Re-fret '67 Silvertone Guitar

[KingCameron]

Hello,
I am posting for a friend in need. He is a killer player who is trying to come up in Austin. He certainly has the chops, but his '67 Silvertone guitar desperately needs a re-fret.
He has taken it to a local craftsman who has told him it is not possible to re-fret the guitar due to its not having a truss rod. Actually, they said it could be done, but he did not want to do it for less than $350.

Can you elaborate on what should be done here?

[spud1950]

This is probably what the tech is referring to.The problem is not that the frets can't be replaced.That's just a matter of pulling out the old ones and pressing in the new ones.The problem will come with leveling the new frets after they've been installed,which is a vital step when doing a proper and professional re fret. In order to do this right,the fret board has to be as flat as possible,no foward or back bow.Also,if the fret board has to be radius sanded to get any existing divots out before putting the new frets in,the same thing applies.It has to be straight.Normally this is of course done by adjusting the truss rod. Since the neck has no truss rod,getting the neck properly straight is way more involved and time consuming. Hat's off to the tech for being up front about it.A hack would not say anything and take your friends money for doing a substandard and incomplete job.Here's a nice page showing a fret leveling.Note what it say in the very first step.

http://www.guitar-mod.com/rg_fretlevel.html

[David Schwab]

I refretted my old Danelectro neck with no problems.

The neck will probably be straight when the string tension is removed, so it shouldn't be an issue.

I say find a new repairman. I would charge my usual rate for a refret on that.

[jrfrond]

I've refretted DanElectro's and other necks with no truss rod. There is no issue. If the neck is, in fact, slightly bowed, it can actually be straightened is and made stiffer by "compression fretting". This involves refretting with fret wire whose tang is a few thousandths of an inch wider than the slot. The sum total back-tension applied to the fret slots will straighten out the neck. If it backbows by a hair. They can be leveled, then all will likely be well when string tension is applied.

[voodoochild]

Shouldn't be a problem refretting it unless there is more than meets the eye here. It could be a totally warped neck and the repairman didn't have the heart to say anything. On guitars without truss rods, I just clamp them straight when leveling the fingerboard and frets. If the neck has too much relief under tension, I use a larger fret tang to straighten the neck.

[spud1950]

Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that vintage Danelectro's have a non adjustable truss rod rather then none at all? The newer reissues now have adjustable rods,at the neck heel.

"1954-1955: Peanut style bodies had bolt-on necks with an aluminum neck rod that went from the peghead to the bridge. The rod was then screwed to the body with 2 screws. No truss rod other than the aluminum neck rod.
1956-1969: Poplar bolt-on necks with Brazilian rosewood fingerboards. Non-adjustable steel truss rod."

Now that I think about it, a lot of other so called "cheap" guitars of that same era, especially the Japanese made ones had the same thing.Many of them have a label reading "steel reinforced neck",but no adjustment feature.Didn't know about the compression fretting method.Very interesting!

[voodoochild]

Originally Posted by spud1950

Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that vintage Danelectro's have a non adjustable truss rod rather then none at all? The newer reissues now have adjustable rods,at the neck heel.

I guess technically you would, but to avoid confusion it's probably easier to say a neck is reinforced, non-reinforced, or it has a truss rod.

[KingCameron]

I will let this guy know your input.

It sounds like he'll need a better fret tech, or a fret tech with the compression fret technique.....or
A custom neck to be refit to the guitar

[David Schwab]

Originally Posted by spud1950

Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that vintage Danelectro's have a non adjustable truss rod rather then none at all? The newer reissues now have adjustable rods,at the neck heel.

Yes, my 50's neck has two steel bars, but it's not adjustable.

I think adjustability is the point, since some techs probably think they will need to adjust the neck to get it straight.

[David Schwab]

Originally Posted by KingCameron

I will let this guy know your input.

It sounds like he'll need a better fret tech, or a fret tech with the compression fret technique.....or
A custom neck to be refit to the guitar

It sounds like the repairman doesn't have a lot of experience fretting (or in general). If he had an issue with the Silvertone, then he wouldn't be able to work on old Martin guitars either!

Everyone thinks they can repair or build guitars these days. I'd look for someone else.