Onward!

Given everything turned out so well last night, I placed an order for the following from Stew Mac this morning:

4895 1 Fretting Hammer - Hammer with plastic and brass faces $17.45
0002 12 Pearl Dots - 5mm (13/64") dia. $0.58  $6.96
0003 12 Pearl Dots - 6mm (15/64") dia. $0.60  $7.20
4479 1 Neck Support Caul $10.44  
0483 1 Plastic Side Dot Material - White, 1/16" diameter $1.09  
1358 1 Plastic Side Dot Material - White, 3/32" diameter $1.09  
1136 1 Acoustic Guitar Tailblock - For Dreadnought $8.98  
0044 1 Bridge Pin Puller $1.96  
6010-V 2 Vintage Bone Nuts - Gibson-style blank $4.78  $9.56

Some of this is for the Gretsch, some other projects, some tools I've been meaning to order for months. I was unsure of the position makrer size I needed, but they're cheap so I ordered what I knew I could make work one way or the other.

The Tailblock was the easiest way for me to procure a hunk of mahogany I can carve up and use to plug some holes in the Gretsch body (like for the strap pegs). All will become clear as the project progresses.

The last thing I got accomplished...at the expense of some guitar playing time before work this morning, was to de-fret the neck and get everything re-clamped. Pictures of the old frets can be seen in the prveious entries photo gallery. Getting the old frets out was a challenge, but not too difficult. I used the pointed awl to tap on the tangs from the edge and get a good start going that I could then grab with the fret puller...a great tool, BTW. Heating frets with a soldering iron makes the process go so much more quickly and cleanly too.

Looking forward to my long anniversary weekend in Chicago at Pitchfork, and now I also have something to look forward to when I return...the Stew Mac order will be here and I can proceed with the "refurboration"!