Radius-ing the fretboard

[roysboy]

I was looking at the costs of a radiused ebony fretboard at Stewmac and they seemed relatively inexpensive . I realize there would be luthier costs, including fret-work , of course, in converting to a radiused board on my mandolin but I'm curious about what ,roughly, this conversion might cost .Thanks .

[pops1]

Stumac would do theirs by machine, are you replacing your board with a radiused one or radiusing the one on your mandolin?

[Dave Cohen]

Replacing a fretboard with a new, radiused fretboard is the most expensive way to do it. That would mean (i) removing the existing fretboard, (ii) trimming the new board to fit your existing neck, (iii) fretting the new board, and (iv) installing the new board, and probably involving a new setup. Your current flat fretboard can probably be radiused. That would mean, (i) removing the frets, (ii) radiusing the existing fretboard in place, and (iii) re-fretting. Having your existing fretboard radiused and refretted would still cost a bit. Refretting is normally $250 or more, depending on who does it, whether the board has binding or not, etc. Radiusing the existing board after the frets are pulled is not too bad, provided the luthier already has the jigs, etc., for making the radius in place. But you would have to ask yourself (i) is your existing mandolin worth it, and (ii) is the radius worth ~$300 or more to you?

[dschonbrun]

I think Dave offers sage advice. If you believe you will enjoy/prefer playing a radiused fretboard, it may well make more sense to sell your current mando and/or trade for a new one. Keep in mind, a mando with non-original specs (beyond upgrades) likely diminishes it's value in the market. So rather than spend for a change, find an instrument that has the qualities you like as stock... and then trade for that one. In the end, you'll likely make out better financially. There are exceptions... if your current mando has ridiculous tone, and perhaps history... but beyond that, look for another Axe.

[roysboy]

Thanks for the thoughts all . I contacted a local luthier and they estimated the work at 350-400 dollars. Probably an upgrade in instrument makes more sense in my circumstances

[DavidKOS]

My almost-finished new flatback mandolin has a radiused fingerboard - the luthier usually does flat ones - and I think getting an instrument already made that way is better than converting one, unless you find a mandolin with a damaged fingerboard that could be a good candidate for replacement.

[acousticphd]

I was looking at the costs of a radiused ebony fretboard at Stewmac and they seemed relatively inexpensive . I realize there would be luthier costs, including fret-work , of course, in converting to a radiused board on my mandolin but I'm curious about what ,roughly, this conversion might cost .Thanks .

I have had this job done on about 3 of my vintage mandos as part of a refret & FB level job. I can't imagine that completely replacing a FB, and of course installing frets, is less troublesome than radiusing an existing board, but maybe that's not always so.
If you have an instrument that needs a refret or relevel, that is certainly when it makes sense to have the FB radiused.

My guess is that it will vary a lot be who/where it is done. My tech/repair guy does the leveling and radiusing by hand, using a Stewmac radiused sanding block. Again, there is little cost for the "radiusing", since 90% of the work has to be done anyway, but he charged me <$150 for the whole job. My strong guess is that the average rate would be >$200 (for refret, level, + radius).

[acousticphd]

I'd just add that, in answer to Mr Cohen's rhetorical question, I wouldn't consider paying $200-$300 just to get a radiused FB. But I do prefer playing them, and a level/refret is a practical requirement for a lot of vintage mandolins to make them play well. Under those circumstances (I'm going to get the level/refret anyway), I have tended to opt for a radius in the bargain.

[Billy Packard]

Dave, the saddle will also need to be addressed, a flat saddle will need to me modified to match the radius. And your last question is right on--is it worth it in the end. At one point I picked up a KM1000 fairly inexpensively, ($900) and considered doing a radius but by the time the whole job was priced it was nearly the price of the mando! Where I live, SF/Santa Cruz a fret job is more like $400 and up depending on binding and fret material.

[Phil Goodson]

I've had it done twice. Both times involved a mandolin that I loved and did not intend ever to sell. Both were done when I needed a refret anyway and both were having a little problem with fretting issues that I felt would be fixed with radiusing.

Both were converted to a compound radius and ended up needing very little change to the bridge. I converted to stainless steel frets on both at the time. That was many years ago. I still have both mandolins and still love both. Neither has needed any fret work since.:)