DIY Fretjob

[flokijhdfjkvnhsdfjkl]

i wounder if that's stew mac sand pepper and steel wool hahahahahha This video is DUMD

[jwhambone79]

@flokijhdfjkvnhsdfjkl I don't use sand pepper and your DUMD! You wounder too much...

Thanks for your profound input.

[BOULDERDP]

Good job. Try a radius block and marker also. The guy who does my guitars uses this (30+ years experience) and says it is much better and more accurate. I have watched him a couple of times and voila, it turns out perfect.

[rj5573]

wont u ruin the radius of the frets withoul a radius block?

[caulinrocker1]

@rj5573 not if you do it right

[deftim]

I am surprised that you do not use the marker trick when leveling your frets.

[jwhambone79]

That's a good idea but you can see what's been sanded pretty easily. I saw that on the How it's made, Godin guitar piece.

Thanks,

J-

[tubsucks]

I understand pumice powder might be better for buffing to shine. However I have no idea what grades. Do you have any idea?

[jwhambone79]

I just used a chrome / metal polish you get at the auto parts store. Works pretty good.

[tubsucks]

@jwhambone79 wow thanks for that speedy reply I really appreciate it. I'll practice on my cheaper acoustic guitar :)

[vixus0]

Would 150 grt be too low for the level sanding part?

[jwhambone79]

Sounds a little gritty...200 or even 300 will get more precise leveling I think. But if that's all you have on hand try it. Maybe use it on somthing else first a little bit so it's not too agressive? Judgement call...

[locohellraiser]

@vixus0 i use 8000grid to polish it :)

[listert]

great ideas - will save me buying an expensive fret leveling file. What sandpaper did you put on the spirit level? Did you prep/hone the edge first?

[jwhambone79]

I used 200 grt. I found a roll of it on ebay with the sticky back. I think it was $20 for 25'...

I just sanded along the edges to take sharp spots off. Everything is real smooth after it's polished up.

I'm glad you found it usefull.

Thanks, J-

[killerbeebop089]

I wasn't able to grasp the part about crowning with 320 g sandpaper. what's the best way of holding the sandpaper, and how would you know if your evenly rounding off the frets w/o further lowering the fret/s.

[jwhambone79]

You focus on the flat parts on each side without taking anymore material off the top. It's not that hard, rounds out pretty quickly.

[walbri2]

Finally, someone with real smarts who takes the mystery and fear out of fretwork and shows what can be done with simple tools and a steady hand. Please release one for fret replacement. Infinite thanks.

[jwhambone79]

Thanks. I will when I do one. There are other good vids on the subject. You can use a soldering iron with a groove ground out on the tip. Heat up the fret and pull it up with a flat wire cutter.

[warynski]

I used your method, worked fine for me. Thanks a lot, man!

[jwhambone79]

I'm glad it worked for you. Thanks!

[KRSchorus]

Tnx a million man I' v been restoring a 70 year old classic semi acoustic guitar and the last thing i have to do is change the old frets and i was damn afraid of doing so because i don' t have a fret crowning file

The vid helped a lot :-)

[jwhambone79]

I'm glad I could help! Good luck to you.

[Daedolon]

Fantastic job man!

[jwhambone79]

Wow! Thanks.

[Artist334]

i learned a lot but i think you should

oil the fretboard after finishing whole guitar coz if oil goes somewhere like neck

nitro will not stick to it

[jwhambone79]

Yes, you have to be carefull. Usually throw a couple coats of oil on after completion.

Thanks

[sirgerry]

Great job, what's the size of these frets? Jumbo?

regards

[jwhambone79]

Thanks. I think those were a medium jumbo...

[msc555]

Nice inlays!

[jwhambone79]

Thank you. It goes real nice with the rosewood & cherry color I thought.

[zhouluyi]

Another thing, how do you suggest that I adjust the nut (string sitting) without proper nut files?

[jwhambone79]

I've been using the graphite nuts. They must be 14" radius because I just rub the bottom on sandpaper untill they're the hight I'm looking for. The graphite sands pretty easy.

[zhouluyi]

Great work!!!

Thank you, I've been wanting to level my frets since I bought the guitar (the buzz on some spots drive me crazy).

Can you give any more details on how to recrown the frets? Do you just push the sandpaper down the fret with your fingers and sand? Do you push is on the side or on top?

[jwhambone79]

Good. When I crown with sand paper I focus on the flat spots on the side trying not to remove anything more from the top of the fret. Otherwise I've been using a fret crowning file.

[zhouluyi]

Thanks for the answer. Looking further in the subject, I discovered that my guitar must be refretted, the frets are too low to be leveled (0.7mm / 0.027").

I is a cheapo guitar that I bought early this year, anyway, I didn't expect it to have such low frets. For that I will have to pay someone to do the work... :(

[newBUCKETHEADcover]

would it be bad to leave the frets flat? it would save time, and i actually kindof like it that way. also, could you tell me exactly what you need to do to replace the nut? just carefully chip it off and use wood glue?

[jwhambone79]

You could get some buzz w/ flat frets, maybe put your intonation off slightly. All I did to the nut was put a screwdriver against it and tapped it lightly w/ a mallet. The nut I got at guitar center for about $6 behind the counter by the pickups & such. It's an all parts replacement nut for LP 15/8".

[Stratboy999]

Good vid.

[TJMonster51]

You should probably mention that this is the long way of doing it and that they should take great care as not to flatten out the radius of the frets. Its actually worth it to buy a radius sanding beam from stewmac and a crowning file. That way you can level the frets to the radius of the bridge for the lowest action possible on all strings. If you flatten out the frets in the center more than the edges, then the string action will always be high in the center.

[jwhambone79]

Thanks, If you were doing it alot like you do I suppose it might be worth it. If you were building one or two in your life time, this is the way to go I think. Fretting tools are expensive. Just be careful to sand evenly accross the frets. I really prefer doing it this way. I didn't take me long. Everybody has their preference.

[lordvad3r]

nice dude u should make more vids like this

[erik1994dom1994]

great job.