luthier advice asked of 4/ Freeman K or like

[learn'r]

I see you list the following:

06 000-28FK (yea, I made it myself)

I have not found that listed as a kit build - though my search might be faulty.

never the less, can one build a high quality guitar?

does it require a large investment in special tools?

 

and a second question:

not that long ago i bought a ibanez to beat up as i practice, practice ... etc.

it's 16th fret is raised a bit (not much but visable and frabs out as i move up the neck).

if i am careful can i sand this down?

[Freeman Keller]

First question, it is possible for the home builder to make a very satisfactory guitar from a kit with a minimum of tools - your results will depend more on your time, patience and skills than anything else. I am very satisfied with mine - both the way it looks and the way it plays and sounds. You will spend as much as an nice medium priced guitar however - I figure I've got about $1100 total in mine.

 

I've posted a little bit on HC and some other forums about my first home grown guitar. Here are a couple of links

 

AGF Kit thread

Building it

Minimum tools

 

If you get interested in trying this I have my notes written up as a Word document - I would be happy to e-mail them to you.

 

I am also nearing the end of a LMI classical kit and within a week or so I'll post pictures of it on HC and the build on the kitguitarsforum.com link.

 

Second question - is the fret actually out of the slot? The fret is kind of T-shaped with little barbs on the bottom where it fits into the slot. It would be best if you could take a pic and either post if here or e-mail it to me. It might be possible to just tap it down with a hammer (plastic faced if possible) but the big problem is at the 16th fret you need to hold something inside the body against the top to cushion the blows. When I fretted my classical I held a small block of brass againt the top, but I was careful not to break any braces. If the fret is mearly high (a straightedge rocks on it) you can take a small file - I use a little 6 incher - and file the top of the fret - then you need to recrown (round) the top of the fret with a special file from a luthier supply house (or if you can find a laminate file in a hardware store). Try to get a good closeup and we'll see what we can figure out.

 

edit to add - I'm far from being a luthier - just a wanna be. There are some really wonderful folks who have helped me and I am eternally grateful to them

 

and the "000-28FK" is a bit tongue in cheek. Martin has the EC and all the other signature models. I had to put something on the label inside, eh?

[learn'r]

Hi Freeman,

all attempts to take a picture - disapointing.

the fret is worn down slightly in the area under high e string, and there seems to be no evidence of a poorly seated scenario.

using a framing square for a straight edge, it does teeter - think a file will do the trick. maybe ... latter the crowning tool will be needed - but fretting down that far would be very rare for me.

i live east of Newark Ohio, Athens (Stewart-MacDonald) would be a short drive. I must call and arrange a visit.

Thanks for your help!

[Freeman Keller]

This might help

 

When frets go bad

[learn'r]

darn i forgot.
i would enjoy and benefit from your word doc.

[Freeman Keller]

 

Originally posted by learn'r darn i forgot. i would enjoy and benefit from your word doc.

 

 

PM me your e-mail address and I'll send it to you.