Mistakes were made, or perhaps predestined

More work on the Guild D35 today. It was not the best day, though.

I set up an infrared lamp on the fingerboard extension.

Aluminum foil covers the fret markers, so that they don't fry in the heat.

That light is HOT. Little beads of oil form on the fretboard as it heats up.

All kinds of tools ready. The putty knife has been ground thin.

My Bob Ross palette knife slides in just a tiny bit. A added more heat for another 10 minutes. I don't get to leave during this time - I have to sit there and make sure that nothing starts to burn.

More heat, and I'm getting pretty loose.

Moving further up the neck.

I'm getting pretty far along.

I plan on cutting the fingerboard at the 12th fret, so I start to remove the fret while it is still very hot. This reduces chipping.

Well, crap. If this is reduced chipping, then we don't want to see full-scale chipping.

I gently ease a very thin saw into the slot, and start to saw through.

&%$!@*$&!!! That is full scale chipping. This fingerboard is a bit mushy, and really chip prone. It's just not a great fretboard. And now it is a not very good fretboard with a bunch of chips out of it.

Oh that is terrible.

At least the guitar looks okay.

This is a funny find. That piece of plastic is from the soundhole rosette. I wonder how it got in there. I also wonder if it rattled at all when the guitar was played. I also wonder what order of assembly caused it to end up in there.

Not bad.

The truss rod appears to have a strip of maple over it. Nice.

Okay, this picture is for anyone wondering where the dovetail joint is on a 1980 Guild D35.

This one too.

And this one.

For you inch people.

Likewise.

And here is ROUGHLY where the 15th fret falls.

Lastly, I lifted the pickguard. There is a nice crack there, if you expand the page. I'll fill it with CA glue in some places, and hide glue in others. Then I will reglue the pickguard with a caul that I had made for an identical guitar.

So, my fingerboard idea is not going to work. Looks like I will need a new fingerboard to pull this off. Fine by me - I'd rather have something a bit fancy anyways. Overall, a tedious and discouraging bit of time working on the guitar. Maybe tomorrow will be better.