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Post subject: Refretting a scalloped neck?
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2014 8:04 pm
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The luthier who did the scalloping said that after it's scalloped it can't be refreted anymore.. I don't know why... That's a big problem for me. Because i want to scallop my other guitars and not worrying that they can't be refreted. I want to know did anybody refreted their scalloped strat necks..


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Post subject: Re: Refretting a scalloped neck?
Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 1:10 am
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I can't think of a reason why refretting a scalloped fretboard would be impossible.
You'd have to be extrasuperultra careful not to chip the ridge area, of course, so it's "a tad" :wink: more time consuming & difficult than a regular neck refret.

But the general advice would be: get a replacement scalloped neck, so the process can be reversed. Looking at ebay, it might be also the cheaper way.


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Post subject: Re: Refretting a scalloped neck?
Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 1:32 pm
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So basically throw the neck in the trash? I don't want to buy new necks just for new frets i mean... That's insane :D I will try to research some more..


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Post subject: Re: Refretting a scalloped neck?
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 10:59 am
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Shredder123 wrote:
So basically throw the neck in the trash? I don't want to buy new necks just for new frets i mean... That's insane :D I will try to research some more..


No...that's not what he's saying. Scalloping a neck is a permanent modification which is a non-issue as long as you plan on never selling the guitar. I'm no expert, but I don't think that there is a huge demand for scalloped neck guitars.


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Post subject: Re: Refretting a scalloped neck?
Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2014 12:02 pm
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I can sell it if i want and there are people who will want it so that's not a problem.. The problem is the refreting...


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Post subject: Re: Refretting a scalloped neck?
Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2014 3:14 pm
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Welcome!

If it is a moderate scallop, there shouldn't be a problem. If the scallop is really steep and deep, even under the most careful conditions pulling the fret might remove a chunk of what's left of the little bit of wood left to support it on either side. And then there's the whole issue of replacing a fret in that little bit of wood left to support it. Pulling a fret or replacing it, those little slivers of supporting wood cannot take a whole lot of pressure. At the risk of sounding ambivalent, this is one situation where you'll know once the job is started. I do however, urge you to take it to a tech who has a proven expertise for fretwork. If it were me, I'd try it but I'd also let the owner know everything I've said above beforehand.

As always, this is merely IMO where YMMV.

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Post subject: Re: Refretting a scalloped neck?
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 12:55 pm
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here's photos of my guitar i really hope there's a way it can be refreted after time when it's needed!


Last edited by Shredder123 on Wed Jan 25, 2017 4:31 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Post subject: Re: Refretting a scalloped neck?
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 2:34 pm
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Most techs will pull the frets straight up with pliers. That may be difficult with a scalloped neck, because there's nothing for the pliers to rest on for leverage.
Pushing them through from the side, though, should be possible. Depending on the tang barbs on the frets, that can even be the preferred way.

Putting new frets on would also require more care.

But undoable? No. Ritchie Blackmore has told about his experience with refretting his strats. One tech "fixed" the fretboard for him, leveling it. So he changed techs.


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Post subject: Re: Refretting a scalloped neck?
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 2:45 pm
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Shredder123 wrote:
Image
Image Image here's photos of my guitar i really hope there's a way it can be refreted after time when it's needed!

You posted your concern more than two years ago.
Your frets still look perfectly playable.
Why are you worrying about this right now?
Play your guitar.
With the extra light touch required to play a scalloped board without sounding wonky, there's an excellent chance you may never need a refret.

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Post subject: Re: Refretting a scalloped neck?
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 2:26 am
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I assume it must be a trick of the photo but the strings seem insanely close to the frets.

And another thing - How many times have you had the frets redressed in two years? There should be enough meat to allow this before you need to worry about new frets.

And finally, think about how wood works, and then think about how frets work. As others have said, if you ever need a refretting, you might get away with it but the scaloping has increased the potential for the wood either side of the fret to break away - well it would wouldn't it?

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Post subject: Re: Refretting a scalloped neck?
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 8:19 am
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John Sims wrote:
but the scaloping has increased the potential for the wood either side of the fret to break away - well it would wouldn't it?

If the tech is stupid enough to try the same method as for unscalloped fretboards, then yes.
Wood tears if pulled across the grain when the end is unsupported. So either don't pull, or create a support, or both. If the scallops are truly straight, cutting pieces to fit would be easy. Using sacrificial pieces to support end grain is a standard part of classic woodworking.
If not comfortable with that, self-hardening putty seems like an easy solution.
In either case, it would be less prone to tearout than a non-scalloped fretboard, because all the wood would be supported.


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Post subject: Re: Refretting a scalloped neck?
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 11:27 am
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I agree with John C; there is enough fret material to do at least a couple of recrown/polish jobs, which will take the OP quite many years ahead with this neck.
BTW, (and: this may be just psychological, I've no scientific facts to prove it) some string sets seem to "eat" frets more than others. Plus, there are the flatwound/halfround types to consider.

And another BTW, I'd almost bet a new neck will be cheaper than a refret job, when that situation arises (after many moons, I hope).


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Post subject: Re: Refretting a scalloped neck?
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 1:21 pm
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Common grades of the types of carbon steel used in the manufacture of guitar strings are approximately 10% -15% harder than pure nickel.
Nickel plated windings are not plated with pure nickel but rather the plating is mostly carbon steel with about 8% - 10% nickel alloyed into the mix for corrosion resistance.
The core of the winding wire is all steel and the plating of the winding wire is almost all steel ... at about 90%.
Therefore nickel pated windings are harder than pure nickel windings and will cause more fret wear if all else is equal.
Steel is also brighter sounding and also a little hotter (louder) than nickel.
This is because pure nickel is non magnetic.
As a result, nickel plated strings have more steel in the mass of the windings so the pickup sees a greater strength of disturbance in the magnetic field over the pole pieces.
That's the reason for the greater output, brightness and harshness.
Different string manufacturers may specify different grades of steel be used for the centre core wires and also for the winding core wires but the relative differences in hardness and tone won't be sufficient to place them in a different category that is outside of the above mentioned general properties.
The various grades of steel will all be relatively close to each other in terms of hardness and iron content.
Pure nickel wound strings provide less disturbance in the field because only the centre core wire is steel, not the winding wire.
That leads to lower output and a softer, rounder, less harsh sound.

Of course, none of this applies to the non-wound strings as they are all steel, although you do sometimes see plating on the solid wires too.
The very slight difference in mass due to the ultra thin electroplating will not be sufficient to have much impact on hardness or tone.

Hope that helps.

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Post subject: Re: Refretting a scalloped neck?
Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 4:11 am
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I've posted more photos and these photos are from 2 years ago and i haven't played the guitar very much since then that's why there's not much fret wear i'm sayin' this because someone thinks that the photos are from now. If i want to play like Malmsteen and Blackmore's bends they're starting to wear pretty quickly soo my concern is real! I'm from Bulgaria so here we're pretty poor and i don't wanna throw the neck to the trash and buy new and scallop it again blabla! I can't understand the last comment's relation to refretting scalloped neck i want to know if someone had their scalloped neck refretted does someone had that experience and how it came out?


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Post subject: Re: Refretting a scalloped neck?
Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 7:45 am
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You don't have to have a scalloped neck to bend; David Gilmour seems to manage OK.

You certainly wont wear the frets out if you don't pay the guitar. And if they start to wear you can refinish them.

What are you worried about? The neck is already scalloped so (unless you do a Blackmore) you aren't about to reverse it. You've got it now so you might as well use it.

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