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The divots look pretty minor - if you missed them on first inspection they must not be too bad. If it was a guitar from my dad I would want them left in. I'm sure the son wants the guitar playable, but does he want it to be "like new"?

Thanks Filippo. After reading all of this, and John's stuff and Frank's stuff, and going over things in my head, I realized that I had not done the correct thing after the neck reset. And that is a proper refret. These frets had been leveled, sanded, lowered, new ones introduced (by a previous person) all in the name of dealing with the action problem. I'm getting a pair of those small nippers and fretboard guards to press against (for removal). Gonna check the neck relief once the frets are out, and refret according to John's method shown in his link. Now, I just gotta find me some steel weights like his. Wonder what they weigh?

Oh yeah, I'll level and maintain board radius to minimize divots etc while I am at.

I use about an 8 to 10lb weight on the shoulder

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Thanks John.

I went and bought a pair of end cutters (nippers, small), ground the head flat and used a soldering iron with a groove gound into the tip... as several suggested I do. And it worked like a charm. Very minimal chipping. Took very little sanding to clean up the finger board. In the process of refretting now. So far I am very pleased with the approach and results.

Thank you!

Mike

Filippo, my understanding is that it is the result of finger nails, not the strings. I dunno.

Mike

divots are not string related , it is caused by the fingernail.
an assumption many make

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Seen these? http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_su ... ppers.html . I'd be interested to hear back from someone who had tried them, they look like a good idea.
.

It's coming along just fine

much better indeed

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

overpriced I took a precision sears hand tool send and made one on my belt sander in a min.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I think Lee was referring to the thin metal shims Stew Mac is selling as "chip stoppers". I haven't used them, but sometimes slide a single edge razor blade under the fret edge to loosen things up a bit. They look like they could be pretty handy.

that is not a chip stopper ,they are fret protectors for when you work on the frets with files so you don't damage the fretboard and when polishing .

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Hi John,
What they selling for $9.95 as "chip stoppers" are those thin metal shims that supposedly slip under the lip of the fret. Fret protectors would fit around the fret. I don't know how well they work.
The fret pulling pliers are $26.45 and as you say, a bit overpriced.

John, they just introduced these "chip stoppers". They are like the fret protectors, but the slot is 0.1" wide, just wide enough to get around tang. And, one end is open, like a fork if you will. You can do the same thing with two fret protectors, but probably not as easily. It looks like a good idea. My cheap pair of nippers ($6 at auto zone), ground flat did a great job.

Mike

For what it may be worth, I've reground hundreds of end nippers into fret pullers, expanders and compressors, and find there's little benefit in using "quality" tools for them. In choosing end nippers to make into fret pullers, I look at the inside cutting angles, but I can't say I've ever rejected any for that use.

When I do my "stand and deliver" at Roberto-Venn school, I sometimes make the fret puller as a demo. It routinely takes just a few minutes, using no power tools - I just scrub the tool on waterproof silicon carbide paper laid on the bench. Hardly even time for the class to get bored. . .

_________________
Cheers,

Frank Ford

FRETS.COM
HomeShopTech
FRETS.NET

While long fingernails are the primary reason for fingerboard divots, I have seen a few cases where it was caused by playing with dirty hands.

_________________
John

+1 Frank Ford

My latest ones are the Harbor Freight special at 6.99 for 6 sets of pliers with a nice little set of end nippers. The end nippers were all I was interested in and figured if I used the other a few times and lost them in would still be a good deal. Have been using the "fret pullers on a number of guitars now and they work great.

Call me cheap but I only buy from the big guitar suppliers when I can't make my own. A great example is the Stew Mac Bridge Saver tool. I had to pay $150.00 for it but needed it for a job and it paid for itself after the second time I used it. Otherwise I make my own or adapt some other tool to do the job. My wife loves it when I come upstairs with some tool or jig I just made and tell her I just made a $75 tool for $3

I use water and let the fretboard stay damp when I use the puller and solder iron. Don't rush. They will still chip. I do use tape to keep the chips for me. On the first few frets you get a feel for how it will work. If it is real chippy I will score at an angle under the fret so the chips don't come out from under the fret.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

" I will score at an angle under the fret so the chips don't come out from under the fret."

Thanks John, great tip!

Great tips, thanks! Here are a few status pics. Final neck angle to bridge after refret was perfect. Reattaching a new bridge.

Cheers,
Bob

I meant to upload this earlier. This was the beginning of a crack induced by the under-the-lacquer pick guard which was curling at the edges. So, this d28 had most of the classic problems.

Done. And it sounds great!

PS: I took John's advice and made my own pickguard. Now if I only had the courage to make my own necks I'd be all in.