Been working on the fret ends of this fender neck, they were sticking out on both sides in such a way, the thickness of a credit card. Not really acceptable.
So I used the lightest tape I had to project the fretboard when working on the fret ends, without taping over the edge, even taking care removing the tape in the length direction of the neck and even then some finish came off on some fretboard parts as you can see. After I filed off all the end, I still have to finish a lot of sharp corners, burrs... 2nd stage stuff, but I do not dare to put any tape on there. So, 1. how can I fix this the easiest way and 2. how to proceed for the rest of the fretwork ?
Fender uses nitrocellulose lacquer on their fretboards, which is why it ages to the yellowish color you see there. There are TONS of threads on Strat and Tele forums about making repairs like this. I'd look there.
I've used their Polycrylic on a neck in the satin finish and it works great, but is very clear and lacks that warm, slightly yellowish tone that maple fretboards usually have.
I'd use that high build in the semi-gloss and apply it very carefully with a small brush. I'd finish it out with some Micro Mesh. Start with the 6000 and move to the 8000 and 10000 only if the shine is not matching. Their finishing pads are good for this.
I totally agree with Jesse except that I would change 2 points.
1. scrape the rest of the finish off that fret only. You will NEVER be able to hide the line separating the old and new.
2. use Minwax wipe-on satin poly. It's thinner than standard poly and is more forgiving of mistakes. It will build up nicely in 4 or 5 coats. It also cures harder and faster than brush on.
This is better advice. I'd go with this. In my experience, you can strip the fretboard finish really quickly and easily with paint stripper. Just tape off everything first. But to me that board looks pretty shiny. I think he's going to want semi-gloss to match everything else.
Because this minwax product seems like some kind of protective oil/coating thing, or is it actually a lacquer as well? Names... sometimes hard to match. we tend to talk about varnish etc.
Alrigth... did some test with pu on a cheap fender squier, learned a few things. atm it is almost not noticable a spot has been refinishes, so that is cool. Doing some of the smallest on the strat now to see how it reacts. If I'm doing the big spot, I will take some pictures.
Thanks for all your help so far guys, learned a lot, again.
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