Help needed with Walden D550

[dtpolk]

It's basically a good guitar and sadly I'm poor and can't afford anything else. I do have past experience in instrument repair (mostly violin making) and am not afraid of such work.

The problem is that the fingerboard has little radius (almost flat as a classical) and the frets are tiny (like strands of uncooked spaghetti). I have been playing for years without problems, but my big fingers cannot play this thing. Chords seem muffled and notes choke and such. It might be that my age is getting to me, but I think a smaller board radius and bigger frets would help a lot.

But before I start tearing this neck apart I wanted to get the opinion of others so let me know what you think or any questions you might have.

Thanks!!

[LouieAtienza]

Heck, it's your guitar, and you seem to be handy, and it's not like some valuable instrument... so why not?

You say you're poor but do you have, or have access to tools? (plane, sandpaper, wire cutter, files, straightedges, fretting hammer...)

[dtpolk]

Yea I have or can borrow most of the tools I'll need...except a radius sander. YouTube shows how to make them but I don't have the tools for that. Who sells a cheap one in maybe 12" or even 10"? Haven't decided yet.

[LouieAtienza]

You really don't need one. There are some radius gages you can print online (or draw with free CAD), then tape to card stock or Masonite and cut out. A sharp plane and long straight sanding board should be all you need. I still don't use radius blocks when hand-shaping a fretboard! Besides, since the fretboard is tapered in width, no radius sanding block will give you a true "flat" under each string.

[jazzguy]

My advice...if you are not skilled to do this king of thing...get a different guitar. You may screw up an already not ideal guitar. There are many decent low priced guitars these days (new and used). Why make something it's not? My 2 cents.