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Hey guys, I was sanding the peghead on a belt sander (guitar is in finishing stages) and learned the hard way that almost finished instruments and power tools aren't a great combination. Here are my results.

My thinking is if I just blend it in with sandpaper, it shouldn't affect playability. What are your thoughts?

It will not affect playability.

I think it might look interesting.

I'd probably just leave it since it doesn't affect playability.

Do you already compensate the nut? If not, here's something you could do. Nut compensation involves shortening the nut-to-first-fret span a bit, so do that. That will eliminate the deepest part of the angled end. Then to get the nut back to its normal thickness, you can add a strip of binding to the headplate end, which is conveniently possible to miter into the side bindings since they're still over-length. Then to complete symmetry, cut the fingerboard even shorter, removing almost all of the ramp, and replace it with binding as well Should look like this when complete:

How thick is the F/B. Looks to be still 1/4-5/16". Consider sanding the F/B down. You can deepen the slots with a dremel and tapered bit.

Looks like the fretboard is already fretted.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Put on a "tape dam" and fill the space with epoxy. Once it's cured sand that spot like you do the rest of the fretboard. Then oil the fret board so that it gets about as dark and glossy as the epoxy. By the time the nut is in place and the strings are on I don't think you'll notice.

One crazy idea would be to peel the binding back along the fret board, slice the fretboard horizontally, and glue in a wedge to bring the sanded area back up, then re level the first (and second?) fret space. then rebind.
If it was mine it wouldn't bother me too much, so I would probably just blend it a bit and let it go. What looks huge in the picture, is fairly small in reality?

Ah, missed that tiny part of a fret.

When something like this happens then look for ways to make it look intentional. Perhaps look at how Selmer guitar nuts are done, they are backed with an ebony (or what ever your fretboard material is) stop shaped like a wedge.

...perhaps some creative inlay?

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Great ideas from Dennis and jf....

I actually did exactly the same thing on my #2 (I blamed it on wearing ear defenders). I blended it and no one has ever mentioned it. Even I don't see it any more.


Like when you make a mistake in a song: do it 3 more times and make it look intentional!

Wow thanks for all the great info guys! Nick, I'm glad I'm not the only one! Haha

There are some nice tips here, I dont even know which option to pick!

I think you either have to remove the frets and do as Hans says or pull the fretboard and make a new one. As John Hall likes to say, mistakes are opportunities to learn new skills.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

I guess it's up to you how perfect you want it to look. However, you asked if it would affect playability and I don't think it will. If the ramp were closer to the fret, perhaps. As it is, where you actually press down on the strings to play a note is unaffected. If it were me, I'd curse and let it go, having thoroughly learned my lesson so that it would never ever happen again...

You could also make a patch of like material, glue it up and scrape level.
Kinda like the epoxy suggestion byt with wood.

Keep the fingerboard piled and you will never know it was there.

DL

I would say chisel out that section and graft in a new one up to the first fret, but I don't know how you'd fix the binding without it looking obvious.

Most likely a do-over is in order. Just suck it up and do it. Sorry... If it was an old beater, i'd say fill it up with epoxy and call it a day, but it's a new guitar - one that will never be new if you don't redo.

The only other way I can think of to do a partial save is some Rickenbacker style shark fin inlays, but that would still require rebinding and refretting.

I guess if the geometry supports it, and the neck is stiff enough, you could just sand down the fretboard till the oops is gone. The fretboard would be pretty thin. That would still require and refret, fret slot deepening, and a rebind.

A long time ago a blues musician made a mistake and they called it jazz

Remove the FB, and try to save it, then cut off the first fret, and use it for a shorter scale guitar.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

I have a lot of cutoffs off the same board, I think I'll just find a piece with a similar looking grain pattern and just replace the first fret. I'll try to just chisel/carve out between the binding. Thanks for the tips guys. And yeah, it'll be a brand new guitar, I can't just let it go. I will literally loose sleep over it

But what are you going to do about the back corners of the binding that also got sanded down?

I did the same thing many guitars ago. I just blended it and I don't think anyone ever noticed however think the fret board was un-bound so that made it a little easier to disguise.

Pat

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There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

... and then a jazz musician made a mistake and called it experimental jazz!

Flounder, good point, I forgot about that. That complicates that idea a little

When I first read "power tools" and "finishing stage", I cringed. The outcome is usual not good. Sometimes it's best to start anew - pull off the fretboard (really not that hard), and install a new one. Write it all off as a lesson learned. Good luck, Tony

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Tony Flippo