Customer Repair - 1977 FG-335

Coming along nicely. I cringe at even the thought of me attemping a project like that. As always, great info and pics.

2nd round of pull sanding. Another .03/.04" sanded off the heel. Getting close. Time for the first string up in the neck jig. I install both E's tuned to D, take measurements, record them, and walk away. Tomorrow I'll make the new higher saddle.

Yesterday, I think I'm very close to the final neck angle.  I'll leave it until the frets are done.


The saddle is .18" above the bridge, .03" extra for after the neck reset is done and the neck comes up a little after 2-3 weeks of full tension.

Removed the first 10 frets.  I spray the fretboard with water to soften the wood to reduce the chance of the fretboard chipping.  Only 2 very minor chips.

Frets are leveled.  


Blended the new frets into the old ones.


The neck is taped for end filing and top crowning & polishing.


Fret ends files.  YamaBass in the background.


Still to come-
Round the fret ends, crown & polish frets.  Finish neck reset.

Used 600 grit SP and 0000 steel wool to polish fret crowns.

It's been over a week without an update. 

The day after the last update I finished the frets.

Then I spent a few days working on the YamaBass.

2 days ago I sanded another .025" off of the heel.  With the E's tuned to D the actions are both 3/64" and the neck projects .10" above the bridge.  The neck angle is DONE!  I also found a couple of sharp fret ends & filed them.  I also fit and glued the heel cap back on.  It had popped off during the heel sanding, as I figured it might.  I also roughed out a nut.  THE END IS NEAR!!

TODAY I GLUED THE NECK ON!!  Hot hide glue.   4 clamps. The neck jig holding the bottom of the neck to the body, the strings holding the top of the neck to the body, a spring clamp holding the end of the fretboard down, and a screw clamp making sure the neck is absolutely down. Installing the 2 outer strings also shows me the neck is clamped with the neck centered to the fretboard. There are central marks on the 3 pieces of green tape. It'll stay clamped for 24 hours. Still have to finish the nut. Then clean it up, string it up, and hang it up!! Well, in this case, I'll put it in the case.  Another couple of hours work and it'll sit in the case for probably a month for the neck to "normalize", or figure out where it wants to be with full string tension.  I left the saddle .03" high, expecting the action to creep up slightly, probably 1/64" at the 12th fret.