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Thread: Advice needed on removing nails from fretboard

  1. #1
    Registered User dustyamps's Avatar
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    Default Advice needed on removing nails from fretboard

    Asking for advice on removing these 2 nails without cracking/damaging the fretboard. I've gently tugged on them, they are in there tight. I considered just sawing them off to be safe. I would hope it wouldn't hurt the resale value of the mandolin much or the value of the original pickguard without the nails (the pickguard is fully intact but has several areas of degradation and small piece of the strip on the underside is broken where one of the nails was mounted. Thanks
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  2. #2
    Kelley Mandolins Skip Kelley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advice needed on removing nails from fretboard

    I would heat the pins with a soldering iron. Make sure everything is covered and protected in case it slips. This may or may not work if the pins have corroded a lot.
    Best wishes.

  3. #3
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advice needed on removing nails from fretboard

    What Skip said.
    Also, grab them with Vise grips and pull, so the tool wont slip off and cause damage. A little twist might help.

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    I may be old but I'm ugly billhay4's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advice needed on removing nails from fretboard

    I think they held a pick guard.
    Bill
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    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advice needed on removing nails from fretboard

    Quote Originally Posted by Ira7 View Post
    Why would those nails be there in the first place? I can’t figure out why someone would drive them there like that.
    That's the way Gibson did pick guards, like it or not.

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    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advice needed on removing nails from fretboard

    Quote Originally Posted by Ira7 View Post
    Really? Nails to hold a pickguard?

    So I guess they’re hammered in before the neck is joined to the body.
    Don't think so. I think they drilled holes at a slight angle, because the nails are generally bent right where they emerge from the edge of the fingerboard, and I think they were a snug fit when new, not driven in. Rust from years of contact with wood (hygroscopic as it is) sometimes locks them in place

  7. #7
    Registered User Tom Haywood's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advice needed on removing nails from fretboard

    Finger rest (pick guard) nails. Those old ones tend to break fairly easily, so go easy on the pulling and twisting. They are inserted at a slight angle, as John said. It is possible to mount another pick guard by putting nails in a slightly different place. I would rather try to get at least one clean hole and have the other nail break off than to just saw them both off.
    Tom

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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advice needed on removing nails from fretboard

    Quote Originally Posted by Ira7 View Post
    Really? Nails to hold a pickguard?

    So I guess they’re hammered in before the neck is joined to the body.
    A picture is worth a thousand words. They actually used two in the fretboard and in the case of some older A models one through a hole in the bridge to keep it in place. It must have worked reasonably well. Although we have these sort of questions occasionally pop up they don't come up daily. The closeup image was uploaded years ago by the late Paul Hostetter.

    The use of hardware store items in instrument manufacturing isn't all that unusual. Check out vintage banjo scratch guards if you want to see what can be done with bicycle spokes.
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  9. #9
    Kelley Mandolins Skip Kelley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advice needed on removing nails from fretboard

    Quote Originally Posted by Ira7 View Post
    Why would those nails be there in the first place? I can’t figure out why someone would drive them there like that.
    You can see corrosion from the pickguard on the frets as well as the body of the mandolin where the clamp was. I'm pretty confident that the nails/pins will be corroded somewhat.

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    Default Re: Advice needed on removing nails from fretboard

    Yes twisting first will help. I like to twist from the top holding the, pliers or vice-grip, perpendicular to the fingerboard. It will give you more leverage with less chance of damage. When you pull, you will pull straight out of course.
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  11. #11
    Registered User dustyamps's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advice needed on removing nails from fretboard

    No luck on getting the pins out. Heated with soldering iron, used vise grips to try and twist them and then to pulled with all my might (quite scary). They are extremely corroded.

  12. #12
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advice needed on removing nails from fretboard

    Quote Originally Posted by dustyamps View Post
    No luck on getting the pins out. Heated with soldering iron, used vise grips to try and twist them and then to pulled with all my might (quite scary). They are extremely corroded.
    Are planning on putting a replica pickguard back on? They can still hold it on they just have to insert into the pickguard instead of the fretboard.
    .
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
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  13. #13
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Advice needed on removing nails from fretboard

    Might be time to take it to an experienced repair person who has dealt with the situation before. I hesitate to recommend that someone inexperienced use the amount of heat that I would be comfortable with myself.

  14. #14
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    Default Re: Advice needed on removing nails from fretboard

    Ditto.

    If you do continue, which I don't recommend, protect the top with some very thick cardboard or a thin sheet of wood.
    Several times, I've had the nails come flying out of there when they finally let go. If the top is not protected, the tool or the nail can put a nasty gash in the top.

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