Removing block inlays on 69' Fender Jag

[thefishinmusician]

I've got a bound 69' Jag in the shop...Big block plastic inlays....The customer would like me to change the radius to 10 inches...I know that they have a pretty good thickness, but from experience, I know the look of them may change from taking this much out of the middle of the inlay...I ideally would like to remove them, do the radius, and re-inlay them....He loves the guitar, and is planning on never getting rid of it, so getting a non-vintage replacement is not his answer...What did they glue them in with?...

[Russell Vance]

The inlay blocks will have to be re-radiused regardless of whether they are removed or not.
- the ones I have pulled are stuck in with white/yellow glue equivalent which is not difficult to strip from the backs of the inlays. A little heat/warming will help extract the blocks but you can expect older blocks to split and chip quite readily.

He's re-radiusing the guitar and is going to keep it so why not just bust out the old blocks and replace and re-radius new MOP or solid swirl plastic blocks into the new fingerboard surface. Not a vintage issue. The edges of the original block rebates will get thin with a 10 inch radius so check the depth of the block inlay at the edges before re-radiusing. R.

[thefishinmusician]

I was going to dremel the fingerboard to the depth of the thickness of the old blocks, so I won't be removing much of the block when installed...If I do break any of the larger ones, I will go with replacements, but I have taken single ones out for truss rod repairs before, and have been lucky so far getting them out whole...A little bit of heat should do the trick if it's white/yeller glue....I 'm pretty sure they're plastic blocks...Thanks R.V. !

[thefishinmusician]

Just an update......The neck had a hump in the 9th. fret area....I decided to level this area and look at it again....Decided to go for it without removing the inlays.....SLOWLY!....Glad to announce that it came out just fine...It now has a 10 inch radius, with no disernable optical flaws....They are plastic inlays, at least on a 69'

[FRANK]

go plek

[thefishinmusician]

I get great results, as I always have, using the skills I've learned by hand. I can't imagine a machine getting lower, non-buzzing action by using a machine..The results would be so miniscule, only one in a thousand could feel or hear a difference...Plus, I would get absolutly no pleasure in letting a machine do what is my favorite part of my job....I mean, where's the love?

[FRANK]

acetone based stuff melts plastic right to the wood great adhesion