Fanned frets 4 string

[TonH]

Let's give the dye a try.

A piece of lacewood and some black dye:

And sanded back:

With some clearcoat:

That didn't turn out very well. I think I sanded it to hard

 

[TonH]

Now that the fretboard has a radius, the fretslots at the edges are no longer deep enough.

With my special tool (a piece of a thin blade of a japanese saw glued between to pieces of maple) I made the fretslots deeper over the full length.

 

[TonH]

When I applied the radius on the fretbaord the centre line disappaered.

So I had to draw it again to set out the position of the inlays. I also made a little hole with a "pricker" as a guide for the drill.

Then after drilling the holes for the inlays, I glued the black positions markers with super glue (gel).

And the side dots:

Let the glue cure and then I can sand them down.

 

[TonH]

This evening I had some time to work on the bass.
I sanded down the position inlays and the side dots. I also levelled the fretboard, drilled a hole for the trusrodd (access), a hole for the wiring of the bridge and I made a cover for the electronics cavity of lace wood.

Now I have a ground wire for just 1 of the solo rail bridge.

Suggestions, idea's for how to ground the four solo rail bridges are welcome!

 

[scuzzy]

This evening I had some time to work on the bass.
I sanded down the position inlays and the side dots. I also levelled the fretboard, drilled a hole for the trusrodd (access), a hole for the wiring of the bridge and I made a cover for the electronics cavity of lace wood.

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Now I have a ground wire for just 1 of the solo rail bridge.

Suggestions, idea's for how to ground the four solo rail bridges are welcome!

Use a metal nut or a metal string retainer that touches all strings on the headstock.

 

[TonH]

Use a metal nut or a metal string retainer that touches all strings on the headstock.

Thanks!

A brass nut has crossed my mind, but I am not a fan of brass nuts. On the other hand I do need string retainers, they probably do the trick.

From another project I have these bars for a string retainer.

I can do 1 perpendicular or 2 slanted.

I haven't decided yet .
Or I need a longer bar type restrainer.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

On a fanned fret, the retainer “has” to be angled. Get one long one.

 

[TonH]

On a fanned fret, the retainer “has” to be angled. Get one long one.

You are right!

 

[TonH]

Until now I used my column drill as a fret press, with the help of a fret press caul.
But I don't know if that could damage the column drill.

Anyway a few weeks ago at a garage sale, I bought a piece of equipment (stand?) that turns your normal electric drill into a column drill for just 1 euro!

Let's try to convert that into a fret press with the fret press caul that I already have:

Maybe it will work.

 

[Beej]

Until now I used my column drill as a fret press, with the help of fret press caul.
But I don't know if that could damage the column drill.

Anyway a few weeks ago at a garage sale, I bought a piece of equipment (stand?) that turns your normal electric drill into a column drill for just 1 euro!

Let's try to convert that into a fret press with the fret press caul that I already have:

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Maybe it will work.

That is a fantastic idea! I see those go for cheap all the time around me...definitely going to pick one up...

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Harbor Freight has a cheap arbor press that might be convertible too, I’m still using my drill press, but it’s not ideal.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Yeah, those old "conversion" drill presses can often be found for cheap at flea markets. They don't have a lot of leverage, but it should be enough for a fret press. And you can even mount an old junker electric drill in it to function as the spindle. Having the chuck at the bottom is handy for changing attachments.

 

[delta7fred]

Until now I used my column drill as a fret press, with the help of a fret press caul.
But I don't know if that could damage the column drill.

Anyway a few weeks ago at a garage sale, I bought a piece of equipment (stand?) that turns your normal electric drill into a column drill for just 1 euro!

Let's try to convert that into a fret press with the fret press caul that I already have:

View attachment 3072739

View attachment 3072740
View attachment 3072742

Maybe it will work.

A bargain at 1 Euro!

I use one of those, with a suitable adaptor, as a valve spring compressor for classic car engines. I have found that you need to lubricate the column otherwise the friction makes it difficult to get enough pressure on to compress a valve spring. I suspect this will be the same for a fret press.

 

[TonH]

A bargain at 1 Euro!

I use one of those, with a suitable adaptor, as a valve spring compressor for classic car engines. I have found that you need to lubricate the column otherwise the friction makes it difficult to get enough pressure on to compress a valve spring. I suspect this will be the same for a fret press.

What do you iuse for lubrication. I cleaned and lubricated this one with WD40, not sure if it stays lubricated.

 

[delta7fred]

What do you iuse for lubrication. I cleaned and lubricated this one with WD40, not sure if it stays lubricated.

Whatever is in my oil can, I usually drain engine oil containers into it, so a mix of 20/50 (as used in most classic cars) and modern 5/30. Any light/medium mineral oil should be suitable, I'm not sure about grease, it might be a bit too viscous.

WD40 wouldn't be my first choice but is probably ok for the limit use that a fret press gets. It tends to evaporate and leave a sticky film so you would need to reapply it periodically. If it starts to get harder to pull the handle down give it another shot.

 

[TonH]

This week the fretwire that I ordered arrived, so time to try my "new" fret press.
It works just fine, enough pressure to press the frets in the slo.
Even the 18th to 22th frets were no problem.

The result afer cutting the ends of the frets and filing:

 

[TonH]

It is very hot here in Europe and I didn't do much on the bass. I did some work in the evening in the shadow outside the house.

First I made a nut (bone not bleached).

And installed it with super glue (gel)

After sanding the neck and fretboard, I gave them some clear coat:

Now I can see what the color is going to be and the fretboard is protected from dirt.

It gives me also the oppertunity to try my new tool that I made from a nail.
With the nail I can scrape the clear coat from the frets. Pushing the nail over the fret seems to work the best.

 

[TonH]

The last couple of weeks I had time to work on my bass. I finished the bass with clear coat and after curing sanded and polished the bass (body and neck).

Here are some pictures. The sun isn't shining so the pictures are not that good but they give an impression.

I made the cover for the electronics cavity from a piece of lacewood.

And for the volume I use a push pull pot so I can switch to single coil. With the help of a little magnet the cover sticks to the volume pot.

It just needs a nameplate or transfer for the headstock.

Playing it feels very natural, just above the 12th fret you have to get used to the fanned frets.