Warwick Corvette ProLine Refret

[Jacsipmac]

This baby came in the mail today. My original plan was to rehab the neck and put it on my Thumb Bolt-on but I might end up keeping this guy like it is and selling the Thumb. This thing is beautiful. Even after traveling across the country the action was in great shape. Just a tiny bit of relief. Dead-straight when I took the strings off and it stayed that way even after pulling all the frets.

I haven't found a good source of info on refretting wenge or Warwicks specifically so I started this thread to show how it goes. I may be crazy for cutting my teeth on a wenge board but it paid off in the end. Here it is so far.

Comparison pic:

Woodgrain Porn:

The nutslot needed help, the headstock was polished with some kind of rouge that left some gunk:

The frets were slotted and then CA glue was dripped through the slot starting at the treble side. The bass side had very little glue on it and some of the frets higher up the neck were starting to come loose. This one shows some CA glue smoke:

I started out pulling the frets from the bass side since they were already loose but this caused some tear-out where there was still glue. Once I sorted out where the glue was I switched hands and started on the treble side with much better results. The first few, the grain hides most of the tear-out:

The last few, no tear-out, and the nut slot filed smooth:

The scene of the crime:

Overall I'm extremely pleased with the result (not bad for the first defret if I say so myself). Now I have to wait for some tools to come in to level the board and prep the slots. Oh, and I have to find some Warwick fretwire that doesn't cost $75 to ship to the US. Or I might use EVO, not sure.

Here's the craziest part! The neck bolt hole was drilled INTO the 20th fretslot! you can see through the neck!

If there's interest, I'll update the thread as the project progresses but it'll probably be a few weeks before I get the tools I need to keep going. In the meantime I'll be working on my first complete build

Thanks for checking it out!
Jason

 

[bostonasphalt2]

I thought about defretting my Corvette 6 that has a Wenge fingerboard, but after a lot of research I saw that Wenfe isn't the best for fretless tone and the wood can chip rather easily. I am interested to see what you think of the sound!

 

[Jacsipmac]

I'm putting frets back in this one. The wenge has such a coarse texture, I imagine you'd have to use epoxy to get a good enough surface for a fretless. If you'd like I can throw it back on the bass and record some bare wenge fretless sound clips for you.

 

[grendle]

Way cool thread! Yeah keep the pics comming. A refret is something I've yet to tackle.

 

[ynot12]

Hey man, keep the pics and updates coming! Looks like a fun project.

 

[staccatogrowl]

Be careful working with Wenge. Wear a mask and eye protection.

Invalid Link Removed

Wood Allergies and Toxicity | The Wood Database

 

[Jacsipmac]

Be careful working with Wenge. Wear a mask and eye protection.

Invalid Link Removed

Wood Allergies and Toxicity | The Wood Database

Thanks for the info, I'll definitely be careful. Hopefully I won't have to do too much sanding - fingers crossed.

I've done all I can do for the moment. Hopefully the supplies I need from LMIi will be in soon, and I can clean the fret slots and level the board. The fret press caul I need from StewMac is backordered and I'm trying to hold out on other stuff to pay less shipping.

 

[DeanT]

Interested in how this turns out. Keep the info coming! By the way, nice bass

 

[Jacsipmac]

Ok. I did the initial cleaning on the fret slots today. Not much to report. There wasn't very much gunk in there except for one or two slots that had some [aftermarket] CA glue. The slots are pretty deep, which surprised me because on the Warwick site it says they cut them to precisely the depth of the fret tang. That's fine with me, maybe I wont have to saw on them any after I level the fingerboard.

I decided to go with EVO 9665 "Jumbo" Fretwire. It'll be gold like the real stuff, but a little harder. People seem to like it.

Here are some clean slots:

My homemade fret slot cleaning tool worked really well:
(An Xacto 11 Blade with the edge ground into a dull curve)

My radius block should be in next week.
Maybe I'll build a fret bending jig while I wait...

 

[Jacsipmac]

Here's the latest update. I got the board leveled and radiused no problem. Now I'm waiting on some nice CA glue and Teflon so I can fill the bad chips. Then I'll deepen the slots and start pressing!

Here's my setup: I used 80, then foam back 3m "fine" pads then 800 to polish. It is baby's ass smooth. Delicious.

All done:

I decided I was going to keep this one, and that body was just too red:

I thought about leaving it like that and oiling it - reason won out.

I'm going for Warwick's Invalid Link Removed but I don't know if this stain is going to get me there. I might have to try a thin coat of paint.

Here's the second coat with flash:

That's where I'm at now. The glue, Tru-Oil, and fret saw should be here early next week and the next update should have this thing just about finished.

I'm going to run down and try to knock out a fret bender and fret press caul tonight. If they come out well I'll come back with pics.

Thanks everyone!

 

[grendle]

Cool.

No stainless frets?

 

[Jacsipmac]

I've never played on stainless, so I guess I don't know what I'm missing. I really like the brass that Warwick uses but I couldn't get it for less than $50. I went with Jescar EVO gold wire which is supposed to be somewhere between nickel and stainless. All I know is that it's brittle, and it does NOT like to bend the way I want it to.

 

[grendle]

Cool. Stainless is a little more slippery than std frets. I didn't notice a big difference in tone, but there was a little of the warwick type ping in the one I played. Less pronounced than on a wick though. That alloy they use gets that funky ping really nice. They call it bell brass but its an alloy, brass is way too soft. I've been interested in SS frets due to liking roto 66 strings. They sound great but eat the frets up bad. I have one that can use a refret, might do SS in the near future.

 

[Jacsipmac]

Haven't gotten any tools in yet, but I got restless and had to spend some time in the garage. Here's my adventure trying to build a fret bender (based on [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] made by Jason from Six Gun Guitars) and a fret press caul.

I cut some circles with the worlds worst hole saw, Vermont American sold by Home Depot. Stay away. I started with 3/4 pine but decided on 1/2 red oak:

Here's my back plate with my Sketchup plan stuck to it and drilled:

I chucked them into my drill press and cut grooves for the tang using an old miter saw:

Here's the finished product. It doesn't work very well. The wheels have too much play. I was able to get my wire where I needed by running the wire back and fourth and using my hands. This will get some revising when I have nothing else to work on.

This is the bent fretwire. It looks good to me. The real test will be when it gets put in.

Then I turned my attention to making the fret press caul for my drill press.

Here's the little oak block I'm starting with:

I flattened the sides of a 1/2 dowel with my wannabe drum sander:

And drilled a couple of perfectly straight holes in the top of the block:

Then I set up my wannabe router table and put a slot in the bottom for the radiused caul to go in:

Here is is all done (no caul):

I haven't decided on the caul material yet. I have some 1/4in. acrylic I may try, or I may look for some brass. I was just going to order the one from Stew Mac, but they were backordered when I grabbed my other stuff and I don't want to pay shipping for a $4 caul.

Next update should be finishing the body with black linseed oil pigment and Tru-Oil.

Thanks guys!

 

[joeyl]

nice, I really like your creativity for the fret wire bender and caul!

 

[grendle]

Cool stuff. I'm not that wood working inclined though lol.

 

[Jacsipmac]

Thanks guys. This is one of my favorite parts, tinkering and making jigs and tools and stuff. Plus, I kind of have to because I'm broke and all these specialized tools add up quick.

 

[Jacsipmac]

Quick update. I got some tools in the mail and had some time after Mothers' Day lunch.

Filling the slots with CA glue and Wenge dust did NOT go well, and deepening the slots just caused some more chips. I ended up with a big mess and some perpendicular file marks in my nice smooth fingerboard. Mad at myself for that.

The good news is all the bad stuff disappeared when I wiped it down with Mineral Spirits. Hopefully Tru-Oil will have the same effect. I decided to give up before I made things worse. I'll just live with a few chips north of the 15th fret. Those frets are mostly just for show anyway ; )

The fret press caul went much better. I decided to give acrylic a try. I had a big sheet of 1/4" lying around.
Here it is radiused to match my sanding block from LMIi:

I chucked a dremel cut-off wheel in the drill press to put a notch in the top:

Drilled a couple of holes, and did some glueing. The radius looks uneven in this one but that's actually the slot I cut with the Dremel wheel. The face is nice and smooth.

Here's the finished product just begging for some frets to press. I'll probably lop those shoulders off so it looks a little more streamlined.

I have my last final tomorrow and then I have two weeks off. I hope to have this guy done and my from-scratch build well on its way.

Cheers guys.

 

[sammyp]

i say keep em both!

 

[sammyp]

i did a couple frets on my MIA tele a few years back - i said never again without the plier press tool and fret bending tool that Stew Mac sells .....i just don't have the hands myself!