Dressing Frets

[CEB]

I fix amps but only do basic guitar work. Most setup stuff. My 50s style Blackguard is getting sharp ends and the guitar guy that maintains my guitars has become less available since the plague.

 

I have to do something. The crown is fine but I"m working again and the necks shrink. Players not what I"m talking about.

 

If I"m careful and tape everything off and do what this videos says will I be okay or is this easy to screw up. This isn"t the guitar I should be learning on ð

 

[Caevan O’Shite]

I fix amps but only do basic guitar work. Most setup stuff. My 50s style Blackguard is getting sharp ends and the guitar guy that maintains my guitars has become less available since the plague.

 

I have to do something. The crown is fine but I"m working again and the necks shrink. Players not what I"m talking about.

 

If I"m careful and tape everything off and do what this videos says will I be okay or is this easy to screw up. This isn"t the guitar I should be learning on ð

 

 

Following Dan Erlewine's directions, filing sharp fret-ends would be one aspect of fretwork that I'd be comfortable with trying for the first time; pretty cut-and-dry, relatively simple. It's not like leveling and crowning and all that, not so much of a chance to make it play poorly, it's just the fret-ends.

[KuruPrionz]

I didn't watch the video but I have a great deal of respect for Dan E. He is a master craftsman and makes great videos.

 

I've done this many times myself, a Tele is easy because you can just pull the neck and you don't have to worry about an errant file stroke marring the finish on the body.

 

There is a further refinement, it may not be for a newbie and I would be very careful doing this on a finished neck. First, there is a factor that must be considered, were the frets installed after the neck was sprayed or before? If before, that could get messy but if the neck has shrunk it is messy already. I have a square profiled needle file that I carefully ground smooth using first the rough and then the fine side of a new Carborundum sharpening stone. Then I polished the fine surface until it was smooth and shiny. Be very careful not to round the corners of the file!!!!!

 

A couple of light strokes at the corners of the frets, with the flat side resting gently on the fretboard, will take off any points on the corners of the frets. That makes playing much more pleasant and even if the neck shrinks a tiny bit more at least the fret ends will not have sharp points on them.

 

Consider borrowing a beater guitar or wall hanger and experimenting with technique. Sometimes thrift stores have terrible guitars for a few bucks. Even a kids guitar will work if it has set frets. Then you can work on your technique without fear.

[Larryz]

+1 Kuru, Great suggestion to practice on an old wall hanger before trying on one of your main axes CEB...

[Caevan O’Shite]

How'd you make out there, CEB?

[CEB]

I paid to have it done. LOL. Its my best Tele. My only one that is stock and not all frankensteined. Mark turned it around in a week. He does great work.

[Caevan O’Shite]

I paid to have it done. LOL. Its my best Tele. My only one that is stock and not all frankensteined. Mark turned it around in a week. He does great work.

 

Good!

 

I may be having some fret and nut work done by a seasoned pro luthier and violin-maker in the near future, myself.

 

My Tele has Stainless Steel frets, and if I have the frets replaced on my Les Paul or any other guitars, I'll go with Stainless there, as well; so, I'll need fretwork far less often, if ever again, after that!

[KuruPrionz]

I think it's smart to have a tech take care of your frets, they would already be past the learning curve. I am a tech so I take care of my own frets and quite a few folks in Bellingham have frets done by me.

I have no idea how many had them done in Fresno, let's just say a LOT of them.

 

If the frets are not right, nothing will be right.

 

At the same time, if one wants to learn how to do it, they can and Dan Erlewine would be a great teacher, even on video. This is why there are $25 Squier Strats out there, all boogered up, so you can make them play better than you thought possible. Once you are good then you work on the nice stuff.

[Larryz]

I paid to have it done. LOL. Its my best Tele. My only one that is stock and not all frankensteined. Mark turned it around in a week. He does great work.

 

Good call CEB!