ksdaddy Posted June 3, 2010 Share Posted June 3, 2010 I read yesterday that the Parker guitars use tangless fretwire epoxied onto synthetic fingerboards...carbon fiber maybe. The fretwire may be stainless on the Parkers, but that doesn't matter. I googled until my google finger fell off but I can't find tangless fretwire. Anyone know where some can be procured? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXE® Posted June 3, 2010 Share Posted June 3, 2010 I got nuthin. Parker maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted June 3, 2010 Share Posted June 3, 2010 Parker is the only one I've ever heard of using tang-less fret wire. They probably procured it as a special purchase. I bet it was expensive. How about using standard fret wire and a pair of hoof nippers: Your neighborhood farrier might let you borrow his. You know.. that might be a solution to an aluminum necked Applause with worm frets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted June 3, 2010 Author Share Posted June 3, 2010 You know.. that might be a solution to an aluminum necked Applause with worm frets. *cough* um... yeah. That's the direction I was headed. The 'frets' do wear out. My main Applause had 'some' wear but mostly chipping of the (chrome?) plating on the aluminum frets. I leveled and crowned them just like I would any other guitar. I'm sure the frets will wear out more quickly now that the chrome plating is gone but it's been 3 years. I have one I'm working on right now that apparently had been thrown so hard it cracked the back of the headstock. The headstock has an aluminum skeleton filled in with plastic. I suspect the aluminum bent enough to crack the plastic. Probably any other guitar would have been splinters. I epoxied it and bent it back all in one move. Hasn't exploded so it likely never will, and the 'crack' looks like a lacquer crack. The frets are chewed bad. I'm willing to experiment. There has GOT to be a way to convert these over to standard frets, short of cutting traditional slots which would be visible from the side (not that it would be the end of the world, just not as neat as I would like). I've cleaned up existing slots on bound fretboards as part of the refret process, but not cutting a 'bound' board from scratch.... I could invent some kind of roller/crank thing like Stew mac's fret radiusing tool, but with two rollers, one with a concave outer edge and one convex.... roll a thin piece of stainless through it and you end up with a strip of half pipe.... Kinda like a dental crown. God, I don't know. I'm losing my mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted June 3, 2010 Share Posted June 3, 2010 Good Idea! I like this idea is it provides a cavity between the half pipe and fretboard / sawtoothed frets. How about sawing a piece of 'whole pipe'? The hollow, round stuff they sell in the hobby craft store for fabricating faux exhaust pipe / intake trumpets on scale models? Do they sell them in half rounds? The trick would be how to saw the tubing into two pieces. Maybe the 'invention' would be a fixture to hold the whole pipe while you rip it down the middle.. or maybe just abaft of the middle, so you get at least one whole half pipe and a drop? Hmmmm. Maybe glue an Al or Brass tube into a grooved piece of wood. It would be a sacrificial fixture, but I bet you could make one with a router and beading bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepblue Posted June 3, 2010 Share Posted June 3, 2010 You had me at Tang! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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