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hi,

i have fitted new frets to an old gibson Lg, the trouble is the truss rod is seized solid, the neck has relief in it already

how do i go about levelling the frets without a flat fretboard to work from

thanks

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Before resorting to extraordinary measures, is the truss rod truly frozen?

- Penetrating oil on the nut? (corrosion products lock nut to threaded shaft)...give it time to work and avoid slopping oil all over the access cut. On your own guitars, a pinhead-size dot of anti-seize compound on the threads can avoid the issue.

- Heat truss rod nut with soldering iron (use a shield around the nut to avoid overheating adjacent lacquer work...soften glue in nut/threaded shaft interface)...try turning with appropriate wrench while still hot...if it turns hot, but turns less readily/not at all cold, there is likely either finish or glue stuck in the threads and nut. Also - avoid burning hand, and don't break the rod

- If all above does not work, is the customer better served with a truss rod replacement before the refret (this depends on the total relief locked into the neck)?

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For the times they are a changin'

- Bob Dylan

You could seat the frets carefully, use a fret rocker to make adjustments where necessary, and use a short stone or sanding block to level the frets a few at a time, starting at the nut and working toward the bridge, and removing a minimum amount of material. Use a guitar string to measure progress periodically and make sure you are keeping the right amount of relief. Without a working truss rod you may not be able to fine tune the action, but if you can get it reasonably close without buzzing that would be better than snapping the truss rod.
Eventually you may be able to get the truss rod to work using PB Blaster or something similar. Sometimes heating the rod with a - clean - soldering iron can loosen things up.

In my shop frozen truss rods get fixed before doing a refret, period. You are unlikely to get a decent action if you cannot level the frets with a level fretboard.

Edit: What I would do is one thing but just my opinion. On the other hand you can always do a compression refret.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I just use a short file for unruly necks. as long as the first few frets in front of any given fret is the same level then you are good to go.

But yeah, double check that the rod is truly stuck too.

I had a neck once that had carbon fiber rods inset in the neck - totally straight, no adjustment. I pulled the frets and planed some relief in, and refretted - paying particular attention when leveling the frets to remove the minimum. The guy is still playing it decades later.....

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Make a thin-ish wooden sanding block with a truss rod in that you can adjust to match the relief in the neck? ?

Just an idea..

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www.leddingtonguitars.com

Best if you can free off/replace the truss rod of course.
Next possibility is a compression refret, and level the frets with 10lb of weights on the shoulders of the guitar. Stringing the guitar up will induce the needed relief.
But, I have successful levelled frets on a classical with no truss rod which had relief built in to the neck - used abrasive on a ~ 10" MDF 1/4" board which flexed to conform to the relief.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I glue wet/dry sand paper on short wood blocks. and it just tracks over whatever relief you have. The length of the blocks is just long enough to span the three widest spaced frets, plus a little. For blocks, I use a bit of lathe or similar wood, so if you put a little pressure in the center, it can deform to the relief, but that might be overkill.

One other point about loosening stuck nuts - after the penetrating oil has had time to work it is better to "wiggle" the nut in both directions in small amounts and as it frees up back it on and off much as you would cut threads with a die, rather than trying to unscrew it in one go. This may be common knowledge and I may be stating the obvious, but ....

double post

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

My classicals have carbon fiber in the neck with no truss rod. I have shape the relief into the fretboard, along with a slight twist, I use a short, flexible sanding block made from a piece of an old fret saw 1" x 3" and a fret rocker.



That is a great idea!

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

I saw a feller use a truss rod with sandpaper on it.
He adjusted the rod to match the relief on a strung-up guitar, and leveled with strings on.

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

Your post made me think of an idea for an adjustable large radius guide or sanding block (for braces one way and bridge bottoms the other.

Glue a 2 wide inch strip of plexiglass or even a 4 mm thick strip of wood to a truss rod. The radius can be set by adjusting the sagitta of the arc.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com