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New frets

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Anonymous
Posted on Wednesday, June 26, 2002 - 04:09 pm:   

I'd liek to get new frets for my MM stingray II guitar but they dont want to do it..I guess when u take them out it takes the finish off.
Smote
Posted on Tuesday, July 02, 2002 - 11:07 am:   

Does anyone have some info. on Music Man guitars?
Langley
Posted on Friday, July 05, 2002 - 09:40 am:   

Re: Frets.
If your neck is 'flat' there's a couple of things you can do:
Use heavier gauge strings;
Using your gauge strings, loosen the truss rod about 1/2 3/4 turn and tune the guitar sharp a 1/2 step - leave it that way for a couple of days. See if that bows the neck for you;
If that doesn't work, strip off the finish
from the back of the neck, loosen the truss rod 3/4 turns, string with heavy gauge strings, and hang the guitar in a humid basement. Leave it like that for a couple of days, or so;
If that does not work I suggest conatcting Wormouth and inquire if they can modify your
existing neck, or copy yours. $$$

As far as the fret job goes, I'm a bit surprised that your luthier doesn't want to do it.
There are a zillion tele's and strats with
maple fingerboards. They get sprayed all the time. (Some states/local's do not allow the spraying of nitrocellulose, or other volitile's (like NYC), so they spray 'em in New Jersey instead!
If your Luthier is concerned about the frets 'flatting out' because of the lack of relief in your neck, all he has to do is simulate neck relief by refretting with
high frets, then grind and polish them in an arc which simulates the proper relief for your string gauge. Or he could plane an arc in to the fretboard, after pulling the frets. In either case the nut will also require attention.

What I really recomend - contact a vintage music shop, and get rid of the guitar. I'ts got to be a
big headache! Let some 'collector' eat the frets. I'd try Mandolin Brothers in new york (I believe their domain name is www.mandoweb.com ask for the owner "Stan"). If they want it, they'll probably ask you to email pictures - then 'lowball' you, so be prepared to negotiate a bit. If they dont want it they have a tendency to yawn. But they will usually answer any questions you may have regarding repair or disposition.

Then, there's always ebay.

Good Luck.
Langley
Posted on Friday, July 05, 2002 - 09:23 pm:   

Re: 'Frets'

A couple more possibly cheap fixes:

Unbolt/remove the neck.
Place a "shim" about the thickness of a business card between the neck bolts farest from the bass pickup. It's length should include holes for the neck bolts, and its width should be about 1/4 inch. Replace the neck, and tighten the bolts. This will raise the angle of the nut, allowing for a wider string angle from fret to bridge.

Another try is to raise the action paying
very careful attention to the necks' radius.
Put a quarter (US currency) under each string,
one string at a time, at the 12th fret and adjust each saddle until the string just clears the quarter. By doing this for each string, the bridge saddle radius will match the fingerboard radius. Check for fret buzzing. (If you can't hear 'em through the amp - forget about em!) If you still need to raise or lower the action, raise or lower ALL of the saddles by the same amount, say 1/8 turn to each and every saddle adjuster screw, until the buzzing is inaudible through your amp. Please remember that a perfectly adjusted neck will buzz. The buzzing is even across most frets, and shouldn't be audible through the amp.

This proceedure will also make the angle from fret to bridge greater, but it's a larger adjustment than is possible via bridge adjustment.
In fact, after shimming you'll probably find it necessary to adjust the bridge to match the fingerboard radius (as explained above), and
then lower the bridge saddles (also explained above) too.

Remember, the typical guitar/bass adjustment sequence is:
set the neck (shims, etc);
adjust the truss rod (make small adjustments and let each adjustment (no more than 1/4 turn) settle for a few hours);
Set the bridge to match the fingerboard radius; Set the string hight for maximum playability and minimum buzzing;
Set the intonation;
Set pickup height.

You've done it. Your 6pack awaits!

Let me know the condition of your frets (gouges,lifting,etc.,). Maybe I can come up with some simple, yet amazingly tedious, 'workarounds'.

Good luck.
Smote
Posted on Monday, July 08, 2002 - 11:54 am:   

Wow! Thanks for the tips!
my guitar tech did a good job setting the neck..he raised the action and it helped..I still have some bad spots but alot of the buzz is gone..woa the raised pickups on my MM StingrayII make the output of the pickups even more..now for that sixpack
koolie
Posted on Friday, September 13, 2002 - 01:12 am:   

Hi there, I saw this cool site and would like to ask a question: I have a Musicman Stingray II and have been told that it?s a "Leo Fender" model. It is quite old, I reckon from the early 70?s. It has a maple body and neck, 2 big black humbuckers and 7-way switching with active/passive options.
Can you be helpful here?
With kind regards
Mr. Rune Sande, Bergen, Norway
Mike Ellis
Posted on Wednesday, February 05, 2003 - 04:03 pm:   

Hey, I saw all the talk about setting the action. On my Music Man Sting Ray I I have a "microtilt adjustment for the neck. You just stick the allen wrench in the tiny hole in the neck plate on the back and you can adjust the butt if the neck closer or further from the strings without shims. The screws need to be considered, either direction you adjust it, but it actually changes the tilt of the neck. It's GREAT! Also you might check out further info at http://home.swbell.net/mellis99/musicman .html

Later,
Mike