Here is an example of a lacquered neck that has been played a lot! The frets are worn and buzzing. It also is difficult to play a guitar with worn frets because the notes tend to play a little sharp. The important thing about this neck is to find out the age. The serial number on the guitar and neck told me this was an early 70's Fender neck. This is important because up through the 70's, the frets were pushed in from the side. If you pull them straight out, the fingerboard will chip, badly!!! Instead, the frets must be pushed out sideways.
Here is what the fingerboard should look like after a fret is pushed out. Notice there are no chip marks and the lacquer is intact. If the frets do not come out easily, sometimes I will heat them with my soldering iron. The heat will melt any glue that might have been added to the fret slot either during installation or as a repair.
Once the frets are all out, the fingerboard is carefully sanded just to remove any burrs along the fret slots. I then cut the new frets to length and arrange them in order so I can install them into the correct fret slot.
Here is a closer look at the fingerboard prepped for fret installation. Notice the clean slots and the satin finish on the fingerboard. The customer asked to take the high gloss off the fingerboard so his fingers would not stick to it as much.
The frets are installed a little oversized. After leveling the frets, the frets are cut to length, the frets are radiused to the fingerboard, the fret ends are dressed and the top of the frets are crowned and polished.
The neck is now ready for a new nut. After a fret job, a new nut is made. The new frets are higher than the old frets. The nut slots are too low for the new frets. A new bone nut is made and fitted to the neck.
And the strat is ready.