I recently picked up a well used MIJ E series Stratocaster. It needs some neck work done. I really want to keep it as original as possible, so I want to keep the original neck. I can refret the guitar, no problem. My main concern is some deep worn areas on the maple neck near the first 5 frets. The worn areas are deep enough to cause the string to get hung up in the oval-shaped worn areas. I am not sure how to remedy this situation. I have never bought a used guitar in such worn condition, but it was cheap, and overalll, in good shape.
How do I fill in these wear areas to make the fretboard smooth and playable? Should the whole fretboard be planed flat? Can the areas be filled in with lacquer or poly? Should I just leave it alone? Is the neck done, and should be replaced? Take a look at the photos, and let me know what you thinks. Thanks Strat junkies!!

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A bunch of guitars, a few amps, some pedals and some other stuff that makes noise.

Hi Paisley Strat: when that guitar gets refretted the luthier will likely sand the fingerboard with a radiused sanding block prior to refinishing it with fresh lacquer. That will slightly reduce the dips in the surface, though not fully by any means. The lacquer will then seal in the marks.

It's perfectly normal: when Fender made the recent detailed reproduction of Eric Clapton's Blackie I remember reading that they had to find a way to reproduce what had happened to that guitar's neck. Eric had worn fingermarks into the fingerboard, like yours. It had then been refretted and relacquered, sealing in those dirty marks. He had then worn through the new lacquer a second time, adding additional and slightly different finger marks. This in turn had been relacquered.

One of the things some people like about rosewood is that it doesn't show up these kinds of marks so much. I have read that this cosmetic issue is partly why Leo reluctantly introduced rosewood 'boards in the first place.

On the other hand, those of us that like maple just see this kind of thing as "classic vibe".

If it is a nice playing neck do the work and keep it.

Good luck - C

Hi Ceri,
I bought the guitar with the intentions of doing my first refret job. It is a worthwhile guitar to do it on, and will be nice once finished. I thought about leaving the wear spots, but when the guitar is played, the divots are so deep, you can actually feel them under your fingers, and slight vibrato at those spots is impossible. The strings rests in the valleys, and doesn't want to slide, and bending causes a noticable "pang" sound when it is stretched out of the trough and onto the flat wood next to it.
I am going to have to research the process, and see what steps to take to remedy this. It is not a problem. I love working on guitars, and this is just another learning process in my attempts to be an experienced luthier. I purchased this guitar for $80, and it is exactly what I needed to practice on. If I screw it up, I have an Allparts neck I can retrofit to the body.
When I saw an E series Squire MIJ Strat in original condition, with original case and owners manual for $80, I couldn't resist. The only parts I am forced to replace are the tremelo unit, and frets. I ordered a steel saddle vintage tremelo to replace the rusted original unit. I should get it in a few days.

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A bunch of guitars, a few amps, some pedals and some other stuff that makes noise.

Hi again Paisley: well, Orvilleowner pointed out that those dips in the fingerboard are mostly made by fingernails rather than string abrasion. He reckons a string can't really be pressed to the wood, at least not without going badly off pitch.

I have an old neck that looks a lot like yours. I stoutly maintain that I can press the string to the timber, at least down near the nut. But upon examination Orville is absolutely right (are we surprised?): most of the gouging of my fingerboard is done by nails. I've been more careful with nail care since, and in any case, my younger necks don't have the marks. Presumably my fretting technique has got lighter over the years.

In other words, those dips shouldn't affect the feel of the string when bending. Probably it's the valleys carved into the frets that's doing that.

Anyhow: be delighted to see how you get on with the refretting. Why don't you run a thread on it with plenty of pix? Lotta people be inspired to watch that one...

Best of luck to you - C

If this was my "project" neck I would be tempted to fill the divets with lacquer bringing them level with the rest of the fretboard before doing a re-radius on the entire fretboard.

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Chet Feathers

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

Also if you take the guitar to a tech and have them put new frets on, have the radius increased it will help to get rid of the geuges.

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Aside from all that was mentioned, you can do one or both of the following:

Shave off from another source some very thin, clean, dried out pieces of matching grain and color maple. One divot at a time, cut some of the wood shards into the shape of that divot you choose to fill first. Using cyanoacrylate (Crazy Glue), glue the maple piece(s) into the divot, bringing that area of the fingerboard back up. Then go onto the next divot, etc. Don't be afraid of the divot areas becoming slightly higher than the original fingerboard as once completed, you'll let your work dry, then sand level and spot finish these areas or the whole fingerboard if you so choose.

And/or:

Grind down from another source some clean, dried out matching color maple, pulverizing about a thimble full's worth of it into powder. Mix it with cyanoacrylate into a paste. Spread this paste into each divot until those areas of the fingerboard are back up. Again, don't be afraid of the divot areas becoming slightly higher than the original fingerboard as once completed, you'll let your work dry, then sand level and spot finish these areas or the whole fingerboard if you so choose

In either case, clean the divots with naptha (lighter fluid) prior to starting.

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You dig?

I love this forum cuz I get some really helpful info on different topics. I appreciate all the expertise that everyone has. I like the fact that many of you can have a different fix or insight into the same repair. I guess it is up to me how I proceed.
All the help is very much appreciated. I have learned a lot, and am not afraid to tackle new and daunting tasks that just a few years ago would have let go, or paid somebody else a good bit of money to do for me. One of the reasons I got into repair was that I never found a really GOOD repair tech in my area(Mid-Atlantic region US of A)that I could trust to do quality work. That is why I find these Fender and Squire Strats at pawn shops and flea markets to practice on, and improve my skills without damaging my expensive guitars.
Thanks again all!!!!

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A bunch of guitars, a few amps, some pedals and some other stuff that makes noise.

You're quite welcome. However, we tell you all this good stuff under one condition: You MUST show us the fingerboard when you are finished! The best of luck with it!!

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You dig?

You took the words right out of my mouth! Well, that's okay.

One thing to notice is that the dips in the wood aren't under the string, they are where the fingertip hits.

I reckon that a string isn't really pressed to the wood during normal playing.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.