Removing Lacquer on Fretboard & Larger Frets

[jingle_jangle]

But, for now, his rants remain!

[drumbob]

I think Ed was one of the most opinionated blowhards on the guitar scene, but his Rick "mods" are for the birds.

Ed knew, or cared, little about what makes Ricks unique. To him, they were cash cows, product, stuff to flog to the unwashed. And modifying them was an excuse to impose his will and preferences on people who didn't understand Ricks, but thought him to be an "authority", while collecting nice profits to boot.

Anyone who wants to get an idea of where Ed's head was at re: guitars, just troll his extensive website for the guitars he himself designed and had his staff build. 'Nuff said.

To answer the original question: Yes, I have seen unfinished fretboards and jumbo frets...on several modified Ricks which I've had the great pleasure of "unmodifying" by putting the correct frets back on and revarnishing the 'boards.

Then I breathe a sigh of relief...another *********** Rickenbacker given its identity back. Or something like that.

First P-90s, now this topic...if you want a Les Paul, Jr. or Sr., go out and get one.

Paul...Just for the record, I totally agree with you on the subject of Ed Roman. The man is an obnoxious bag o' wind. Also for the record, I own three Strats, an SG, a Les Paul, an Epiphone Dot 335 and others.

[jingle_jangle]

I'm with you, Bob, on the topic of "different horses for different courses". I play my Ricks for pleasure (and an occasional song with the band), but my Jags and Jazzmasters are my surf instruments. Yeah, I've also got a Strat (Dick Dale replica) and one lone Les Paul...hence my seeming lack of flexibility on the topic of modded Ricks.

[larrylarry]

Well I certainly wouldn't want to remove the lacquer from the fretboard, but I did refret my 620 with slightly taller frets for easier string bending. It's basically like refretting a varnished maple neck Tele. You have to carefully score each side of each fret with an Xacto knife so that pulling the fret doesn't chip the lacquer. Then the new frets cover the scored lacquer. Even though I put in frets that were barely taller than the originals, they tend to sit up a bit higher simply because it is a refret. If I only played rhythm, I would NOT have done it - it was the hardest re-fret I've ever done...