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James Mayer


From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
Post  Posted 13 Feb 2017 9:03 am    
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I have a heavily modified Emmons student model. It has an aluminum neck added and a typical "atomic" Emmons fretboard. However, I just figured out that the fretboard is made out of magnetic material for some reason. It's basically a long fridge magnet. I had a Sentell pickup made that's 1/4" thick and can slide in under the strings without needing to route for a second pickup. When I moved it further from the bridge pickup it suddently jumped into position at the 24th fret marker. When I lift the pickup, I see it trying to lift the fretboard off the neck. So, I put a screw on it (the fretboard, not the pickup) and that stuck as well. The fretboard is glued on to the neck because aluminum isn't magnetic.....so what is the point? I've searched the forum and can't find any mention of magnetic fretboards.

Anybody ever seen this before?
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James Mayer


From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
Post  Posted 14 Feb 2017 12:59 pm    
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Ok, what material are these fretboards usually made out of?
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Erv Niehaus


From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
Post  Posted 14 Feb 2017 1:59 pm    
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Aluminum
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Bobby Boggs

 

From:
Upstate SC.
Post  Posted 14 Feb 2017 5:30 pm    
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Maybe the fret-board was accidentally magnetized from being stored-packaged with a single coil pickup?? First quess. Oh Well
b.
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Bob Hoffnar


From:
Austin, Tx
Post  Posted 14 Feb 2017 5:44 pm    
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Maybe it was modified by Jack Perkins, the magnet guy. He was a big steel guitar fan who would stick magnets on everything. I ran into him at a couple steel shows. Quite a caricature.

I have a pile of magnets around so I checked it out. A magnet will stick to the fret board on my 67 Emmons. I doesn't stick to the neck though. The fret board has no magnetic qualities on its own. I guess it could have become magnitized at some point.
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Bobby Boggs

 

From:
Upstate SC.
Post  Posted 14 Feb 2017 6:49 pm    
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I forgot. Magnets are not suppose to stick to aluminum. So if your fret-board is made from Aluminum? My guess is dead wrong.
Erv you sure Emmons fret-boards are made of aluminum? I have some old ones somewhere made from some type of metal. Never thought about it before this thread. Is yours an aftermarket fret-board?

b.
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Per Berner


From:
Skovde, Sweden
Post  Posted 14 Feb 2017 10:50 pm    
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I have a pair of NOS Emmons fretboards (made before they switched to printed white fret lines) ready to be installed, and they are definitely made from soft aluminum, no magnetism in sight.
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James Mayer


From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
Post  Posted 15 Feb 2017 7:06 am    
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This is definitely a very flexible/floppy material that I assumed was vinyl or something similar.

Don't know if this will provide a clue, but here's a photo of it, post #4.

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=218513&sid=5f56373c91e6487e5e6f83dc7777e8cb[/url]
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Erv Niehaus


From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
Post  Posted 15 Feb 2017 7:55 am    
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Sho~Bud used tin fretboards except for the dust collector, that was plastic.
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Bob Hoffnar


From:
Austin, Tx
Post  Posted 15 Feb 2017 11:51 am    
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Per Berner wrote:
I have a pair of NOS Emmons fretboards (made before they switched to printed white fret lines) ready to be installed, and they are definitely made from soft aluminum, no magnetism in sight.


Per, did you check the fretboard with a magnet ?
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Bob
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Bobby D. Jones

 

From:
West Virginia, USA
Post  Posted 15 Feb 2017 9:55 pm     Emmons magnetic fretboards.
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I have a friend and his now X wife ran a sign shop. She made signs from a magnetic backed stock, Too fill certain orders.
The neat thing about the stock is the magnet is a black line that backs and gives the item a pretty black border if cut at a slight angle. The thin front layer is plastic, Makes it a durable surface for painting or computer cut plastic letters and pictures to be placed on.

Looks as if this is the way these were constructed and would not stick to the guitar by the magnet so it was glued. Just An Old Tinkers Thought.
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Per Berner


From:
Skovde, Sweden
Post  Posted 16 Feb 2017 4:19 am    
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Bob Hoffnar wrote:

Per, did you check the fretboard with a magnet ?


No, but they are very light, they weigh too little to be made from steel. The metal color is also typical aluminum.
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Bob Hoffnar


From:
Austin, Tx
Post  Posted 16 Feb 2017 5:21 am    
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Try checking them ! I was surprised but indeed magnets do stick to it and not the body or neck.
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Per Berner


From:
Skovde, Sweden
Post  Posted 16 Feb 2017 5:29 am    
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Apparently, aluminum can display some magnetic properties near a strong magnetic field. Like a pickup, maybe?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk4ACjzDFRY
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Bob Hoffnar


From:
Austin, Tx
Post  Posted 17 Feb 2017 6:07 am    
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Per, Have you checked it with a magnet yet ? It's pretty interesting.

Fretboard magnetic very strong
Neck not
Keyhead magnetic weak
Strings magnetic
End Plate not
Changer magnetic weak
Legs magnetic very strong

I would be very surprised it the fret board was made out of Aluminum.

But please don't take my word for it. Go ahead and see for yourself. You may have different experience.
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Per Berner


From:
Skovde, Sweden
Post  Posted 17 Feb 2017 6:14 am    
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Checked, not the slightest bit magnetic!

Last edited by Per Berner on 19 Feb 2017 4:54 am; edited 1 time in total
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Charlie Hansen


From:
Halifax, NS Canada and Various Southern Towns.
Post  Posted 17 Feb 2017 6:16 am    
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I think Bobby is right. I used to be in the sign business and we used this magnetic backed film to make removable signs for real estate agents to put on their private vehicles.
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Jack Hanson


From:
San Luis Valley, USA
Post  Posted 19 Feb 2017 6:37 am    
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Weird. Both of my push-pulls are from '73. The boards on my D-10 are both magnetic, whilst the board on my GS-10 is not. All three have white frets and appear to be identical (at least until a magnet is applied). Pretty sure the D-10 has the fingerboards that were on it when it left Burlington; not sure about the student model.
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