Putting frets into fretboard before attaching to neck?

axisus

Bad idea? No problem?

For technical reasons this would appear to be the best way to achieve something ambitious that I am trying to do. Is it likely to be problematic?

paulnb57

Could cause the fretboard to curl end to end......

FelineGuitars

Gibson do it , but it's not my preference as you can spoil the flatness of your carefully prepared board when glueing it to the neck

WezV

What he said,  some do it but I never have

StormshadowGuitars

^^ Same as above!! We never do it either, there's a few too many pitfalls and its makes the the build more awkward. 
Find a way to clamp and apply the pressure on the actual board whilst gluing, not the frets!

axisus

That's not a definitive no so I think I'm gonna try it (I have reasons). Thanks people.

GSPBASSES

I seem to be a bit different to everybody else then, when I'm making my own builds or guitars that I sell on the forum, I always fret the necks before I glue the neck into the body, never really had any problems with this. However when I'm selling my set neck guitars to other custom builders the neck is glued in without the frets. I should say this is more because the custom builders want to put in their own inlays and fret markers and do their own fret work.

A guitar like a Les Paul, should be no problem with fretting before the neck is glued in, as there is about 50mm of neck wood after the end of the finger board, even more on a LPJ. I put one G clamp on this piece of wood another on the fretboard. I use a piece of MDF to protect the frets and the fingerboard this seems to work okay for me.


EDIT
       Sorry miss read the question, so for get the above. I have fretted finger boards be for gluing them to the neck, but only when replacing the fingerboard on an acoustic guitar. But I don't recommend as other people said quite difficult to get the fingerboard  on in the right place and flat. I also used to do it when I first started making Les Pauls as per the Gibson way, very quickly decided was not way to do it.

DartmoorHedgehog

I've only ever made a fretboard once so I'm no expert, but I fretted it before attaching to the neck because I thought it would make it easier to finish the frets at the top end.  It made the board bow slightly, which in itself wasn't a problem when I clamped it onto the neck, but it also seemed to make the frets very reluctant to stay fully seated.  I spent ages tapping them down and thought I was just useless at doing it, but as soon as it was stuck on the neck and held flat they all seated easily.

So if I did it again I think I'd stick it to the neck before fretting (obviously cut the slots first though).

WezV

GSPBASSES said:

I seem to be a bit different to everybody else then, when I'm making my own builds or guitars that I sell on the forum, I always fret the necks before I glue the neck into the body, never really had any problems with this. However when I'm selling my set neck guitars to other custom builders the neck is glued in without the frets. I should say this is more because the custom builders want to put in their own inlays and fret markers and do their own fret work.

A guitar like a Les Paul, should be no problem with fretting before the neck is glued in, as there is about 50mm of neck wood after the end of the finger board, even more on a LPJ. I put one G clamp on this piece of wood another on the fretboard. I use a piece of MDF to protect the frets and the fingerboard this seems to work okay for me.

do you fret the fretboard before attaching to the neck though?

FelineGuitars

GSPBASSES said:

I seem to be a bit different to everybody else then, when I'm making my own builds or guitars that I sell on the forum, I always fret the necks before I glue the neck into the body, never really had any problems with this. However when I'm selling my set neck guitars to other custom builders the neck is glued in without the frets. I should say this is more because the custom builders want to put in their own inlays and fret markers and do their own fret work.

A guitar like a Les Paul, should be no problem with fretting before the neck is glued in, as there is about 50mm of neck wood after the end of the finger board, even more on a LPJ. I put one G clamp on this piece of wood another on the fretboard. I use a piece of MDF to protect the frets and the fingerboard this seems to work okay for me.

@gspbasses - Jon meant fretting the board before gluing it to the neck as opposed to before attaching the neck to body

TTony

FelineGuitars said:

Gibson do it

axisus said:

That's not a definitive no

Are you sure???

Danielsguitars

I always get the board fretted first before gluing on, I used to do it the other way round.

I haven't had a problem so far, make sure your fret slots aren't too tight
I also press frets in which helps imo.

DamianP

Shaping the board to allow for neck curvature under string tension is an important part of guitar construction for me.
it allows for even and on spec fret heights and the avoidance of common issues with board curvature.
This has to be done as the final stage before fretting and can't be achieved if you pre-fret the board.

I can't think of any design feature that would prevent doing it this way. 

Seek perfection not convenience.

mart

DamianP said:

...
Seek perfection not convenience.

Ha! Last time I followed that advice I ended up wetting myself.