1953 Les Paul Restoration – Fretboard and Frets
A fretboard this worn would normally be replaced… but on a guitar this valuable, it’s worth the effort to save it.
First, the inlays were removed, then the frets and binding. The fretboard was then planed flat and re-radiused which removes the deep finger wear but was also necessary to correct the back-bow of the neck.
To ensure the new frets stay perfectly seated in the old slots, we chose to install a fret of the correct vintage width, but significantly taller, which comes with a much deeper fret tang to hold it in place. This, however, necessitated removing about half the fret height to get it back to vintage specs.
We’re now in the process of crowning the frets and shaping the fret ends to match up to the original binding nubs.
The finished fretboard and frets now look just like they ought to.
