NZGuitars.com

Hi guys,

I've been considering teaching myself how to do a refret, or at the least how to level existing frets. I can do most setup type things and I kind of want to get to the next level so I can make all my guitars play amazingly.

Anyone successfully learnt how to refret a guitar? Is it worth it or should I just stick to leveling + a new nut?

Any general advice/where to get tools etc?

Ask grantb for a couple of his old ones to practice on !

As Danny said, GrantB would be the guy to ask. He seems to have it sussed. Would love to be able to do it. Every guitar I own would have f'kin' big Dunlop 6000s.

Molly wrote:As Danny said, GrantB would be the guy to ask. He seems to have it sussed. Would love to be able to do it. Every guitar I own would have f'kin' big Dunlop 6000s.

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp12 ... G_0583.jpg

I'm a fan of big frets too. I often find guitars and think that I'd love them if only they had bigger frets.

And obviously if I go for the full refret I'll need a beater to fix up. Maybe not one of grants ones though...

Zaulkin wrote:

Molly wrote:As Danny said, GrantB would be the guy to ask. He seems to have it sussed. Would love to be able to do it. Every guitar I own would have f'kin' big Dunlop 6000s.

http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp12 ... G_0583.jpg

I'm a fan of big frets too. I often find guitars and think that I'd love them if only they had bigger frets.

And obviously if I go for the full refret I'll need a beater to fix up. Maybe not one of grants ones though...

Yep. I love vintage-spec guitars in most every aspect but hate skinny or low frets. The bit that scares me the most is actually sorting the nut. I think that'd be the hardest bit to get spot on.

I'd suggest you get your fret level/dress/crown chops up to scratch first before you start refretting, one step at a time and whatnot.

Tools are tricky, Stewmac and LMI are expensive (understatement) however their tools do work well, I believe you get what you pay for.

Rosewood is the easiest and most forgiving material when it comes to refretting, stay away from lacquered maple fingerboards until you have some miles under your belt!

robnobcorncob wrote:I'd suggest you get your fret level/dress/crown chops up to scratch first before you start refretting, one step at a time and whatnot.

Tools are tricky, Stewmac and LMI are expensive (understatement) however their tools do work well, I believe you get what you pay for.

Rosewood is the easiest and most forgiving material when it comes to refretting, stay away from lacquered maple fingerboards until you have some miles under your belt!

Damn, the one I want done eventually is lacquered maple. Ah well, maybe I'll find a do upper.

Zaulkin wrote:

robnobcorncob wrote:I'd suggest you get your fret level/dress/crown chops up to scratch first before you start refretting, one step at a time and whatnot.

Tools are tricky, Stewmac and LMI are expensive (understatement) however their tools do work well, I believe you get what you pay for.

Rosewood is the easiest and most forgiving material when it comes to refretting, stay away from lacquered maple fingerboards until you have some miles under your belt!

Damn, the one I want done eventually is lacquered maple. Ah well, maybe I'll find a do upper.

just do what I do, if the fret wire is to small just scallop the neck...works every time

get yourself a practice neck and do that a few times. I've had a couple of practice necks that have become favourite necks because when I refretted and set them up properly I thought they were the dogs bollocks - so I now only have a shit old neck that you're welcome too.

Tools don't have to be expensive, people were doing refrets long before stewmac.

For fret levelling you need a decent flat edge, I use a big hunk of kwilla that had a lovely flat edge. I stick sandpaper to that with spray adhesive. Results are perfect.

For fret rounding and edge rounding etc You can do it with a triangular file with the corners sanded off. I use this for all fret dressing. I want one of those fancy stewmac diamond jobs, but I don't do enough really to justify it.

If you don't have a grinder or belt sander to make some of this stuff, I'm happy to grind edges off your tools (oh-er). I could probably show you the basics for a box of beers in fact

I won't do others refrets as I'm too impatient and I don't spend time masking fretboards - these are my guitars and the odd scratch I don't care about.

For removing frets - stanley knife to cut any possible lacquer on the edges etc, soldering iron to heat the buggers up (some people glue them in - I've recently taken to adding a couple of drops of superglue ) and some edge type pincers from mitre 10 ground down do the job.

pre radiused fret wire means you don't have to bend to suit usually. A plastic faced mallet to beat the buggers in with.

There is other stuff you may need but it can pretty much all be made. I wish there was a decent local source of fretwire!

Bg wrote:get yourself a practice neck and do that a few times. I've had a couple of practice necks that have become favourite necks because when I refretted and set them up properly I thought they were the dogs bollocks - so I now only have a shit old neck that you're welcome too.

Tools don't have to be expensive, people were doing refrets long before stewmac.

For fret levelling you need a decent flat edge, I use a big hunk of Kwila that had a lovely flat edge. I stick sandpaper to that with spray adhesive. Results are perfect.

For fret rounding and edge rounding etc You can do it with a triangular file with the corners sanded off. I use this for all fret dressing. I want one of those fancy stewmac diamond jobs, but I don't do enough really to justify it.

If you don't have a grinder or belt sander to make some of this stuff, I'm happy to grind edges off your tools (oh-er). I could probably show you the basics for a box of beers in fact

I won't do others refrets as I'm too impatient and I don't spend time masking fretboards - these are my guitars and the odd scratch I don't care about.

For removing frets - stanley knife to cut any possible lacquer on the edges etc, soldering iron to heat the buggers up (some people glue them in - I've recently taken to adding a couple of drops of superglue ) and some edge type pincers from mitre 10 ground down do the job.

pre radiused fret wire means you don't have to bend to suit usually. A plastic faced mallet to beat the buggers in with.

There is other stuff you may need but it can pretty much all be made. I wish there was a decent local source of fretwire!

Bloody awesome, thanks BG. I will definitely hit you up on that in a couple of weeks and sort you a box. I might even have a suitable practice gat for levelling.

Going to have a look around at the previous threads as I think there was a cheap leveling tool from trade me. Might do an order from stew Mac for anything I can't get here. I think I'll need a specific crowning file? Then I'll also need suitable slotting files for making the nut.

ha, you're already going big budget stewmac do the Z files with interchangeable bits that are cool. Give me a shout if you put an order in and we can share shipping costs.

Anyone else want to do a group buy?

robnobcorncob wrote:I'd suggest you get your fret level/dress/crown chops up to scratch first before you start refretting, one step at a time and whatnot.

Tools are tricky, Stewmac and LMI are expensive (understatement) however their tools do work well, I believe you get what you pay for.

Rosewood is the easiest and most forgiving material when it comes to refretting, stay away from lacquered maple fingerboards until you have some miles under your belt!

Wondered about that. Do they remove the lacquer before refretting? Be hard to get the tint right I'd imagine.

Molly wrote:As Danny said, GrantB would be the guy to ask. He seems to have it sussed. Would love to be able to do it. Every guitar I own would have f'kin' big Dunlop 6000s.

Why do you like big frets? What do they 'provide' what small ones don't?

Bg wrote:ha, you're already going big budget stewmac do the Z files with interchangeable bits that are cool. Give me a shout if you put an order in and we can share shipping costs.

Anyone else want to do a group buy?

Was walking around in Henderson today, Trade Place to be precise, and realised we do have Stewmac in NZ....

jvpp wrote:

Molly wrote:As Danny said, GrantB would be the guy to ask. He seems to have it sussed. Would love to be able to do it. Every guitar I own would have f'kin' big Dunlop 6000s.

Why do you like big frets? What do they 'provide' what small ones don't?

If they're a D profile you can glide over them, and the height means you don't need high action to tuck under for bending.