Can I flatten the radius on a 513??

[Austin_Taunt]

I want to flatten the radius on my 513. I contacted PTC and they said they don’t offer the service at this time. Has anyone done this? I’m worried about the inlays and really don’t want to do the taller frets sanded down. All of my guitars with a 14” or higher radius up high are much easier to play shreddy 80s stuff. I can always switch guitars but I do love my 513 and want to keep it as my main guitar all night. A 10-14” compound radius would be amazing!!

Any advice would be much appreciated!!

 

[tedtan]

I’d be interested to find the answer to this questions, too.

 

[RickP]

I’ve heard of people re-radiusing a Silver Sky, so I’d guess you could do it with a 513 which would take much less flattening. I’m not sure how thick the inlays are, and a refret would be required. I prefer my 513s with the original 513 carve (they’re 2007s), but I can see how people used to flatter boards might want to alter it.

 

[c340]

Are you dead set on doing that to your 513? If you're into SEs, you could get a Holcomb - it has a 20" radius. Skip the hassle of messing with your 513. The Alpha/Omega pickups are great, IMO.

 

[Austin_Taunt]

Are you dead set on doing that to your 513? If you're into SEs, you could get a Holcomb - it has a 20" radius. Skip the hassle of messing with your 513. The Alpha/Omega pickups are great, IMO.

Not dead set on it but it is my favorite guitar and has the sound I love. I did see the Holcomb has a 20” radius. That does sound interesting but I have a Tom Anderson with 12-14” and a Charvel with 12-16”. I could just play one of those but would rather it be on my 513. Unless it’s a sure thing that someone has done I would rather not be the first. It’s a great guitar as is and maybe the answer is I do switch guitars….or even better, practice more lol.

 

[frankencat]

I re-radiused a friends Custom 24 FR to a compound radius of about 10-14” and refretted it with Jescar 57110 stainless steel frets. I was careful and didn’t have any issues with the inlays. He still has the guitar and I haven’t heard about any issues now a few years down the road,

 

[Gtrbldr]

Funny, I have played and owned a lot of guitars lot of guitars with flatter radius fretboards but none of them ever played as comfortable as my current PRS guitars with a 10" radius fretboard radius fredboard. Even for shreddy stuff

 

[garrett]

Go for it! The inlays are plenty thick.

I went the opposite way once and re-radiused a 12" to 10" and was surprised at how little material was actually removed.

 

[Austin_Taunt]

I just spoke with the shop that refretted my LP Custom. They said they would pass on this project bc they wanted to steam the inlays to remove them for the work. It has the 513 bird inlays which are different than standard and couldn’t guarantee it would work out well.

 

[jxe]

oh my god scary!

 

[ViperDoc]

Pull the frets without ruining the fretboard, resand to desired radius, polish, refret and redress. What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Lewguitar]

Unless you're a skilled, experienced luthier don't do it!

You don't want to ruin your guitar, learning how to do this.

No one can get something like that right the first time.

You'll screw it all up and learn how to do it better the next time...but you'll still be stuck with a ruined guitar neck from that first try.

Would you rebuild your car's engine and expect to get it right the first time?

 

[Austin_Taunt]

Unless you're a skilled, experienced luthier don't do it!

You don't want to ruin your guitar, learning how to do this.

No one can get something like that right the first time.

You'll screw it all up and learn how to do it better the next time...but you'll still be stuck with a ruined guitar neck from that first try.

Would you rebuild your car's engine and expect to get it right the first time?

I’m sorry if I was unclear, I’m not wanting to do the work myself. I contacted PRS and a local shop and they both passed on the job(probably a good indicator). I’m going to hold off on it for now unless I find someone reputable that has done it before and I can ship it to them. This is not a necessity bc it’s a great guitar as is.

I rebuilt a Chevy 350 when I was 28 and got it right the first time. That stuff is easy enough for me but I leave the specialty guitar work to the pros with the right tools and experience.