Thanks guys!
Jipes, can I ask why you would replace the frets? Obviously new frets would cure the fret sprout and give me some more fret height to work with, but I was thinking in terms of vintage value, repairing the originals would be a better idea as long as it still ends up playable.
The worst victims of the "Sprout" were past the 12th fret (the frets that go over the body), and considering you cant really slide your hands up that far (and if you could you'd slice your fingers up) I had a shot at repairs there first. A little dab of CA at the fret end, then clamp the fret down for a while. Remove clamp and file the excess fret material down and shape the ends. It's actually really easy (although I'd never try it with a bound fret board).
I don't know how long it's been since it had tension on the neck (it has been in a cold storage room of all places, for 3 years) but I threw a straightedge at it and I found two things. One, the fret board doesn't appear to be radiused (sp). It's dead flat from a horizontal perspective. I think this will make fret leveling super easy. Second, the fretboard is straight and true and has barely 1mm relief. Not even room for a business card between a straightedge at 12th fret.
I mentioned the neck joint was/is a little loose. Just for giggles I gave the neck a little love tap upwards to see if it would pop off. It didn't, but it firmed the joint right up. So I then decided to let the whole guitar live in my bathroom for the weekend to soak up some moisture, and bam! The neck is rock solid again. I'll leave it be until I get the new hardware on her and see how the action looks before I do anything else to the neck angle/height.
I'm expecting a care package from StewMac in the next few days, so more updates soon!
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Originally Posted by Ch0jin
