Filing fret nibs?

[guitarfish]

Well, I ended up selling the guitar and getting a new one that was purrrfect! So that's always an option, lol!

 

[niceguy]

Well, I ended up selling the guitar and getting a new one that was purrrfect! So that's always an option, lol!

Haha true, and that's likely how I'm gonna go. I have two other Gibson guitars which are just a freaking dream to play, and I don't see any point in trying to salvage this one.

 

[guitarfish]

Haha true, and that's likely how I'm gonna go. I have two other Gibson guitars which are just a freaking dream to play, and I don't see any point in trying to salvage this one.

I guess it comes down to who's working the line that day or something. The binding & nibs on my '08 are flawless. It's a shame about yours. Not sure what you can do to remedy that. There's always the danger of making it worse too.

 

[KenG]

I believe that nibs aren't "filed"at all! They are scraped & the lines are chatter marks from the scraping process. Personally if Gibson lost the nibs and did the fretwork over the binding instead I'd be just as happy. That way they could finish the binding first before fretting. Of course the whole process would change as currently after inlays are down the frets are set into the fingerboard before it's put onto the neck whcih I'm sure is easier than pressing frets into a mounted fingerboard.

 

[Ermghoti]

OK cool, thanks again everyone.

Final question: is this cause for returning it? The ebay auction said "no returns," but I don't know if this would qualify as a defect.

The guitar was listed as as-new.

Technically, the work is better on your guitar than the others pictured in this thread. The absence of file marks indicates more care used in manufacturing compared to a sample with fewer marks. The binding (IIRC) is cut down from an overall thickness higher than the fret tops initially; it is not molded with nibs in place, they are hand-cut.

Execution-wise, the "better" workmanship has left you with sharp-edged nibs. Again, creating a sharp edge requires more careful work than a softened edge, it is sometimes a struggle to get a proud craftsman to produce the technically inferior treatment in deference to ergonomics (knife-like edges were rampant in handgun manufacturing for decades for this reason, and a cottage industry of custom shops made boatloads of cash smoothing up pistols that slashed up clothing, holsters and flesh).

I'd take it as a good sign, and just break the edges with something lightly abrasive, strips of 400 grit sandpaper would make short work of it.

 

[Kirk2000]

Your killing me.. You want to return a perfectly good guitar because of this.. Ok, do you have any sisters that get their nails done every 2 weeks? Well, the nail tech uses a set of really fine files, I wouldn't call them files, to buff down the ridges on the nail surface to a finish as smooth as a babys azz.. Go get one of those files, it has 3 or 4 different surfaces to it and start polishing, rounding over, the nibs so smooth that you won't even know that there was a problem to start with.. I wish I had a picture of the nail buffing file, it's not the one that feels like sand paper.. Good luck.. KIRK

 

[Kalamazuu]

Ues a razor blade

I second this.

And TKO knows what he's talking about, check out some of the builds in his sig.

 

[donepearce]

Can we have some pics. The nibs have to filed essentially, as the binding would otherwise be sitting up proud of the fretboard.

Here is a sample of the nibs on my 2008 Traditional. A bit hit-and-miss, but not too bad.

What bothers me more are the nasty flat tops left by the stupid Plek machine.

 

[guitarfish]

Here's an example of beautifully cut binding & nibs. It's from a 2009 ES-335.

 

[donepearce]

Here's an example of beautifully cut binding & nibs. It's from a 2009 ES-335.

Does look very smooth, I'm impressed. Quick question for you. Do you really play with an action that high, or did you prop the strings up on something to get them out of the way for the photo?

 

[guitarfish]

Does look very smooth, I'm impressed. Quick question for you. Do you really play with an action that high, or did you prop the strings up on something to get them out of the way for the photo?

I took this pic years ago, I think right when I first got the guitar (factory setup). And I think there's a bit of optical illusion going on too. Short answer: no, I don't play with high action.

 

[donepearce]

I took this pic years ago, I think right when I first got the guitar (factory setup). And I think there's a bit of optical illusion going on too. Short answer: no, I don't play with high action.

Ah, all explained - the old factory "set-up".

 

[mechtech]

I hate nibs for many reasons.