Vintage 1971 Gibson es335 in for a refret and stop tail

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This Gibson es335 still had the original trapeze tailpiece, however the owner wasn’t to fond of it, so he decided to have a ABM stop tailpiece installed. It took quite some guts to position a large drill bit on this immaculate vintage guitar and start the machine. But after triple checking every aspect, all went fine.

before

drilling

bushings installed

 

remove fretsinstall frets

 

The old frets were worn and bumpy so they had to be replaced. To remove the frets I first warm them up with a solder iron. The heat shrinks the wood a bit and weakens any adhesives that might have been used when installing them. This way I can gently ease the frets out without damaging the fretboard too much. After repairing any loose wood chips, sanding the board level and cleaning the fret slots, I’m ready to press in the new jumbo frets. When applying even pressure while pushing in the frets, the result will be quite level, but never perfect. So after fretting I need to grind down any high spots to achieve a perfectly smooth and fret buzz free neck.

 

leveling

 

Next the fret ends need to be beveled and all sharp edges must be filed away. Then the frets are recrowned and polished. And finally it’s time to remove the masking tape and impregnate the fingerboard with lemon oil.

fretting done

For a full refret like this one I charge €180