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View Full Version : regluing a fretboard question



sixstringdrug
May 16th, 2012, 06:19 PM
I am in the middle of a hefty truss rod replacement project on my '98 CIJ strat. I have already removed the fretboard (I will post pics soon in a different thread), soon to remove and replace the truss rod and then fill and reglue the fretboard.

My question is which glue should I use? Does anyone have any experience with this? I obviously want it to be a strong and permanent bond, but if I screw up or it breaks again down the line I might need to repeat the process. Any suggestions?

Also, I am going to have to fix the laquer where it split. Any suggestions here are welcome as well.

Thanks fretters!

Zip
May 16th, 2012, 07:51 PM
Hide glue (hot, not the cheapo liquid stuff). StewMac or your favorite fix-it store sells it.

Where is the laquer fix located?

Commodore 64
May 17th, 2012, 07:15 AM
Hide glue is nice in that you can heat it and remove/reset it. I have Behlen's hide glue powder. You do need to let it hydrate, and cook it for a couple hours. It did not work well when I tried to use it shortly after getting it to 150 degrees. You have to work fast, I was tryign to cover a guitar cab, and it was just too much area. The glue cooled too fast and lost its tack. For a fingerboard, I think it would be ideal though. Great thing about hide glue is you don't have to go crazy clamping, which is a good thing on a fingerboard. Clamping makes it all too easy to slide or shift from the clamps. With hide glue you can just wrap a couple rubberbands or elastic workout rubber straps around it, and the way hide glue sets, it actually does the clamping for you.

If you don't want to mess with hide glue, then Titebond wood glue will do fine. If the fingerboard was as yet unfinished, I would tell you to put a few brads or finishing nails in fret slots 1 and 22 (or 21) to keep slippage to a minimum. But your's prolly already has frets in it, so you just need to be careful and wing it with a decent clamping caul. I went 1 for 2 on setting fingerboards with only clamps. I will use hide glue or brads + Titebond next time.