*help* How bad is this? (pics inside)

[miholc]

I've defreted SX (essex) precision neck and burned 1st fret while doing it.

When I removed neck tint off of a neck it went better...

If I'd apply citristrip on the neck first this would not happen I guess. But that's how it is when you're doing things for the first time

Now, can you tell by pictures is this neck (slot) repairable (could it be refreted and be playable again)
Refreted by qualified luthier and not by noob like me, obviously.
Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[Dave W]

How did you burn it?

I suspect it's purely cosmetic and wouldn't affect anything.

 

[Rip Topaz]

Looks like he heated the fret with a soldering iron and just went a bit too far.

 

[MarTONEbass]

Re-fretting the entire neck will likely cost more than just buying an entire, new SX.

 

[miholc]

Yes, I've used soldering iron for defreting. There was a LOT of that tinted lacquer on the entire neck which didn't let fret go off of the neck. So that's why it is as it is now :\

 

[Bassamatic]

This why I always advise against de-fretting a bass. After the cost of re-fretting when you find you don't like it, and the loss in value to the instrument (always), you are better off just buying a cheap fretless.

 

[abemo]

Man, did you just add some character or what.

Ok, so one solution to fix it. Lightly, and I mean LIGHTLY sand the fretboard and save the sawdust. Mix said sawdust with glue, and spread the mixture down into the fretslots, resand when dry. This will fill the cuts and chips, the sawdust should perfectly match the wood leaving the mark all but invisible, and then you can epoxy coat it and play away.

 

[abemo]

Btw, I meant to say, mix the sawdust with woodglue.

 

[JLS]

Man, did you just add some character or what.

Ok, so one solution to fix it. Lightly, and I mean LIGHTLY sand the fretboard and save the sawdust. Mix said sawdust with glue, and spread the mixture down into the fretslots, resand when dry. This will fill the cuts and chips, the sawdust should perfectly match the wood leaving the mark all but invisible, and then you can epoxy coat it and play away.

Sorry, this won't work the way it's described. The sawdust/glue mixture will be noticeably darker than the fingerboard.

 

[phmike]

Fill the slot and play it. That far down the neck you'll never notice a problem. It would cost more to refret than to buy a new SX.

I think it's too much trouble to pull the frets, fill slots, etc. Just file frets down to the wood and leave the fret tang in the slot. Prevents lot of damage and extra work. The metal tang makes a great slot filler. I did that to a Fender MIM jazz 5 string neck and love it.

 

[Salamenster]

Jo, I'm thinking of defretting my bass, but now I realize it's not such a good idea. What y'all think about buying a fretless neck?

 

[abemo]

I've used this technique a few times, never had an issue with color matching, that's the whole reason for mixing sawdust from the exact same board that you will be applying the mixture to.

Now the burn spot will probably still show, call it a character mark.

 

[miholc]

Hi there again. New sx is not an option because I don't like their new headstock shape

Same goes for fretless cause I already own one.

This is older one and I dig it's HS shape

Off it goes tint lacquer:

Also control cavity does not take place over ~ half of body... like I've seen on some imports.

Good instrument for the price. After removing tint lacquer, the neck feels awesome now!

I'm taking her to luthier this weekend so we'll see what can be done.

Thanks for all the info/advice for now fellow TB'ers.

 

[Silver Blues]

Fill the slot and play it. That far down the neck you'll never notice a problem. It would cost more to refret than to buy a new SX.

I think it's too much trouble to pull the frets, fill slots, etc. Just file frets down to the wood and leave the fret tang in the slot. Prevents lot of damage and extra work. The metal tang makes a great slot filler. I did that to a Fender MIM jazz 5 string neck and love it.

I was just beginning to wonder whether or not this would be a good idea... evidently it is. Wouldn't it be kind of a bee-yotch to re-radius the fingerboard with fret leftovers in it?

--Silvie

 

[Andyman001]

A new SX neck is between $40 & $60

 

[bolophonic]

Subscribed.

 

[phmike]

I was just beginning to wonder whether or not this would be a good idea... evidently it is. Wouldn't it be kind of a bee-yotch to re-radius the fingerboard with fret leftovers in it?

--Silvie

Re-radius (why?) should be no problem. If a string can wear a groove in a fret then sandpaper on a radius block should have no trouble cutting the much thinner tang.