Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi, new to the forum. I need some advice. I recently bought a Morris W-40. Made in 1975, Japan, Brazilian rosewood back and sides, all solid wood, beautiful guitar. Being a 40yr. old guitar it has been played a lot, and the frets and fingerboard show a lot of wear. Although there is enough wood left to pull the frets, sand and radius the board and refret, I would prefer to replace the fingerboard. The fingerboard has crappy celluloid inlays, and the body and top/bridge are still in good shape, so a new fingerboard is in order. The nut to 12th fret is 12.8125", which X2=25.625. The nut to middle of the bridge/saddle is 25.6875". I will be custom ordering a new fingerboard. Should I specify 25.625 or 25.6875 scale length? The bridge/saddle is still in great shape and I would like to leave it. This is my first fingerboard project. Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks, satwilson

25.625" (x2 nut to 12th fret) The extra distance is to allow for intonation.

Thanks Wayne,
Although a newbie, I am 64yrs old. Your reply makes perfect sense. Extra length for intonation as advised. I will post pics of this guitar asap as it is the most beautiful guitar/Braziian rosewood I have ever seen.

edit, double post

What need do you see to replace the fingerboard, and are you confidently aware of the potential complications this type of job can include?

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Thanks David, I am not confident in my possible choices, that's why I am here on the forum. I appreciate your concern, would you please elaborate. I have taken the guitar to my local trusted luthiers at Mass St. Music here in Lawrence KS, and their response was no need to replace the fingerboard, we can pull the frets, sand and re-radius and install new frets. The cost estimate was $600. Being a DIY guy, I searched the net and fingerboards seemed pretty cheap, maybe a better/cheaper idea to replace. I am all ears as to the possible pitfalls, thanks again, satwilson

Try to do what the repair shop was going to do yourself, Stephan. If it doesn't work out, then you can replace the FB.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Even buying a new fretboard at your scale, by the time you buy the tools to remove the old fretboard, refret , level and dress your frets on the new board, cut a new nut and slot it, and probably install a new saddle, you're getting up towards the cost of you repair tech doing the job. This is assuming that all goes as planned. While 600.00 for a total refret seems high to me ( I don't know about costs in the heartland of the US) , if the guitar was special to me and it was a diy that I had no experience with I personally would go with the luthier. Just my opinion. Oh.....and welcome to the forum.

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Blue Ring Acoustics
blueringacoustics.ca

It's tough to beat the work that Jim Baggett's boys do. If you take it to Mass St. you know you'll get a top notch job. I sent an Ovation up that I was so sure would need new frets, I'd gotten some from Ovation. The luthier up there called me an said he thought he could save the existing ones. If you're a hard hitting flat picker, the action may be a bit low, but for me it plays like a dream. And they are smart enough to know to replace the nut after a level and dress. Several that I got bids from couldn't understand why you'd do anything with the nut. Or why they needed to take it off to do the level....

Replacing a fretboard is easily 2-3x the work as a refret if you get a pre-slotted and shaped board, much more than that if you are working from rough. More importantly, there are also a lot more ways you can seriously mess things up than you'd probably imagine. Damage to the neck wood (especially at the edges) with board removal, finish touch up always ends up 10x more complicated than you expect going in ("touch-up" is generally a synonym for "scope creep") especially if you don't have much experience with it, and there are several ways you can end up with odd twists and kinks in the reglued neck even though you're sure you did everything perfectly. It can be done for sure, and not quite so big a deal after you've done several of these jobs, but there's generally a learning curve with more surprises and glitches than one may reasonably expect.

If you want to take this type of job on as a learning experience, with learning holding priority over results, then it can be worth doing. If you want a better chance at good results and a playable instrument, then a refret alone can be challenge enough if you plan on doing this yourself. If the cheap plastic inlays are the primary motive, and there are no other critical issues like the neck set or prior planing of the board having left it too thin, then I see no reason to go to such drastic measures as board replacement when all it needs to restore ideal function is a refret.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Wow, thanks to all for their reply's. I am a personal friend of Jim B, and he is the only person who has done work on my "45" L-5. Jim Triggs also calls Lawrence home although his focus is high end new stuff for Hollywood/ Nashville celebs. This is a special guitar that demands my "best effort". I thought the $600 estimate a bit high, but know the results would be perfect. That being said there are other luthiers around that come highly recommended, so exploring that will be next. Certainly a total fingerboard redress will require a new nut, perhaps bridge. My DIY for a fingerboard replacement was wishful thinking, as my "best effort" requires paying someone who knows what they are doing, however at this point, it seems saving and fixing the original fingerboard is the best plan of action. Thanks to David Collins and tysam for detailing the folly of replacement over refurb. Thanks Alex, I may pursue the refurb myself, however, I am starting to doubt my ability to do this well. I have other old, less valuable guitars I can practice on.