Custom ES-5V - Jazz Box Meets Baglama

[Andy123]

So I got off my butt and spoke to a luthier about getting a nut made, and asked to pick their brain about how to handle string spacing at the other end of the instrument. After a little to-and-fro on email with the Guitar Repairers in Brisbane I was invited to bring it in so they could have a look and discuss my options.

Right off the bat I want to say what a fantastic outfit the Guitar Repairers are. John and Andre really know their stuff, they do great work and are passionate about guitars. They're also a couple of great guys.

Just don't bring them a kit guitar. Seriously. Not a thing you should do.

They didn't end up making a nut for me, but along with a whole bunch of soul crushing discouragement I did get some great insights. For instance:

• String spacing from the tailpiece isn't that important so long as it gets sorted out at the bridge saddles. Existing tailpiece might be fine to use.
• A generic, low cost archtop timber bridge would give me the opportunity to notch the saddles as required.
• Apparently leaving it fretless is a bad idea. My plan of merely filling the empty fret slots with some kind of filler would be insufficient to prevent string tension compromising the structural integrity of the neck. Something more substantial would be required, and they happily started working out a ridiculously un-viable quote for installing veneers instead.

The factory didn't just refrain from installing the frets at my request, they were kind enough to bag them up and send them with my kit. I'm thinking if going fretless is an issue, I might attempt to bang them in myself. I could pinch the two highest ones to use for the microtonal positions (I only need two).

I've got a funny feeling though that there will be more to it than just "banging them in". I'm a little bit terrified. Any advice?

Also on the cards is a possible ebay purchase of a nut blank that I'll attempt to slot like the bridge.

This project has gone from trashy cigar box guitar to classy archtop, back to trashy hack job all of a sudden. I guess as long as its playable and doesn't look embarrassingly bad I'll take that as win.

[FrankenWashie]

Depending on the size of the fretwire in your kit, one or another of the mad scientists in the forum might have small lengths of fret wire lying about. I have all sorts of scrap bits, but it’s generally all jumbo wire, I think I have one length of medium jumbo left over.

Fretting is pretty much just banging the frets into the board, but you’ve got to do it very carefully. If you don’t have the luxury of a fret press or the hand held “Jaws” type vice grip press, then it’s a shaped wood block, plus a carefully calibrated hammer.
- Did factory cut the frets to exact length or did they leave them a bit long?
- do they have the tang notched to go over your binding?
- Are they all the same sized fretwire? (I ask as I have had a neck come in on one of my kits that had one fret a smaller gauge that the rest, luckily it was the 22nd)

If the frets are all shaped and trimmed to length, you can set up and bang them in as follows:
- sort them by length, first to 20 whatever
- clear your work area and set your tools up
- take each fret, set it in the slot, and tap or press the ends in
- take your block, gently tap the ends in until they seat against the board, then go back and forward across it unti it is seated across the entire length.
- work your way down the board from one end to the other (doesn’t matter if it’s one to 22/24 or 22/24 to 1)
- once you’ve got them all in, check to insure they are all seated properly, tap them in with the block if they aren’t.

I think there is a section in the build guide on fret dressing so I’ll leave that for now, there are also plenty of YouTube vids on it as well.

if you you are a handy type then you should be able to do this with minimum stress, but you’ll still need to have the frets dressed afterward and recrowned and that takes some real patience and specific tools.
- long levelling block
- Fret rocker or similar substitute
- small file for fret ends
- crowning file
- sand paper and steel wool for polishing

chances are it’s one of those jobs you’d have to get a luthier to do, but you’ll pay their prices for the work. You’ve already experienced the Typical Luthier’s Disdain for kit builds, and many of them simply won’t work on kits.

You are up in Brissy, so you have Australian Luthier’s supplies close the hand, I’d buy your nut blanks from there unless you’ve got a trusted eBay supplier already for these. I have found ALS quality good and price reasonable for this sort of stuff.

happy fretting, really look forward to seeing how this turns out!

Hope this helps