Post by CTGull on Jan 26, 2019 19:19:44 GMT -5
Last July I found a 1972 FG-140 on the local Facebook Marketplace. He was asking $150, I offered $120, he accepted. He works at the local barbecue take-out restaurant, so pickup was easy!
The FG-140 is the "budget" version of the very popular FG-180 (dreadnought size), just as the FG-110 is the "budget" version of the popular FG-150 (000 size).
This FG-140 has a few dings and scratches but not bad for it's age. There is some mold on the inside walls, partially obscuring the date code. Not sure what I'm going to do with that. Most of the frets are VERY LOW!! Low meaning .025" (0.6mm) high!! Less than 1/32"!! And it has high action. No surprise.
Before starting the neck reset I decided to remove all the frets. I sprayed the fretboard with water, softening the wood and preventing a large amount of tear out when pulling the frets. Afterward, I had second thoughts about removing the frets before removing the neck. It will make the fretboard extension weak, possibly resulting in it breaking while trying to release it from the top.
It didn't. I removed the neck without anything unusual. It was still a pain in the ass. Lots of glue.
The next day I spent 3 hours installing all 20 frets! That sounds like a lot of time, but I had to open every slot from the Yamaha standard .016"/.018" to the modern standard .023". The saw would bind and I had to be careful not to pull any chips out of the fretboard. Repairing those chips, and a few pulled during fret removal, kept me busy for more than a few minutes. Banging them in was easy! And fun!! I never thought I'd get so much satisfaction from installing frets!! I can see more fret jobs in my future!!! We'll see if that changes once I get to the end filing and top leveling parts. That will come after the neck reset. I wanted the proper height frets in first, although they will probably be sanded a little lower. I may have to think about this more. Pardon the mess and my big feet!
The FG-140 is the "budget" version of the very popular FG-180 (dreadnought size), just as the FG-110 is the "budget" version of the popular FG-150 (000 size).
This FG-140 has a few dings and scratches but not bad for it's age. There is some mold on the inside walls, partially obscuring the date code. Not sure what I'm going to do with that. Most of the frets are VERY LOW!! Low meaning .025" (0.6mm) high!! Less than 1/32"!! And it has high action. No surprise.
Before starting the neck reset I decided to remove all the frets. I sprayed the fretboard with water, softening the wood and preventing a large amount of tear out when pulling the frets. Afterward, I had second thoughts about removing the frets before removing the neck. It will make the fretboard extension weak, possibly resulting in it breaking while trying to release it from the top.
It didn't. I removed the neck without anything unusual. It was still a pain in the ass. Lots of glue.
The next day I spent 3 hours installing all 20 frets! That sounds like a lot of time, but I had to open every slot from the Yamaha standard .016"/.018" to the modern standard .023". The saw would bind and I had to be careful not to pull any chips out of the fretboard. Repairing those chips, and a few pulled during fret removal, kept me busy for more than a few minutes. Banging them in was easy! And fun!! I never thought I'd get so much satisfaction from installing frets!! I can see more fret jobs in my future!!! We'll see if that changes once I get to the end filing and top leveling parts. That will come after the neck reset. I wanted the proper height frets in first, although they will probably be sanded a little lower. I may have to think about this more. Pardon the mess and my big feet!
