Customer Repair - 1963 Harmony H1260

DAY 16 – Cleaned the fret slots with the new saws & scalpel. Installed the new frets.

The fret slot saws.  They ended up being 3 different thickness like I had hoped.


I clamped the neck in the guitar vise to support the very thin binding.




Starting to clean the slots.


The tools.


Done!


The first fret with the tang notched.  I need to add a picture of the tool in action.


The first fret installed and trimmed.


The 4th fret installed but not trimmed.


The tools.


Here's the fret dolly being inserted into the guitar.  It is held against the top, positioned between the brace and neck block to absorb the blows from banging in the frets.


The frets are installed.  The still need to be beveled, leveled and crowned.

DAY 18 – I leveled the new frets using new 220 grit sandpaper on the 14” radius x 8” long block, first marking the tops of the frets with black marker. The 8th, 11th & 13th frets were slightly high, that the straight edge rocked on. I had to sand them down first, then level the rest. I also had to loosen the truss rod another 1/8 turn to bring the first few frets up. In the end, I barely touched the 1st fret. I used the Stew Mac original Z file to crown the frets, leaving a thin black line in the center, and used the Stew Mac fret end file to smooth the marks left on the sides of the frets by the crowning file. I also used the fret end file to break the sharp edges on the fret ends. And I further smoothed the sides of the frets with 600 grit sandpaper, and sanded the tops of the frets 600 grit to remove the 220 grit leveling. Finally, I used Stew Mac's Fret Erasers (220 grit thru 4000 grit) to polish the frets. After removing the tape from the fretboard, I used the fret end file to smooth any remaining sharp edges on the fret ends. Then I applied Howard Feed 'N Wax to the fretboard, wiping any spots that dried up every 5 minutes, and wiping it off after 30 minutes. I also applied some to the bridge. I dropped SuperLube oil into the tuning gears, rotated them a couple of turns in each direction, and blotted any excess oil And FINALLY installed new D'Addario EJ16 strings!! Tuned to "D". I had made a new saddle, knowing the higher frets would lower the action, and I left the saddle slightly high. The neck relief is good! The action is 3/32" both E's. I'll let it hang for a week or 2 before adjusting the action and finishing the nut. It's so close!!! AND IT SOUNDS GREAT!!

Leveling the frets.








Low angle to show the flat tops.






There's no need to flatten these since the fretboard falls away into the sound hole.


Marking them again for crowning.


The tools.




Crowned!!








Filed the fret ends.


Sanding the fret sides & tops.  You can see the roughness on the top of the middle fret from the leveling.


The frets are sanded.








After using the Fret Erasers.






Fancy angled shot.




Lubing the tuners.


Removed the tape from the fretboard.  Then filed and remaining sharp fret ends.


Oiled the fretboard.


After wiping clean.




New strings on!!!  IT'S ALIVE!!!  AND IT SOUNDS GREAT!!