2 Fret Board issues, Sully, or Anyone, Please Help

[Twitch]

Ok, problem 1. I have a guitar with an Ebony board that the fret ends are starting to protrude from on both sides. Not bad, as I cant see bare metal, but the wood(or black binding) is starting to push out in the shape of the fret ends. I cant feel it when I play, but I can see it and know its there and it bugs me because its not supposed to be that way.

Question 1 stemming from problem 1; Can Ebony shrink due to dehydration? Question 2; If so, whats best to use to hydrate it since Ebony has such a tight grain?

Question 3; If its not shrinkage of the wood, how can I tell if the board has black binding? I see no obvious lines on the edge of the fret board to indicate there is binding, but the seam between the fret board(or binding) and the maple neck wood is absolutely flawless, sure you can see it, but you can neither see nor feel any gap.

The reason I want to know for sure this guitar does not have binding, is Ill just file the wood off with the fret ends and live with uncovered frets, but if it does have binding, then I dont want to break the binding because I dont want it all to start coming off.

I know your thinking, if you cant obviously see that there is or isnt binding, then theres no binding, but thats why I bring up the seam between the fret board and neck, if this luthier that made this guitar can be that precise with that seem, it would stand to reason he could be that precise with the seam at the edge of the fret board and binding, if it does indeed have binding.

Problem 2, which came from my own stupidity; I put a gash in the back of the neck of the same guitar. It measures about a 32nd to 16th inch deep, about the same wide and about a 16th to an 8th inch long. Its not a dent, there is indeed wood missing there. I know, Im the one that fucked it up and know exactly what did it and when I did it.

My question here is; what can I use to fill it, the proper and correct way? This guitar is too nice of a guitar to do a hack job repair on. Ive already lightly sanded of the rough edges of it, but only lightly as the finish on the back of the neck surrounding the area seemed to come off super easy.


HELP, please.

[Sharkfin]

I'm not sure if ebony shrinks when dry, but I do recommend getting some Fret Dr. to keep your ebony FB nice and hydrated.

As far as repairing the ding in the back of the neck you can steam the dent. Take a wet cloth and squeeze out the excess water, place over the dent and with a hot soldering iron over where the dent it you should be able to get the wood to raise back up. Let sit a few hours then you can drop fill the area.

[Twitch]

I'm not sure if ebony shrinks when dry, but I do recommend getting some Fret Dr. to keep your ebony FB nice and hydrated.

As far as repairing the ding in the back of the neck you can steam the dent. Take a wet cloth and squeeze out the excess water, place over the dent and with a hot soldering iron over where the dent it you should be able to get the wood to raise back up. Let sit a few hours then you can drop fill the area.

Its not a dent, its a gash.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

If this is too nice to have a "hack job" done on it, then don't learn on it, take it to a competent luthier. Since you're in Columbus I would head north to Guitar Works in Greenwood. Deric there has always done a good job for me and is the only guy I would let work on my guitars in the area.

For the fret ends, leave it. Yes, ebony will shrink and expand based on the humidity. Keep the guitar humidified. That should be no problem right now.

You will usually see little "bumps" where the fret ends are under binding, it's no big deal on an older guitar, especially one that has been left to dry out over the winter, when the humidity in your house/apartment is like 15 percent. If the binding cracks or separates from the edge of the fretboard you can glue it back on, but if all you are seeing is some "bumps" where the fret tangs would be, that is not uncommon at all.

For the back of the neck, I don't know how big of a gash we're talking about; is this a Japanese Schoolgirl gash, or a Jenna Jameson gash? :think:

If I wanted to get it playable (without feeling it) I would just steam out what I could and then drop fill it with some thick superglue, scrape it level, and sand it with very fine sandpaper (1000, 2000 grit) to blend it in with the surrounding finish. But maybe it's too big for that, but I don't think you'll get a more invisible repair either way unless you use wood filler, which, I would not do in a neck just because it's not that durable in my experience (it just crumbles and falls apart.)

[Sharkfin]

Pics are helpful, but as MAJNH said if it's too nice take it to a competent luthier.

[j2379]

yea ebony does shrink, not that much. its also very prone to crack when its that dry. ive been told to use boiled linseed oil, ive always used a quick shot lemon oil to clean it up a bit followed by a light gunstock/danish oil. i dont let any of the oils to sit very long. as for binding or not, if the ebony is shrinking that much i would assume you would see or feel a seam since it doesnt expand and contract at the same rate as the maple of neck. also most of the time if a neck isnt bound you can see the fret tang slots at the edge of the fret board, even if they are filled w epoxy you can tell they are there. so ide say its got binding....but POST PICS please

[Twitch]

The pitting in the third pic is concerning as well, but Ill worry about it once I get the fret ends sorted out.

The last pic is of the gash I put in it, again, the wood has been ground out of it, its NOT a dent.

[j2379]

ok doesnt look like binding to me just looks like epoxy in the ends of the fret slots. with binding there its usually pushes the binding out in an even lump, but wont leave that clean line like yours has since the fret tangs are usually cut back so they are seated in the wood only not the binding.

As for the gouge other than mixing saw dust and glue i dont think u have many options for filling something like that.

[Twitch]

Cool, no binding. If its just excess epoxy Ill leave it be then. As long as my fret board isnt in any danger, cool. As far as the gash, I may take it to GW as MAJNH suggested, Im familiar with the place, but their inventory is mostly out of my budget range, hopefully their service is in line with it though.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Deric is not cheap, but he does great work. I think it's around $60/hr for misc repairs, but he's not some glorified wrench-turner like the guys that work at Guitar Center.

[tomanyjacksons]

Deric is not cheap, but he does great work. I think it's around $60/hr for misc repairs, but he's not some glorified wrench-turner like the guys that work at Guitar Center.

Glorified wrench-turner? The ones at my Guitarget are total morons. Not picking Twitch but use a hand model please. LOL JK. Most of my guitars at least the ones I use get neck nicks because stuff happens. I live with them and just play them. Good luck sir.

[Twitch]

Deric is not cheap, but he does great work. I think it's around $60/hr for misc repairs, but he's not some glorified wrench-turner like the guys that work at Guitar Center.

Oh good god, Id NEVER take anything of mine to GC for repairs. I do all mine myself anyhow, but Im no luthier. Ill take it to GW some time and see what I come up with.

[Twitch]

Glorified wrench-turner? The ones at my Guitarget are total morons. Not picking Twitch but use a hand model please. LOL JK. Most of my guitars at least the ones I use get neck nicks because stuff happens. I live with them and just play them. Good luck sir.

I make no bones about more poorly kept man hands. Theyre a point of pride. lol All my other guitars have chips and nicks too but not on the part of the neck my hands touch. Chipped finishes and head stocks dont bother me, they dont affect the playability.

[sully]

Others have summed it up well, but yes, ebony (and all wood) will contract and expand in weather changes. If the filler is protruding and you can feel it, I guess you could knock it down very gently with a very fine file, then 400 grit paper to blend it all back.

Fretboard doesn't look bound to me; if it were, you wouldn't see the fret slots.

Lemon oil is okay for cleaning and basic maintenance, I guess. I've tried a bunch of different stuff, and currently have some Behlen's fingerboard oil, which seems to be okay. Seems like boiled linseed oil (which I'm a fan of). Be careful about gunstock oil on a fretboard, because if you put too much on, it'll gum up around the fret edges, and that's kind of a PITA to get off.

As far as the gash in the neck, you could make some filler with wood glue and maple dust.

Sully

[Learn Guitars]

Try taking a bit of water and drop it into the gash. Get that immediate area nice and wet. Then take aluminum foil and put over the dented area. Now take a soldering gun or iron and heat up the area. It will swell the wood up where it is compressed and bring it back. If you are careful, you will get it all out.

Sully nailed it on the frets.