A back bowed Telecaster neck, that needed a refret
This 1969 fender Telecaster neck was sold by u.s. vintage expert to my friend in Budapest. It looks original to every detail. The story behind, and why the neck was sold without a body was held back, and unclear for my friend.
For me it was clear at first sight: this neck has a back bow. Nothing drastic, but the luthier before had decided to compensate the back bow with a fret leveling. So the frets are between the 5th and 11th positions are mostly gone. So, I decided to refret this neck. I had the feeling, that the frets are pushing the neck back.
The older Fender necks were fretted sideways. So, you can push them out sideways. That’s the clearest removing method. But first, you have to heat the frets, to lose the grip from the lacquer. A clear job, but if you make it with care, it takes a whole day.
After removing the frets, I shortly noticed, that the back bow is mostly gone. So my instinct was right.
But here comes my other experience: never refret a maple neck with poly lacquer, without removing the old lacquer. I refretted some 70’s Strats with maple fretboard and the thick poly lacquer… and was never satisfied with the results. The poly chips often, and causes bad fret jobs. Of course, I would never remove lacquer from a guitar with nitro. That’s another story.
So it was time to sand the poly away.
The fretboard was sanded flat, with a little truss rod tension. After cleaning the surface, and preparing the fret slots, the neck is ready for a clear refret. The customer decided for vintage styled frets. I want here to keep a little secret, why my fretting doesn’t cause a back bow. But for sure: this time the neck as straight as possible after the refret.
Time for spraying. Instead of using poly, I like to spray tinted nitro. Just because of future repair and refretting. After spraying I let the lacquer dry for 2 weeks, and then make a fret job. The neck is refretted and ready for a joint to a body.
Summary: mission accomplished, the neck is saved and prepared for another decade to rock. A great neck, which only needed a refret to get straight.
Here you have some close-up pictures for reference. Take a look at the faulty truss rod routing job at the neck joint. That’s a typical vintage Fender thing.
