Replaceing a fretboard? Cost and such...

LukeQuietus

So I recently had my BC Rich Warlock repaired after breaking it nearly 3 years ago. Was moving around alot and didn't see the point in doing it sooner. Basically I fell on it one night after coming home drunk. It was proped up against the wall in my room and I pretty much did a drunken Peoples Elbow on it and broke it pretty much in half. The neck split away from the body. It was just a matter of screwing screws back in but it wasn't right after it so it needed fixing. Anyways, it ended up being put out in a shed for a full winter and nature had it's wicked way with it. Rusted the pickups, the input and the fretboard got moldy. Now it's working fine and plays fine but on the higher frets the wood has become "rough" or something meaning the strings scrape along it and it just feels horrible. I'm not a lead guitarist by any means and up to the 9 - 12 fret is fine. However eventually I will want to get this fixed and was just wondering about the cost. Alot of people say just to replace the entire neck but because it's BC Rich the neck isn't easily got here. Would need to be bought from BC Rich I'm pretty sure and that could be just as costly if not more.

Thanks for any help and sorry for the essay.

damonjewel

The neck may be fine, it could be more the case that your truss rod is too tight and that tension is causing the fretboard to bow out at the centre causing the problems.

the fact that the fretboard got mould and that the guitar has been exposed to poor conditions may have caused warping which may mean replacement.

I'd take it to a guitar tech for his opinion to see if it can be saved first. If you can't get a tech, you can try accessing the truss rod ( I think its at the headstock on the bc rich) and loosen it a quarter turn. tighten up the strings see if it improves. If not loosen it further another 1/4 and so on. If you take the DIY route then take it slowly. there are plenty of youtube videos out there to show you how its done.

If the truss rod has to be accessed from the bottom of the neck. Then what I do is get a capo and a peg winder. Put the capo on the strings and the wind down the strings so that the tension is gone. When you unbolt the neck the capo keeps the strings from getting tangled. So dont twist the neck. Adjust the rod. Bolt neck back on. Tighten up the strings\remove capo.

Best of luck

LukeQuietus

damonjewel wrote: »

The neck may be fine, it could be more the case that your truss rod is too tight and that tension is causing the fretboard to bow out at the centre causing the problems.

the fact that the fretboard got mould and that the guitar has been exposed to poor conditions may have caused warping which may mean replacement.

I'd take it to a guitar tech for his opinion to see if it can be saved first. If you can't get a tech, you can try accessing the truss rod ( I think its at the headstock on the bc rich) and loosen it a quarter turn. tighten up the strings see if it improves. If not loosen it further another 1/4 and so on. If you take the DIY route then take it slowly. there are plenty of youtube videos out there to show you how its done.

If the truss rod has to be accessed from the bottom of the neck. Then what I do is get a capo and a peg winder. Put the capo on the strings and the wind down the strings so that the tension is gone. When you unbolt the neck the capo keeps the strings from getting tangled. So dont twist the neck. Adjust the rod. Bolt neck back on. Tighten up the strings\remove capo.

Best of luck

It had a backward bow in the neck and that's been all fixed. Replaced the input, fixed the pickups and reseated the nut but parts of the fret board are still damaged. The guitar repair place did what they could with it and they did a great job but it was just after playing it for a while I noticed parts of the fretboard were still quite bad. Just wondering about how to go about replacing it. I think it's ebony also.

GerryHayes

It's pretty difficult to say, sight-unseen, but depending on the extent of the damage, you may get away with refretting the neck. A typical refret would frequently include some work on the fingerboard itself after the frets have been removed and, if the damage isn't too severe, a levelling, cleanup and treatment of the board during a refret may do the trick. It's worth getting it looked at to assess the possibility.

If the board really does need to be replaced, expect the cost of the new board, refret, removal and refixing along with any finish touch-ups. That's a good amount of work and unlikely to come in cheaper than a replacement factory neck (although I'll admit I'm not sure about the availability/cost of BC Rich necks).

Demeyes

I'd have a good go at cleaning the neck first. Get some steel wool and have a go over the frets to polish them up and get them clean. Some people use polish for cars to get them nice and shiny and clean again. Tape up the pickups if you do this so you don't get little metal filings stuck to them.
Then clean and condition the fretboard. I'm going to assume it's rosewood or ebony. Get a tooth brush and use some lemon oil and clean out the fretboard. Some people use a razor blade to clear away the gunk at the base of the frets if it's bad. After you have cleaned it a good bit like that, clean it off again with a clean cloth, preferably microfiber, and maybe use some lighter fluid to really clean it out. Don't worry, this will evaporate quickly and leave no residue. After it's dried off and clean, re-apply some more lemon oil with a cloth to condition the fretboard. Apply and let dry for a few minutes and repeat until it's not soaking any more up and then wipe off the excess.
If the neck is still ok then that should get it playing nicely again, you'd be surprised what a little bit of maintenance will do for a guitar and all that won't take you long to do at all. Replacing fretboards is a really expensive job and you'd really need a guy who knows what he's doing to get the job done right. Getting a new neck made is also really expensive and you would really want the guitar to justify the expense.

LukeQuietus

That's cool. I figure it'll be along time before I need the higher frets and by then with some play it might feel a bit better. It's not unplayable by any means I'd just like it to be nice and smooth again like it should be. Cheers.

Patricide

To be honest, unless its a custom shop or an old 80ies bc rich. Youd probably get a new guitar cheaper than replacing the fretboard.

LukeQuietus

Demeyes wrote: »

I'd have a good go at cleaning the neck first. Get some steel wool and have a go over the frets to polish them up and get them clean. Some people use polish for cars to get them nice and shiny and clean again. Tape up the pickups if you do this so you don't get little metal filings stuck to them.
Then clean and condition the fretboard. I'm going to assume it's rosewood or ebony. Get a tooth brush and use some lemon oil and clean out the fretboard. Some people use a razor blade to clear away the gunk at the base of the frets if it's bad. After you have cleaned it a good bit like that, clean it off again with a clean cloth, preferably microfiber, and maybe use some lighter fluid to really clean it out. Don't worry, this will evaporate quickly and leave no residue. After it's dried off and clean, re-apply some more lemon oil with a cloth to condition the fretboard. Apply and let dry for a few minutes and repeat until it's not soaking any more up and then wipe off the excess.
If the neck is still ok then that should get it playing nicely again, you'd be surprised what a little bit of maintenance will do for a guitar and all that won't take you long to do at all. Replacing fretboards is a really expensive job and you'd really need a guy who knows what he's doing to get the job done right. Getting a new neck made is also really expensive and you would really want the guitar to justify the expense.

They're some really good ideas. Especially the razor blade idea. It is mainly around the frets where the mold seemed to be at it's worst. And that's why the higher frets are worse. The frets are smaller so there was more mold. I'll probably try it on the highest fret first (seeing as ithat fret will probably never be used by me) to work out the do's and don'ts.

Thanks

Patricide

LukeQuietus wrote: »

They're some really good ideas. Especially the razor blade idea. It is mainly around the frets where the mold seemed to be at it's worst. And that's why the higher frets are worse. The frets are smaller so there was more mold. I'll probably try it on the highest fret first (seeing as ithat fret will probably never be used by me) to work out the do's and don'ts.

Thanks

I wouldnt go near it with either a razorblade, nor lighterfluid. Both would be bad for the wood/neck. Id go for a toothbrush and lemon oil all the way though. possibly some 000 grade wire wool on the frets if theirs gunk there too. But take it easy with it.

LukeQuietus

Patricide wrote: »

I wouldnt go near it with either a razorblade, nor lighterfluid. Both would be bad for the wood/neck. Id go for a toothbrush and lemon oil all the way though. possibly some 000 grade wire wool on the frets if theirs gunk there too. But take it easy with it.

What about very fine sandpaper? Originally that's what popped into my mind to use but I was worried about damaging the fret bars and the inlays so I didn't. I'll try the lemon oil and toothbrush on one of the frets as I doubt that'll damage it. Thanks

Demeyes

I wouldnt go near it with either a razorblade, nor lighterfluid. Both would be bad for the wood/neck. Id go for a toothbrush and lemon oil all the way though. possibly some 000 grade wire wool on the frets if theirs gunk there too. But take it easy with it.

I'd only use the razorblade to scape away a bit of dirt from the base of the frets where there is bad build-up. I wouldn't go near the rest of it with the blade because you'd likely damage the fretboard.
The lighter fluid will dry out the board so don't do it if you're not using lemon oil right after. I've never used it on a board but have seen it recommended before to help clean it.

LukeQuietus wrote: »

I'll try the lemon oil and toothbrush on one of the frets as I doubt that'll damage it. Thanks

The lemon oil and brush is for the fretboard, not the frets themselves. If you don't want to use the steel wool then you can buy a planet waves fret polish set. It's a pack of paper that you can clean the frets with and templates to sit over the fret. I've used it before but I'd say if it's in a bad state, the steel wool would be easier.

Patricide

Demeyes wrote: »

I'd only use the razorblade to scape away a bit of dirt from the base of the frets where there is bad build-up. I wouldn't go near the rest of it with the blade because you'd likely damage the fretboard.
The lighter fluid will dry out the board so don't do it if you're not using lemon oil right after. I've never used it on a board but have seen it recommended before to help clean it.


The lemon oil and brush is for the fretboard, not the frets themselves. If you don't want to use the steel wool then you can buy a planet waves fret polish set. It's a pack of paper that you can clean the frets with and templates to sit over the fret. I've used it before but I'd say if it's in a bad state, the steel wool would be easier.

The lighter fluid dries out fast alright but anything with a high alcohol content or anything like white spirits, ethanol etc cant be good for the wood. You never know how much would get absorbed by the fretboard. Once is fine but over time id say it cant be good.

FruscianteFan

Any chance you could post some pictures of the fretboard to see what condition it is in? You cant really give good advice until you see what way it is.

If there is just mold on the fretboard and it seems rough I wouldnt use sandpaper as it would be tough to remove the scratches. I would just lightly scrape it with a sharp razor blade. Dont remove too much and try and keep it even across all the frets.

For the frets I would use steel wool and some VERY fine sandpaper to polish them up. Look in haldfords and get the finest sandpaper they have, you wont get sandpaper fine enough in Woodies etc. But be very careful as you could end up taking too much off one fret and the you may need to get a whole fret dress done. Or if they are not too bad, just string the guitar up and do a load of bends and it will make the top of the frets smoother.

Using white spirit should be fine on the wood. A lot of people use it too clean wood before finishing to remove dust so it will be fine on the fingerboard. But make sure you use an oudour less one. If the fingerboard is as bad as you say it would also be a good idea to use some lemon oil on it to condition it.

But if you could put up photos it would help a lot as I dont know how bad the fingerboard actually is. If its really bad all the stuff I said will probably do nothing so you may want to remove all the frets and reradius the fret board and remove all mold etc. and then refret.

All these are my opinion and what I would do, but its hard to say what to do without seeing it!