Work On Your Bass

This is a great D.I.Y. job that doesn’t require fancy tools—it’s a doable, affordable project. Plus, I’d bet money that any tools you buy for this will get used often, because you’ll be hooked on doing your own work.

Fig. 1 I clamped the heel (body end) of the neck to my workbench, using wood blocks to raise it up several inches above the bench’s surface. Then I clamped the nut end of the neck to pull the neck back into a gentle, but exaggerated, back-bow. The back-bow opens the fret slots slightly, making it easier to pull out the frets without chipping the wood. Inexpensive bar clamps, available for about $7 apiece, will work fine.

Fig. 2 I removed the frets with a Stewart-MacDonald fret puller. These small, custom-ground, flush-cutting end nippers have narrow jaws that make it easy to pinch under a fret’s crown to raise it up and out of its slot. Following the curved fingerboard radius, I “walked” each fret out of its slot. I kept a soldering iron, cup of water, and cotton swabs nearby in case I needed to heat and moisten the frets so they’d pull out easily. As it turned out, I didn’t need any heat, water, or other help.

Fig. 3 A feeler gauge (available at automotive stores) showed that the slots were .024" wide—fairly tight. The plastic binding strips I wanted to use measured .040" thick, so I needed to widen the slots.

Fig. 4 I used a Dremel Moto Tool with a .031"-diameter cutting bit. Wood typically cuts considerably wider than the actual size of the Dremel bit; additionally, these small routers can be a bit sloppy. I knew that if I used this bit, the slot would end up close enough to .040" that I could tap the plastic binding in with a small hammer. If you don’t have a Dremel tool and router base, you could use a fine-tooth hacksaw blade to widen the slots, but practice on scrap first.

Fig. 5 I scraped one flat side of the binding to thin it by .01" or .02". You can use any piece of thin steel with a sharp edge, such as a razor blade, to scrape.

Fig. 6 Each binding strip was q" wide, enough to provide two strips when cut in half lengthwise. I used my flush-cutting fret nippers for the job, although several passes with a sharp utility knife would also work.

Fig. 7 I cut the halved strips to length, leaving some overhang on each end of the slot to be filed away later. I tapped them in with a small hammer, tapping down one end first, then continuing on across the fingerboard. This way, each plastic strip easily bent to conform to the 14" fingerboard radius as I hammered it tight into its slot. The nippers gave the plastic strips one straight edge and one rough edge. I inserted the frets with the straight edge facing down and tapped them until they bottomed out in the slots, filling the space entirely; this left the rough edges sticking above the fingerboard surface (temporarily).

Fig. 8 After installing the strips, I ran No. 10 (water-thin) superglue along each side of them. The glue’s incredible capillary action takes it deep into the slots, and it sets in less than a minute.

Fig. 9 To remove the bulk of the plastic above the fingerboard surface, I used an 8"-long, 14"-radius wooden sanding block faced with self-sticking 80-grit sandpaper. For a smooth feel, I followed with 120-, 220-, and 320-grit papers until the plastic was flush with the fingerboard surface. A radius block is not necessary; a flat sanding block of scrap wood would also get the job done.

Fig. 10 With the trussrod adjusting nut just snug (i.e., barely applying tension to the neck), I checked the fingerboard surface using a long straightedge. The playing surface was perfectly straight from end to end and had retained an even 14" radius from side to side.

The cost of the tools I used in this job (other than common, around-the-house tools) totaled $230.92. Deduct the Dremel router tools if you use a hacksaw blade, and the tool cost is just $66.58. That’s a good price, considering you’d probably have to pay an experienced technician between $250 and $350 to do this job—and you get to keep the tools!

I wasn’t quite done, though. While I was leveling the plastic, my sandpapers cut through the fingerboard’s factory finish in a number of areas, exposing bare white maple that would darken immediately upon being played. I decided to put a protective finish on the fingerboard. Using No. 10 and No. 20 (water-thin and medium) superglues, I hand-applied a thin, hard, durable finish to the fingerboard. The entire finish process took about an hour—I’ll show you how I did it next month.