Scalloping Frets - Smoothening out those higher frets

siliconsurf · #1 01-06-2001, 12:32 PM

Since trying the Jem7V, and another guitar which had scalloped frets all over the fingerboard, I have become interested in the idea of scalloping some of the frets of my guitar's fingerboard. After a lot of experimentation I have decided to scallop the highest 7 of one of my guitars' 24 frets (a cheap one to start with!), and then from there see whether it will work out for my others.

Has anyone else done this before, on their own? I plan to use my Dremel with the round sanding bits, and am thinking of trying to scallop just the top half (highest three strings). The fingerboard I will be trying it on is rosewood.

Any potential problems with this others have encountered (with chipping, refinishing, fret damage etc), or advice would be most appreciated!

ruby · #2 01-07-2001, 01:55 AM

I've done this twice, once on a semi-good neck and the other on a very bad neck just to practice. On the bad neck the only problem I had was that on the twelfth fret I wore through the dot inlays and screwed it up but that was on a cheap neck off of a guitar that I got for $50 and so the inlay was probably not deep at all. On the second one I had no problems with the inlay but just be careful that you don't scallop too deep. Good Luck!

littlegreenman · #3 01-07-2001, 03:55 AM

I wouldn't use a dremel, if the bit catches you will inevitably run into the fret and screw it up. *I have always used a round file or a half round. *I also cover the frets with masking tape to protect them a bit. *Just slowly start at the center point between 2 frets. *The round files come in many diameters so it isn't hard to find a radius that you will be happy with. *I find that generall a 3/8" diameter works well. *once you have the shape roughed out go at it with 320 grit sandpaper to smooth it out and work your way up to 600 grit paper or finer if you want.
This technique works very well and is not time consuming really. *I did an entire strat neck for my friend like Malmsteens guitar and it came out perfect. *When you go to the lower frets though (1 - 15 or so) I use different size dowel with 120 grit paper wrapped around instead of a file to keep the radius shallow enough.
Jeremy

littlegreenman · #4 01-07-2001, 03:56 AM

I wouldn't use a dremel, if the bit catches you will inevitably run into the fret and screw it up. *I have always used a round file or a half round. *I also cover the frets with masking tape to protect them a bit. *Just slowly start at the center point between 2 frets. *The round files come in many diameters so it isn't hard to find a radius that you will be happy with. *I find that generall a 3/8" diameter works well. *once you have the shape roughed out go at it with 320 grit sandpaper to smooth it out and work your way up to 600 grit paper or finer if you want.
This technique works very well and is not time consuming really. *I did an entire strat neck for my friend like Malmsteens guitar and it came out perfect. *When you go to the lower frets though (1 - 15 or so) I use different size dowel with 120 grit paper wrapped around instead of a file to keep the radius shallow enough.
Jeremy

GaveUp · #5 01-08-2001, 03:24 AM

i was thinkign about doing that for 20-24 frets on my uv7777bk...can i ? would it mess the inlays up ?

**jemsite** · #6 01-08-2001, 10:41 AM

The pyramid and dot inlayed fretboard should survive scalloping fine. There is some scalloping tips at the link below and in the old forum archive:

http://jemsiteforum.com/board/topic....6&topic=16

good luck... glen

siliconsurf · #7 01-11-2001, 12:09 PM

It says to oil the fingerboard after scalloping - what do you oil it with?

Thanks!

jay ratkowski · #8 01-11-2001, 04:33 PM

depends on how well you want to protect your remaining fingerboard. *Something to prevent your fingerboard from becoming twisted like a Florida election (sorry, just woke up, lame joke filter not off yet). *Depending on how many frets you scalloped, you may want to invest in a full-laquer (ala Fender, etc). *You're not going to feel the difference anyways, so why not do the best to protect things. *

If you're really looking for something cool... you can do an aluminum composite with the right amount of epoxy added on the fretboard (if you do a full scallop or otherwise). *Not only will it look cool, but your fingerboard will have a nice shield on it. *For examples, see Parker. *I believe they will even tell you how to get the job done.

Otherwise, if it's just a few frets at the end... some Tung Oil will keep things safe enough.

jem7pbk · #9 01-12-2001, 02:13 AM

I just bought a rg560 with the whole neck done it rocks! * I say go for it, I'm just glad I bought one that had it already done because I'd just screw it up I put emgs in it and now the finger tapings a dream *

wyzenhymer · #10 01-12-2001, 11:41 PM

Has anyone scalloped a UV777BK yet? Glen says it will work, but has it been done?
G.M.

tagg 7 · #11 01-19-2001, 12:10 PM

Hey guys.
Let me know how you like your new scallops. I play mine all the time. Have to force myself not too a lot, but thats not too hard when your 2027 is screaming at you to touch it. heeehehe

buzz

Christopher Chen · #12 01-19-2001, 02:11 PM

The guitarist of the progressive metal band Aghora, Santiago Dobles; uses a PWH with scalloped frets from the 12th fret on to the 24th!

http://www.aghora.org/

Don't see much of the inlays being filed away.

Good luck!

Chris.

tagg 7 · #13 01-19-2001, 02:24 PM

O yeah i probably should have mentiond that answer. Your Inlays will be fine up to 2/3 the way through your fret board (on a rosewood ofcourse, maple would be gone in no time) if you get to having a problem with that you probably should stop. My 3rd fret one is a lot smaller than it use to be but all the rest look the same.

Oil away at that fret board it will look dark at first but lighten up to a nice rosewood color later.

My neck was a 7 stringer I scalloped the whole thing then put it all back together and it didnt miss a beat. The action is still set perfect like i left it. No worrys

buzz

Josh Blagg · #14 01-19-2001, 03:30 PM

I recently scalloped some frets on a cheap but good neck I got. *I used a smaller round file on the last 3 frets, so the file itself didn't take out the entire width between the frets. *I kinda just angled the file between the frets to make the scallop wider. *So my scallops aren't extremely deep, and you can touch a little bit of wood directly behind the fret. *I like the way this feels as opposed to touching nothing at all, but it takes a long time to get it to look and feel right.

siliconsurf · #15 02-05-2001, 06:30 PM

I scalloped the top 4 frets of my Kramer Focus (21-fret neck with rosewood fingerboard). Wow - those four frets play really nicely now! As I started with the highest fret of another neck, I got the idea of scalloping them gradually shallower (my logic being that the wider frets didn't need scalloping - I felt - so the wider a fret was the less depth it needed). The idea has worked marvellously and the top 7 frets or so feel 'consistent', without a sudden dip in the fingerboard like the evenly scalloped fingerboard. Has anyone else tried this before?