Fret removal

The plan is to rehab this old Melody Maker. There's not a whole lot to it at the moment.





I'll start out by pulling the frets and leveling the fingerboard.

Here's the old nut.
















One whack with a hammer and chisel and it came out pretty easily.
















Here's the new nut I made. I didn't want to use a bleached bone because it would be too sterile looking. This is unbleached.
















This is my fret removal setup.
















I like to apply heat to the fret for about 10 seconds. They come out pretty easy after that. If chipout occurs I have the super glue ready. I love that little painter's tool, the teeny spatula for spreading glue around.

The frets came out pretty easily.
















Chip-out ocurred in only a few places.
































This little thing is handy.
















Sanding the fretboard reveals how much wear there was--more than there even appeared to be. And yep, it's Brazilian.
















Oiling it up really makes it look nice again.
















Ooh...Aah...