Whilst figuring out the plan of attack for removing the fretboard, I turn my mind to the fretboard radius. Sources on the net indicate that this guitar should have a 300mm radius fretboard, so I marked out a radius on some thin copper shim I have lying around here. It's quite easy to mark and cut, so it's ideal for quick and dirty templates. Offering up the 300mm gauge shows that it's nowhere near. Thankfully, Ben recommended a few standard fretboard radii, so I start making a few more templates. The 10" gauge fits almost perfectly, so I decide to go with that.

Next thing to tackle was the removal of the frets. The entire fretboard will need removing sooner or later, but as these frets will need replacing I figured I'd remove them first.

Temporary neck block

Temporary neck block

First job on the refurb is to strip down the guitar in order to ascertain the level of damage. The strings were removed and discarded. Sone of the bridge pegs were a little stubborn at first, but a gently prying with a pair of pliers soon freed them.

For the past few years I've been wondering what to do with this old guitar. It was left to me amongst a collection of other instruments when a good friend, Colin, passed away over 10 years ago. The other instruments, a Fender Stratocaster, a Yahama 12 string acoustic, and a Crafter Mandolin were all in great condition when I was left them, but this thing had been left to rot in the loft years before I was given it.