?
Thanks Terry. For this guitar I used a couple of coats of wipe-on poly finish. In appearance this is more like an oiled finished than a lacquered neck. I have just used an abrasive pad between coats rather than any form of sand paper
Ok, thanks.
I'm familiar with very fine papers for polishing metals such as bobsled/skeleton runners, but I know little about wood finishes.
Just looked up pre-curved gold fret wires for sale.
Thanks again.
I like your style, so I subscribed.
some times I worry about fatter fret putting the intonation out
The 'crown' is in the centre of the fret, however wide it is, so it's not an issue.
i'm wondering what size that fretwire was? lovely job
Thanks. 2.6mm wide, 1.2mm high
@@flameguitars5770 Дякую Thanks
Just have to comment. Pressing in fret wire is the only way to go, all that hammering and leveling is a pain. My son could yell by my laguage i was leveling hammered frets again. Press the frets in three at a time and check level with a straight edge, if one rocks press the high one in, use the stewmac straight edges. Continue checking frets against each other all the way down the fret board. I found by doing this i ended up with fret jobs that required NO leveling crowning and othe curse worthy crap. Just dress the ends and play. Amateurs on your first fret job press them in and do yourself a favor, buy tall and wide wire in case a lot of dressing is required. Stewmacs fattest bass wire is best .110 wide and .80 high is full of tone and sustain. Stevie Ray Vaugn had his strats fretted with bass wire.
what was that tool u used to reshape the neck?
a spokeshave
What was the finish you used?
It's a wipe on poly finish
So, the face of the headstock was left vintage amber, then the back of the neck was left that pale maple color? Why? Looks ridiculous.
Excellent work though.
To be fair I had discussed this with the owner of the guitar and he was happy with the difference. He wanted to keep the decal and wanted an thin, oil-type finish rather than lacquer. Really the only way to get that vintage amber finish is to use tinted lacquer. If you stain maple or try and use a tinted oil, maple can look horribly blotchy.
@@flameguitars5770 As they say, the customer is always right. Thanks for the videos, great work. Cheers!
Your customer should have just bought a neck from Warmoth?
Stainless Steel frets all the way
S
The porn music starting at 3:43 for pressing the frets was awesome.
wow this guy spent a lot of money for his strat neck to feel like a strat neck. Im sure a new neck from fender or warmoth would have cost less
Doubt it.... new neck is at least 250 to 300 of your English pounds. The job described above would be 180 to 200.
Don’t matter either way, this guy’s probably got more money than he knows what to do with.
I got a quote last year to replace frets on a strat I have $400. Couldn't afford it.
69🤘
customer's no virtuoso XD
boring as hell with LOUSY music track of an old song hit....
Happy new year to you too!