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Post by vonFrenchie on Feb 12, 2010 14:07:46 GMT -5
So I recently purchased an Aria Pro II off of ebay. It's a marvelous guitar, just beautiful. It's got a lot of natural wear (something someone would pay Fender 150 bucks to relic) on the pickups, bridge posts, bridge and even the finish. I just love it. I've dubbed it a "Greyburst" because its kind of like a silverburst, just a deeper and very transparent silver. Awesome guitar all round. Pictures will be in the gallery soon.
After that puff piece, I bring my main problem. I got this guitar from on high.... Colorado. Denver to be exact. Now here in Wisconsin we are known for not exactly understanding the concept of cold. 50 degrees is shorts and t-shirt weather for us. But apparently last week in Denver it was absolute zero, colder than Hoth, colder than Siberia during nuclear winter. They shipped me this lovely Japanese import and the fretboard came unglued. I don't think the neck is warped, I just think the fretboard expanded too fast for the necks own good. So now I'm sitting next to a guitar with a fretboard that bottoms out at the 1st fret and technically has no nut (that fell off when I picked the guitar up).
So here is my question...
How many of you have had to reglue the fretboards of guitars that are close to 30 or more years old?
Is this a costly process? (Fedex is paying for it, but I just like to know how much I'm costing them. I have a personal vendetta since they laid off my aunt.)
Is this a time consuming process?
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Post by cynical1 on Feb 12, 2010 15:02:10 GMT -5
Sorry to hear about the shipping mishap. High altitude, stark temperature changes...all bad things for guitars... Are you asking based on a shop doing the work, or are you looking for an aggravation fee and plan on doing it yourself? And secondly, how much are they allowing for the damages? Having a good tech perform the work and possibly re-fretting the neck can run between $250.00 and $500.00. It's a lot of work to do this, and if the neck has bindings it will run closer to the high end. There are a few rudimentary tools you need to do this yourself, and if you rush things you can make a bad situation worse in a skinny minute. First off one of these, a Bridge Heater and Fingerboard Iron, is REAL handy for loosening the glue on the fretboard:  There's a fast $75.00, but it'll make the job and your life, much easier. It does tend to raise Hell with the bindings, but you'll probably have to redo that anyway. Bindings, if the channels are cleaned up, aren't that bad. Stew-Mac has a whole host of them, so finding the replacement binding is easy. I could go on...as most of you know, through the whole process, but before I do, please clarify if you're planning on doing the job, or farming it out. There's some good shops in Chicago, but they aren't cheap. Happy Trails Cynical One |
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Post by vonFrenchie on Feb 12, 2010 16:19:28 GMT -5
I'm not going to redress the fretboard myself. I have no tools, no room and no time to do it. I'm going to go down to the local guitar shop and see if they can do it. Refretting might be ideal, but we don't live in an ideal world. I'm just looking for the fretboard to be taken off... then put back on the right way.
I also don't really want to have it refretted because the guitar is around 30 years old and the cream binding has now turned to a cream, white and dirty tan fade. Some people don't like this but I love it. I would replace all the faded hardware, but I love the vintage, been around the block a couple thousand times, vibe.
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Post by cynical1 on Feb 12, 2010 22:04:36 GMT -5
I'm not going to redress the fretboard myself...I'm just looking for the fretboard to be taken off... then put back on the right way. Fair enough. This can become an involved process once you start it. I agree, bindings, if done right originally, are one of the few things that improve with age. Now for the nuts and bolts: If you are looking for a tech to perform these repairs, there are a few things you need to feel warm and fuzzy about before you surrender said guitar to go under the knife. 1.) Do they do their advanced repairs in house, or do they farm it out. Not that one way is better then the other, but it's nice to know where your guitar is going before you wave goodbye. 2.) How many have they done? Pulling a fretboard with binding out of a 30 year old instrument can be problematic. The finish applied 30 years ago will suffer some distress, and once the fretboard is re-glued the bindings and the finish will need to be re-glued and then blended back in so it looks like the repair never took place. Oddly enough, re-binding and matching the original finish can be the trickiest part of the process. Structurally the repair can be sound, but if the re-finishing is sloppy you'll never be happy with it. 3.) Do they have matching binding in stock? I can't tell from the picture, but many times the binding on the neck will be identical, or very similar to the body binding. There is a good chance the original binding will become damaged in the removal of the fretboard and will need to be replaced. This just happens, no matter how careful you are...after all, this is 30 year old plastic we're talking about...and it is going to be very close to a high heat source and some sharp tools... Most shops that have been around for a while have a good inventory of binding laying around to blend back into just about any job. Sounds like a small point, but it speaks volumes to the amount of work they've done in the past. 4.) What's their advice on a re-fret? I mention this, as since the bulk of this job is labor, and it's already on the table, you might be able to get a re-fret added to the job for a fraction of what you'd pay for a re-fret by itself. They're already dealing with the bindings, they're going to have to check the straightness of the neck anyway, and they're going to have to check it again once the fretboard is re-glued. And finally, the frets may very well be 30 years old...new frets are nice... 5.) Do they want you to leave the guitar with them intact, or did they just ask you to leave the neck? This one might seem odd at first, but stick with me. Since there is a good chance they'll be re-doing the binding along with the refinishing, an experienced tech would want the entire guitar for reference on the bindings, and to check his re-finish of the neck with the body. He's also going to need to to check the set-up once all is re-attached. Like I said, it may seem like a small point, but if they just say "hey, just leave us the neck" then turn around and run. I hope this helps. If you have any more questions feel free to ask. And don't be shy quizzing the tech about your repair. And if they farm it out make sure you talk to the person doing the repairs in person. Getting smart beforehand is much less painful then getting smart after the fact. Happy Trails Cynical One |
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Post by vonFrenchie on Feb 12, 2010 22:54:28 GMT -5
You've made some really good points, some of which I knew, others I never even imagined. Specifically numero 5. I never imagined a guitar shop asking just for the neck, but since you said it and since this is a bolt on I can totally imagine it happening.
Good news though... they said that they've seen this happen plenty of times and they have a solution. The way in which the fretboard is coming unglued allows them to just lift the fretboard up a bit and reglue the unglued part. Since it was environmentally charged and not wear based the glue will hold the neck perfectly. Then they'll redress the nut and possibly replace it but it's in decent shape. In all, 50 dollar visit. They'll hold onto the guitar for a week-ish and the day its ready they'll set it up for free.
They do all their work in shop, the same guy has been doing it for 10+ years and the binding is in great physical shape, cosmetically it looks like its 30 years old haha, so they wont have to replace it.
I'll do some more quizzing on Monday when I send it in, but so far so good.
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Post by cynical1 on Feb 13, 2010 0:36:33 GMT -5
Sounds promising. If they can re-seat the fretboard without pulling it that's a good thing. I hope it turns out that simple for you.
Your Aria looks remarkably similar to the one I recall our guitarist playing when I lived in Colorado back in the 80's. They must had had remarkable market penetration out there at the time...
The feel of the neck was what impressed me, and overall it was a pretty good instrument for the money.
All's well that ends well.
HTC1
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Post by vonFrenchie on Feb 14, 2010 13:05:13 GMT -5
I tuned my guitar to d standard and put a capo on the second fret. It played very very well. Better than my friends Les Paul studio. I really like the neck. It is a gloss finish but it still plays really fast. Despite the broken neck, I feel as though it was a quality investment.
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