Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

wim wrote:I'm not kidding. With something like this;

http://www.riogrande.com/MemberArea/Pro ... off+Wheels

in combination with this ;

http://www.riogrande.com/MemberArea/Pro ... 68=Diamond

and some patience and a steady hand or a drill press, you could remove the metal without having to remove the bindings.

Forget about the steady hand, and if using a drill press, the guitar neck would have to be moved to cut the fret out. These wheels, only .015" thick, flex quite a bit and will seek out the softer wood on either side before cutting the fret.

I was thinking of using a drill bit bigger than .025, of course, but neglected to capture this detail. When steaming a neck joint, I typically drill a .060" (1/16") diameter hole, centered on a fret slot, at the neck joint (12th or 14th fret). Even a very slim vintage Rick fret measures about .082"-.084" in width, so the fret will cover the hole.

Center-punch each fret tang, drill through the tang with a .060" drill, insert dental hook and p-u-l-l. I am certain this will work, but be ginger about it so as not to pull up bits of fretboard. No yanking allowed.

I'm totally clueless when it comes to this stuff, but I understand conceptually how this fret-removal technique will work. On the other hand, how does one put in new frets without removing the binding?

First, the frets are each cut slightly long.

The ends of the frets have the tangs removed to clear the binding, the frets are hammered/pressed into place, and the ends are clipped flush with the binding.

An angled file is used to partially bevel the ends with the bottoms of the bevel flush with the binding. The frets are leveled and the tops and bevel blended, then the tops and bevel are polished.

The real trick is refinishing the fretboard, though...

jingle_jangle wrote:First, the frets are each cut slightly long.
The real trick is refinishing the fretboard, though...

Ah, removing the old finish and applying a new one without disfiguring the binding?

Good point, of course. I'm guessing this isn't just a matter of masking tape, a very small brush and a steady hand.

Dave Scantland wrote:
Good point, of course. I'm guessing this isn't just a matter of masking tape, a very small brush and a steady hand.

Your guess is correct.

Dave Scantland wrote:I'm totally clueless when it comes to this stuff, but I understand conceptually how this fret-removal technique will work. On the other hand, how does one put in new frets without removing the binding?

I've seen it done, would be no problem. How my luthier plans on doing this exactly, I don't know

jingle_jangle wrote: The real trick is refinishing the fretboard, though...

Inbetween the frets after the refretting you mean? I have an Allparts with the lacquer on top on the frettings as well. Eventually it'll wear off. Eventhough this is pretty sloppy it does work.

Besides that, what would your suggestion be?

For those curious, other parts arrived!

Refinishing Rickenbacker fretboards is simple to describe but difficult to do to factory specs. A fretboard finished in the factory manner resists dirt and grunge, doesn't need oiling, and looks great for years, as long as you keep your fingernails trimmed.

To do a proper refret of a varnished Rickenbacker fretboard, the fretboard must of course be defretted, surfaced, and levelled. It's then refretted, with the ends filed back at an angle (I use 30 degrees). The frets are topped and levelled, but not crowned, although the flattened tops are blended into the edges.

A filler is applied to the board to fill the grain. When I do the filling, I fill the fret bases as well (which is invisible once completed). After the filler is dried (overnight), the areas between each pair of frets is hand-sanded using a series of special hard foam blocks. If required, this step is repeated.

Following this, a sealer is applied to seal the board. Frets are not masked. The sealer is lightly sanded to remove dust nits, and several wet coats of conversion varnish applied. Once this has hardened, it is again dry-sanded to level it, and two or three more coats of varnish are sprayed.

After a minimum three-day curing period, the board is wet sanded again between every pair of frets. The varnish is sanded from the frets, and the whole board and frets are polished on a buffing wheel.

Obviously, if the redo of the fretboard is part of a total refinish, as it most often is, the steps from filler and sealer through buffing are done at the same time for both body and fretboard.

Sounds pretty much like gibberish to me

Hi Paul, quick question. What material are the Ricfrets made off?

Fretwire is typically a nickel /silver /brass alloy, most commonly 12%-18% nickel, in several hardnesses. Stainless steel and brass fretwire is also available. Exactly what the composition of Rickenbacker frets is, I don't know.

consider stainless for the job it will outlive you!

Some movement in the whole progress, revival of the fretboard will continue in its original thread!