330 Truss Rod and Neck Issues

[jingle_jangle]

Hey, Mark, I think you mean "invisibleize", LOL.

I've had the fretboards off of a lot of Rick guitars and basses. Scariest are solidbodies from the '60s. One of my '67 425Ss has such a thin neck without the fretboard that I have to keep it in a case. Once the board is back, though, it's plenty strong.

I'm not sure what you're describing re: the pins, though. Didn't you drill through the position marker recesses after removing the markers? The markers on 330s are merely thermoplastic (styrene or ABS, not sure which), punched out of a flat sheet and press-fitted into place. They pop out easily enough and are also easy to replace.

[wrnchbndr]

For the moment, I just drilled straight through the markers with a 3/64ths bit and will take my chances drop filling the little hole with my super magical custom process for matching cream colored plastic and topping with ambered lacquer. If it doesn't become invisiblized, I'll pop out the dots and replace them. I still have the frets in place and no damage to the fretboard finish at all. The frets are in "like new" shape indicating that the guitar has never been loved enough. I'll be making cauls from Friendly Plastic for the fretboard to deal with the frets and finish when I glue up.

[jingle_jangle]

Not telling you how to do your thing, nor am I criticizing your methods, but it's much easier to pop out the markers and just plain replace then, than it is to try to fill them...also, if your process for filling the hole involves superglue, note that it turns yellow-orange after time; usually eight to ten years, so those fills will show eventually. The ambered lacquer will also show as a patch, probably in a shorter time frame than that.

I assumed that you'd stripped the conversion varnish off the fretboard; my second reading tells me you didn't. In this case, popping the dots out becomes much more difficult, as they will disturb the CV, if you can even get them out from under the varnish. So, I understand what you're saying now, but question whether a fill and touchup wth lacquer is the way to go.

Also, what are you going to do to fill and smooth the joint between the fretboard and neck? You're gonna have to do some sanding there, I think, and clear nitro is not known for its ability to fill cracks.

[wrnchbndr]

I scored the edge of the fretboard quite effectively and got a very decent clean break at the finsh transition line. I'll use an airbrush and do what I can to melt the finish back together by spraying straight acetone into the transition. You can pull this off if you can thoroughly wash out the squeeze-out with warm water. It doesn't always work and you must certainly mask off leaving only about 1/16ths of exposed surface. I'll then brush on straight unthinned lacquer and knock it back in a week.

[jingle_jangle]

Ricks are not finished with a air-dry clearcoat, so acetone will have little effect on blending. The finish is catalyzed, so it does not "melt" together like a nitro finish would.

They are finished with a furniture-grade catalyzing polyurethane varnish (generic term: "conversion varnish"). You need to scuff the entire neck with #1000 wet or dry (used dry) and shoot a couple of double wet coats of properly catalyzed and reduced conversion varnish (Sherwin-Williams makes a good line) onto the side of the fretboard and neck. Allow to cure and shrink back for 72 hours minimum, then block sand the newly-finished area, buff back to gloss.

You'll need to mask off the areas that you aren't varnishing--conversion varnish overspray does not come off very easily. I normally remove tuners and TRC, mask the top of the fretboard to both edges, and wrap the body in masking paper, making a clean joint at the neck joint/heel area. I scuff and clearcoat the entire neck including the headstock, front and back.

Finishing Ricks is high craft; you're starting a learning curve that stretches into the future for at least a couple of years.

[wrnchbndr]

This does not make me happy. I think in the future I will forward Rick work to my competitors and let them be unhappy. I've worked with nitro for years and still am learning new things about it.

[jingle_jangle]

Not the end of the world, Mark. Just a new skill to learn. But definitely more tricky than nitro or acrylic lacquer.