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Divots


JuanCarlosVejar

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Worrisome. Are you thinking of restoring? Being a vintage nerd it's one of those things I ask to see detailed pics of when I bargain.

Not yet.I’ve done it to the guitar by playing it many hours in the last 10 years ... I plan to take it as far as it can go with the divots ... and then either retire her for good or have her touched up slightly .

 

The crazy thing is it’s a 2007 True Vintage model, but it’s already starting to gather miles on it.

 

 

I don’t even let my nails grow too much when playing guitar ... So it’s definately honest playing !!

 

 

JC

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I'm surprised the frets aren't showing more wear.

The same thing had crossed my mind. . . An 11 year old guitar? Have the frets ever been crowned and leveled? You did say that you don't let your nails on the fretting hand get too long, but this sort of thing is usually the result of nails, low frets (how's the action height?), or maybe pressing down harder than necessary. Good thing about calluses- they get a note cleaner, sooner.

 

If you're thinking about waiting to get the fretboard planed, maybe consider alternating with some capo use to keep the current divots from getting much deeper.

 

Glad to hear you're playing the '200TV again. . . who knows, maybe it'll get a new name someday [smile] .

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Not the sharpest pictures on the the internet, but they're real and so is the f-board divots. A good sign of passion and focus.

11 years on a the craters begin to open. Marks on frets are seen too.

Wonder if there is a ebony-dust/superglue recipe for fillin' them out. Think I heard so at some point.

Are you a Townshend-type-player.

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Not the sharpest pictures on the the internet, but they're real and so is the f-board divots. A good sign of passion and focus.

11 years on a the craters begin to open. Marks on frets are seen too.

Wonder if there is a ebony-dust/superglue recipe for fillin' them out. Think I heard so at some point.

Are you a Townshend-type-player.

 

I’d say more of a country/western strummer .

 

What Mike and Johnny from Social Distortion do in this video sums up my playing style:

 

 

 

 

 

 

JC

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Not the sharpest pictures on the the internet, but they're real and so is the f-board divots. A good sign of passion and focus.

11 years on a the craters begin to open. Marks on frets are seen too.

Wonder if there is a ebony-dust/superglue recipe for fillin' them out. Think I heard so at some point.

 

Are you a Townshend-type-player.

I've had a couple filled in that way.

Here's an '51 LG1 repaired

You can always color the fretboard to help it blend better

 

5E3352CB-5AB0-4A1E-A31D-65A75027084D_zpskwecnzzx.jpg

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I'd say more of a country/western strummer .

You ride your miles in the cowboy-chord zone - well, don't we all. My D-35 has them too, , , other guits are even worse.

It doesn't influence the staying-in-tune.

I've had a couple filled in that way.

Here's an '51 LG1 repaired

You can always color the fretboard to help it blend better

 

What we see are signs of many-many hours behind the Board (the real one, not these pages). It looks good.

Wouldn't camouflage them. The spots tell a lot, , , and I like what they say - don't you. .

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It's fairly common to plane the fretboard when doing a re-fret; not only will the notes fret more true, but the 'board looks better, and the inlays really "pop" once again against the rosewood.

 

I've had it done with a couple of oldies, here's the '45 maple with the Nick inlays:

 

neUmV8f.png

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The older you get the harder your nails. Cut your nails short to prevent deep grooves as best as you can.

 

Depending on how deep the grooves are, in order to get rid of them, a luthier can either ever so slightly scrape the fingerboard with a sharp razor edge taking off tiny amounts of fretboard material, plane the whole fretboard upon refretting, or he can, as was already suggested, fill those spots up with super glue and rosewood dust making them level again and stain them if needed.

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That’s sad JC

 

To the experts .....

Is this sort of thing normal on a 11 year old guitar ?

 

My j45 is ‘05 and has no such issues. ...

 

Fingernails would be my guess if I’d seen such an issue but you say you keep them short ..

How short ?

Mine are always cut back so there is no white tip showing , ie. as short as is possible without having to avoid salted potato chips 😖

 

I’d be annoyed as hell if mine was like that

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That’s sad JC

 

To the experts .....

Is this sort of thing normal on a 11 year old guitar ?

 

My j45 is ‘05 and has no such issues. ...

 

Fingernails would be my guess if I’d seen such an issue but you say you keep them short ..

How short ?

Mine are always cut back so there is no white tip showing , ie. as short as is possible without having to avoid salted potato chips 😖

 

I’d be annoyed as hell if mine was like that

 

No white tips for the most part ... I’m not annoyed at all.

Guitars shouldn’t be babied in my opinion. This one sure hasn’t and I’m glad I’ve worn it down !

 

Personally Willie Nelson’s Trigger is an icon to me even if he’s beat it up over the years.My goal with this and other guitars I have is to get them “triggered out”

 

 

I’m wondering if callouses play a part in this as my old Yamaha FG has similar wear patterns and since the board is lighter in color ... It’s a bit easier to see than on the Gibson.

 

 

JC

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It's fairly common to plane the fretboard when doing a re-fret; not only will the notes fret more true, but the 'board looks better, and the inlays really "pop" once again against the rosewood.

 

I've had it done with a couple of oldies, here's the '45 maple with the Nick inlays:

 

neUmV8f.png

 

62,

 

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Very nice 🤠

 

 

 

 

JC

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I don’t even let my nails grow too much when playing guitar ...

 

Skin won't do that, man.

 

That's your nails.

 

I'd probably let it go, the wood you've removed is already out of the way. If you replace that wood you will simply start the process again.

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Man the area where you fret the second fret is abused. Is it from your nails or are you just there a lot? 4 looks a bit weathered too.

 

FZ,

 

Fret 1 has a bit of wear right next to the pearl inlay on the A,D and G string area.

Frets 2 and 4 have the most noticeably heavy wear.

Frets 5-14 have slight wear in different spots mostly the D, G,and B strings

 

 

I’m going to continue to play this guitar until it feels weird.

At the moment it feels very normal even though as you say “it looks abused”

 

I wish I could capture the wear of all the frets but it’s really difficult to do.

 

 

 

JC

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Skin won't do that, man.

 

That's your nails.

 

I'd probably let it go, the wood you've removed is already out of the way. If you replace that wood you will simply start the process again.

 

M,

 

Yeah maybe “regular nails” have this effect when you play guitar ad much as I have played this one.

 

 

It’s been fun !

 

 

 

 

 

JC

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