Should I learn how to Re-Fret? If so, where should I begin?

[srick]

Over eight years of playing I developed a nickel allergy which was finally solved with a re-fret using Jescar EVO wire.

While I really like my guitar tech, it will be pretty costly to re-fret all of my present and future instruments. But, I think this is a challenge I am ready to take on. So I have many questions:

• Can you recommend a good tutorial?
• What tools should I invest in? Ancillary materials? (lots of superglue I know)
• Is a hammer sufficient, or should I bite the bullet and buy a Stew Mac press?
• How do you support the fretboard where it overlaps the soundboard?
• And so many other questions that I will likely only learn through the school of hardknocks.

I'll probably start with a partscaster neck and work my way up to the acoustics.

Many thanks,

Rck

[repete]

There are a bunch of youtube videos about it. Look at some. Sorry I cant recommend one.

Flush cut nippers to pull them out. Plastic hammer to put them in. A shot bag is helpful too but not completely necessary. CA glue is not used to hold frets in. It IS useful for securing loose ends. When they are in you need something to level them out. (Hopefully you adjusted the truss rod to FLAT before you began.) and a fret file to reshape the tops where some of the metal was removed. Some fine scotchbrite will finish the job and make them shiny.

This is the SIMPLIFIED version of the job. It can be more complicated than this.

-r

[Frank Ford]

"Should I learn to re-fret?"

It's a really interesting and important question, with no simple answer.

If you think that doing your own work will save you money and/or time, you should not learn to do it. The cost will be far more than the cost of having a good instrument technician do whatever you want or need. The cost of the tools and materials is trivial - the real cost will be the toll it takes on your playing. If you are not naturally mechanically inclined, it will be a steep learning curve. Just as in playing music, it's all about the practice. You don't really learn by reading instructions, you learn by doing, screwing up, redoing, etc.


On the other hand, if you're a natural mechanic and the idea of working on your own instrument is as intriguing to you as playing music, then, by all means go for it. You may develop a new hobby, and if you're anything like me, the working on instruments may actually REPLACE the playing of them. . .

[martinedwards]

go for it!

buy a cheap piece of junk from ebay and practice.

putting the frets in can be done a number of ways, either with a hammer (with the risk of denting the frets) or with a press.

I used a pillar drill with originally a flat headed bolt in the chuck before I moved onto a curved caul from stewmac

practice is the only way to do it.

as to is it worth it?

financially? probably not

self satisfaction in a job well done?

only you will know!

[bil]

Build a cigar box guitar. You can be as elaborate or as economical as you want. For my first one, I used finishing nails and superglue to fret the neck, and it works and plays just fine. I've since moved on to a fret saw and fret stock to make my necks. Ultimately I want to build a real acoustic guitar and the things I'm learning by going this route are hopefully going to be invaluable when I get to that point. Plus, CBGs are a blast to make and play!

[srick]

Originally Posted by Frank Ford

"Should I learn to re-fret?"

It's a really interesting and important question, with no simple answer.

If you think that doing your own work will save you money and/or time, you should not learn to do it. The cost will be far more than the cost of having a good instrument technician do whatever you want or need. The cost of the tools and materials is trivial - the real cost will be the toll it takes on your playing. If you are not naturally mechanically inclined, it will be a steep learning curve. Just as in playing music, it's all about the practice. You don't really learn by reading instructions, you learn by doing, screwing up, redoing, etc.


On the other hand, if you're a natural mechanic and the idea of working on your own instrument is as intriguing to you as playing music, then, by all means go for it. You may develop a new hobby, and if you're anything like me, the working on instruments may actually REPLACE the playing of them. . .

Thanks all -

Frank - as always, you hit the nail on the head. I barely have enough time to practice playing guitar, let alone fretwork. It's a skill I know I could learn, but to actually be proficient and achieve excellence, that takes a long time.

As I mentioned in the in the post, I do have a good tech and he deserves to make a good living!

best,

Rick

[repete]

Originally Posted by srick

As I mentioned in the in the post, I do have a good tech and he deserves to make a good living!

That made my day. Being a long time craftsman, I learned early that few seem to appreciate the time and effort it takes to do a job well, and as a result they seem to think we should all be working at poverty levels.

Thanks for recognizing that a skilled person deserves to make a living.

-r

[Mr Fixit eh]

Originally Posted by srick

Over eight years of playing I developed a nickel allergy which was finally solved with a re-fret using Jescar EVO wire.

While I really like my guitar tech, it will be pretty costly to re-fret all of my present and future instruments. But, I think this is a challenge I am ready to take on. So I have many questions:

• Can you recommend a good tutorial?
• What tools should I invest in? Ancillary materials? (lots of superglue I know)
• Is a hammer sufficient, or should I bite the bullet and buy a Stew Mac press?
• How do you support the fretboard where it overlaps the soundboard?
• And so many other questions that I will likely only learn through the school of hardknocks.

I'll probably start with a partscaster neck and work my way up to the acoustics.

Many thanks,

Rck

I think it depends on your interest, skill and confidence at mechanical/ woodworking tasks. I have done car repairs, home repairs, and cabinetmaking for 30 years - mostly with good success

My first guitar was a cheapie Epiphone DR100. I keep it around to be my 'guinee pig' for repairs, upgrades, and maintenance. I recently did my first fret job on it. It went pretty smoothly and took me about a week of evenings. I'm happy with the final result. There were a couple of frets buzzing, but after adjusting the action and filing down a couple of frets, it plays very nicely - maybe even better than before.

I am not quite confident enough to do a fret job on my most expensive guitars, but maybe I'd be Ok refretting my Seagull S6. I'll likely hunt around for a yard sale beater for a little more practice.

Santa was kind enough to bring me a few tools this year:

• End nippers
• Fret puller
• Fret gauge
• Deadblow hammer
• 16 inch fret sanding block + sanding strips 120 grit and 240 grit
• Additional sandpaper - 400 and 600 grit
• Steel wool - 000 and 0000
• Very thin CA glue and accelerator
• Acetone

I already had a high quality machinist's straight edge, soldering gun, hammer,razor blade scrapers, etc.

I made a jig for bending fretwire with $25 worth of hardware from Home Depot.

I rooted around my box of metal odds and sods until I found a nice piece of steel about 2 inch x 2 inch x 3 inch that I could use to support the underside of the soundboard by reaching my hand through the sound hole.

I figure that it will take one more full refret before I recover the cost of the guitar-specific tools. However the money saving was not my primary incentive. I live a couple hours from the 'big city' and it is hard to find a good luthier who is willing to do the work. I also find working with my hands to be relaxing. I also like to understand how things work.

Perhaps this my experience gives you a little to chew on.

Steve