I've decided that if I could only ever own one guitar a strong contender would be an early 60's Gibson ES335, 345 or 355...in cherry red. This stunning guitar made it's way to the workbench for reseating most of the frets, a fret dress, new bone nut and a set up. 

The local council are of the view that we not obliged to close under current rules. So we are opening up for business again on a drop off and collect basis only. Drop off can take place just outside the workshop in the courtyard and usual distancing and mask wearing rules apply. Just call or message me and we can arrange an appointment to suit.

Following Boris's announcement last night we are taking the decision to close the workshop to customers with immediate effect and until further notice. Whilst "repair" businesses may stay open, they must be providing an essential service. Unfortunately we don't feel the repairing of stringed instruments and amps falls under the definition of "essential". If we have your instrument already at the workshop for repair or servicing, these may still be collected, by appointment, on completion. 

Take care everyone. Best wishes , Andy and Steve.

From 31st December South Somerset will move into Tier 4 restrictions. The workshop, as a business providing repair services, is permitted to stay open.

So, we shall remain open, however this is on the basis that handover and pickup of instruments must take place outside the workshop in the courtyard, with the usual social distance being observed etc. Customers will not be able to enter the workshop, however I'll carry out an initial appraisal whilst you wait ( usually takes around 10 minutes) as required.

A Happy New Year to all Fret & Nut's customers!

 

A bit like a vintage port and stilton, these two items go well together...a Custom Shop Relic 1960 Strat in front of a 1960 Brownface Fender Pro....yummy :)

Wishing all Fret & Nut's customers the best possible Christmas in the current climate ...here's to a better 2021 and perhaps even some live gigs!

Neck plate "F" stamped and serial number indicating 1971. The neck is faintly stamped with a 7 and A..... Many Fenders of this era have incomplete codes, or are missing altogether. There is nothing to suggest the neck is not 100% original to the guitar. The headstock sports the 1970's solid black logo.

The frets are pretty worn ... generally frets which are less than around 30/1000th inch high cannot be fret dressed any further as there is not sufficient metal left to be crowned. The worn frets are heated (to minimise chipping to the fretboard) and removed. In this case most frets came out very cleanly, except for a couple of minor chips at one end of the neck. These odd chips are repaired, and the rough edges to the fret slots made level and smooth. 

The slots are slightly bevelled and cleaned of any debris. The depth of the slots is checked to make sure the new frets will seat down fully when installed. ​

The fretboard is now fully prepped and ready to re-fret. The new frets have been radiused, cut to length, and placed in a wooden block in order. As this is a bound fretboard, the frets have to be measured carefully and cut to fit within the binding.

The new frets installed and the ends bevelled before fret dressing. The worn bone nut needs to be removed without disturbing the neck binding, which it was!

The neck is mounted on the neck jig for fret dressing - levelling, crowning , sanding and polishing the new frets. I've cut a new bone blank to match the 7.25" radius of the neck, and carefully measured so it fits snugly between the neck binding. The nut slots are then cut to the correct spacing and depth, and the nut lowered, shaped and polished.

The finished nut, which looks rather nice I think...I used unbleached bone (which is not bright white) to give a vintage look.

The neck pickup was stiff and difficult to adjust as it was being pinched by the celluloid pick guard which had slightly shrunk. The pick guard was removed to make some minor adjustments, revealing that somebody had at some time in the past, routed the body for another pickup and then filled the hole left behind. The pots were original, dated 23rd week of 1967 (Fender had purchased a large stock of pots then so it's not unusual to find instruments made in the early 70's with these earlier dated pots).

The new frets after fret dressing....

All done..

Here's the 1962 Fender Precision, which has had the original finish stripped back to bare wood, probably in the early 70's. Despite this, the bass sounds wonderful, just as you would expect a pre CBS Fender to sound.

The frets are very worn and flat, with insufficient metal remaining to carry out any more fret dresses. These are not the original frets - there was evidence of many chips and gouges on the fretboard from where the last re-fret was done, unfortunately not very expertly. The bone nut is also very worn and will be replaced. 

Taking the neck off, it's apparent the bass was refinished green at some point, but through the layers of paint there's an indication that the original finish was probably Fiesta Red. The neck plate L19xxx indicates the bass was made in 1962, and the neck is dated in pencil 10 or 12/61 so October or December 1961.

Once the frets were removed it was easier to see the chips and file marks made during the previous re-fret. The worst areas are repaired as best as possible prior to re-fretting. It is usual to level the fingerboard prior to re-fretting however this is not particularly advisable on vintage fretboards, especially old Fender Brazilian rosewood fingerboards like this one which can be quite thin.

​In this case the old frets looked like they were nearly through to the maple neck underneath, luckily once the old frets were removed it could be seen there was sufficient wood left for installation of the new frets. It helped that this was a slab board neck, used on Fenders up to mid 1962. These were subsequently replaced by thinner veneer like rosewood boards in 1963.

The frets installed and bevelled, prior to dressing.

The original celluloid pick guard has shrunken pulling screws inward, cracking the celluloid in places and gripping the neck in the neck pocket. Some adjustments were required to ensure the neck could be aligned properly. The non original screws were replaced with vintage correct aged nickel cross head screws. When I removed the old screws one corner of the pick guard just fell away... a spot of super glue solved the problem.

The pots are not original, one dates from 1977, the other unknown. Otherwise pickups and electrics are original.

The set up is completed ....

As the country goes into another lockdown, new arrangements will be in place from 5th November:

• We will be operating on the same basis as ‘non-essential retail’ (even though we are not retail), so the workshop will be closed to visitors but we shall continue to work on an reduced basis.
• Whilst no visitors will be allowed inside the workshop, we can still arrange appointments for delivery and pickup just outside the workshop, as with ‘click and collect’, so delivery and return of instruments can be done in the open air in the car park outside, observing social distancing.
• If you have an instrument for repair or servicing do get in touch via the contact form.​

​

Well I've not posted anything for a while as the workshop has been rather busy since we reopened in May. I've had several vintage instruments requiring more involved repair and restoration work which have presented me with various challenges, alongside a whole host of other servicing and repair jobs. Some of these will be the subject of future more detailed posts. With all this activity I've rather neglected updating the blog recently ....so, as a stop gap, here's a nice pair of vintage Gibsons that customers brought in for some attention over the summer :)

A sweet deep bodied ES125 semi acoustic, probably from the early 50's. No visible serial number. The pickup would have been a black plastic covered P90 and this has been changed for a mini-humbucker. The original tuners have been replaced with Grovers and the control knobs have also been changed. A tune-o-matic bridge has been installed. Despite the non-original parts the guitar still has it's original finish and a lovely woody tone. This just needed a good clean and a set up.

This sunburst Gibson ES335 from 1966/67 came in needing repair to a number of loose pearl block inlays, a new bone nut, and a set up. This guitar was, at some time in the past, converted to left hand with the controls installed on the opposite side of the top, only later to be changed back to the original right hand configuration. This necessitated plugging the holes left behind with maple...a fair attempt was made by the repairman who did the work, but it's virtually impossible to match the repair finish on a top such as this. Otherwise the original finish, chrome covered humbuckers, and control knobs are still evident. Bridge and stop tail have been replaced together with the tuners and truss rod cover. The alterations and non original parts make this an affordable players grade vintage ES335.