refretting a Fender stratocaster PART 20 (fret polishing completed)

[kammhron]

Beautiful guitar. I like the hardtail. Was that stock or did you modify that bridge?

[smbstressfest]

@kammhron It's a stock '97 Fender American Standard Stratocaster Hardtail. The only mods are the new frets and nut, pickguard and electronics.

[awfulguitarplucker]

what a friggin piece of aBeauty neck you recreated! total Win!

[WageASPSlaves]

Wow, I love how much love and care you put into your work! In a world of Chinese knock offs and outsourcing (nothing against chinese peeps, just price cutting) we have people like you that baby there work and do things the harder way for that extra mile.

Two thumbs up man! I really want to do this to my ESP horizon but boy Im scared to injure that beauty. I really want Stainless Steel because I am a grip beast...(please give tips or a vid on compound radius necks, don't mean to bug)

[azfryguy]

What do you suggest for cleaning the oil and grime on rosewood fingerboards? I have read people using just about everything. I am thinking naptha from stewmac what do you think?

[smbstressfest]

@azfryguy Naptha works fine, a lot of times I'll use mineral spirits instead though. It flashes off slower giving you more working time. And of course mineral spirits (sometimes naptha too) can be purchased locally at any hardware store I would think.

[spudzdad1]

@hotstuffsmartass My uncle is a pipe fitter,He has made a good living,big house ,new truck,my aunt has a new car.I think you should go rinse your mop bucket and get back to work.You do work dont you?

[aMANhuWANanElec0aXE]

"They do shine" EPIC WIN :DD

[6Vital6Remains6]

Just an idea about removing the frets - Is it a bright idea to lay tape down when you're doing the solder treatment/plier removing of the frets to maybe prevent or combat chippage?

[smbstressfest]

@6Vital6Remains6 That would probably just burn up the tape and make a mess. If I'm really concerned about chipping, it can be advantageous to wet the fingerboard around the frets before application of the heat and removal. The water will flash off as steam and that has a tendency to minimize chipout.

[HackerGuitarist]

the only thing I could say negative about is that paper towel is actually quite abrasive ...far more abrasive than the polishing step you just completed, mabey better to use a soft cloth to clean the compound with.that said I would gladly let you refret my guitar.

[smbstressfest]

@HackerGuitarist You are correct. It's probably better to use a cloth to remove the remaining compound residue.

[RnRmaCHine]

You rock dude....

[Rg1527]

Are mineral spirits also known as white spirits?

[hotstuffsmartass]

You scalloped it. Way to go. Excuse me while I go throw up.

[smbstressfest]

@hotstuffsmartass Good luck with that.

[valvinator]

@hotstuffsmartass - Where is your video? of THIS NICELY DONE FRET JOB. Those who like to complain without substance usually end up being the "Pipe Fitters" Until you can produce a better documented video of a fret job, just keep throwing up. It may help you get over your chronic complaining.

[hotstuffsmartass]

Way to disfigure the board. You are still a pipe fitter.

[smbstressfest]

@hotstuffsmartass Troll somewhere else please.

[mourningwidow]

@hotstuffsmartass If only there were a demonstration on your channel on how to do this 'properly', instead of all that paranoid, delusional conspiracy rubbish, we could all sleep better at night. Jason has kindly shared the most thorough demonstration on fretting I have ever seen with all of us, for free. Go and do something useful and leave this craftsman alone.

[lisannhodges67]

WOW! What a shine on those frets!!!

[AKMAC82]

Keira Knightley!!! LOL!!! Excellent!!

[Mikkeyboyy]

them there are some meaty frets

[MICKEYISLOWD]

i too want to spread dairy products all over keira knightly...

[concussedcarneous]

right. stainsteel is more durable 'but i dont care for it' which luthier would ? i mean, really..

cause theres durability involved.

[smbstressfest]

I know what you mean, but it would be short-sighted of me to think only in those terms. If SS wire made my fret-jobs significantly better, that would actually help me in the long run.

When you buy tires, they don't try to sell you the 40k mile ones if you want the 80k models right? It's the same way with refrets, I don't try to talk people out of jumbo frets if that's what they want.

[concussedcarneous]

thats good. but the point is what's recommended always breaks down. unfortunately they dont make or push things that would last very long.

[smbstressfest]

It almost sounds like you're saying that I (since I'm a guitar tech) am pushing an inferior product for personal monetary gains, which would call into question my ethics. Is that what you're claiming?

[concussedcarneous]

initially yeah i had that thought hence my first comment.

but generally speaking a lotta ppl do that. in all works. u mentioned auto business.

but in all fairness, dont u agree that SS would even require less maintenance and if it did, itd be less hassle?

[smbstressfest]

The real reason many professional guitar repairmen don't have such an affinity for the stainless fretwire is because it can be a real pain to clip, level and recrown due to the increased hardness. And unless you regularly preform this kind of work, you're not going to fully understand the significance of this.

We do charge more for the SS jobs, but probably not enough to offset the extra trouble when you're as particular about your work as I tend to be.

[smbstressfest]

And in regards to maintenance, while it's true that the SS wire should definitely last longer, every single time it's in for a fret leveling and recrown I have to upcharge for the fact that it's stainless and will take me quite a bit longer to level, recrown and polish. So from my perspective as a repair tech, the material doesn't work as easily, and is actually a lot MORE HASSLE. Plus, the customer is paying more upfront, and in the future on fret levelings due to the harder alloy.

[smbstressfest]

My reasons for not really liking SS jobs are because it makes an already difficult task even tougher. I too am a guitarist, and repairing guitars in addition to being a job, is a service I preform for my fellow brothers. I take what I do very seriously, and if I felt that SS frets were a panacea I'd be encouraging guitar players to try them. I AM NOT the guy at the garage selling you cheap brake pads so that I'll get to replace them sooner. And frankly, I don't appreciate the implication.

[MICKEYISLOWD]

@smbstressfest i totally agree with your ideas about ss wire,so what nickel type wire do u favour for quality,ie.which brand or product would you think is the best overall,also thanks for this post ive been a guitar player for 18 yrs now and these vids have inspired me to start buying lutherie tools and to learn your craft im very excited about all this and have already had a couple of set up job enquiries ..your way of explaining the techniques u use is easy for me to understand so many thanks

[smbstressfest]

I don't seem to notice a big difference in quality of the different brands of 18%NS commercially available. I think the stuff from LMII is a bit cheaper than the wire you get from StewMac. Dunlop is a big name brand and is usually a bit more expensive. The Jescar brand seems to be of very high quality and is reasonably priced as well. Good luck with the lutherie, and always remember to practice on scrap first :-)

[MICKEYISLOWD]

@smbstressfest cheers thanks for the info...

[concussedcarneous]

and i do disagree

ur making a big deal out of it

again dont take my word for it. what do i no

ask anybody, stainless steel is worth doing it

if it's worth doing a good job, it's worth doing it with the right shit

[smbstressfest]

Who's making a big deal? Have you forgotten that there's a person on the other end of this comment box?! You're disagreeing just to disagree, and about one comment away from being blocked.

I've been very patient with your conspiracy theories and with your calling my ethics and business practices into question. But I'm growing tired of your trolling bullshit.

If you've got such a hardon for stainless steel frets, then just put them in your guitar. Stop wasting my time.

[concussedcarneous]

wait a minute "We do charge more for the SS jobs, but probably not enough to offset the extra trouble" so what r u charging for then?

[smbstressfest]

If you've watched these videos and read the comments, I'm sure you've noticed that I don't answer questions about my rates in the comment section. If you really want to know what I charge for work, send me a private message.

[ValiRossi]

I just took delivery of a Warmoth birdseye maple tele neck with a gorgeous rosewood fingerboard. It has stainless frets. The precision of the neck is amazing. I will do the leveling tomorrow. wish me luck.

[02stanggt]

I hit my frets with a little guitar polish every time I change strings. It makes a noticeable difference in playability. From your experience, how good of job does Warmoth do about fretting their necks. I am considering buying a Warmoth neck for my MIM strat. If it would need a level, could you send me a message on the cost of that. I watched the whole series, btw. You do fantastic work. Thanks for showing all of us the process of refretting. It's a lot more involved than I imagined.

[smbstressfest]

I've dealt with many Warmoth necks over the years both on my own personal guitars and numerous customer jobs. They do an excellent job fretting using an arbor press and injecting thick superglue into each slot before pressing the frets home. I will PM you about the cost of a fret leveling for a new Warmoth neck.

[TheOzzk]

Incredible finish... I'm so glad there's still people like you out there who take pride in their work and take the time to do it right. Impressive. Respect.

[smbstressfest]

Thanks a lot, very nice of you to say!

[pennstate263]

The back of the neck.

[smbstressfest]

I don't recommend thinning out a neck. You don't know how far you have to go until you hit the truss rod cavity. If you expose that you're in deep kimchi and your neck is basically FUBAR. If you want a thinner neck for a Fender guitar, buy one from Warmoth!

But, if you MUST thin your neck (proceed at your own risk) you might use a spokeshave, a cabinet scraper, a rasp, files and a series of sandpapers with a sanding block to finish it up. Radius gauge will be helpful too to check your work.

[pennstate263]

What would you recomend using if you wanted a thinner neck?

[smbstressfest]

Are you talking about a thinner back profile on the neck, as in the neck shape in general?

[mattsta1964]

Like spreading butter on Keira Knightly!

LOL!

Nice one

I've just watched the whole et of videos in a single sitting. I'm a guitar maker in England. Very informative and enjoyable. Thanks ever so for sharing with everyone

[kdjfnvjvd]

what should i use to polish a maple fretboard with a nitro finish? I know they normally don't polish maple to much but the laquer on my EJ strat is a bit sticky and builds up a dirty/dull feel after while.Any suggestions??

[smbstressfest]

If the nitro finish on your EJ strat is gumming up I'd recommend wiping down at least the back of the neck each time after you play. Any decent guitar polish should work fine. I like and use Novus Plastic Polish on my nitrocellulose lacquer guitars. If it's really filthy you might use some Naptha (lighter fluid) on a clean cloth first. It won't harm the finish and is a good general cleaner, then hit it with some polish to bring back a good shine.

[gullywoots]

Hi Jason. Thanks for your videos, they're very inspiring. I just bought a junker to practice refretting and I intend to refret some of my low-cost asian guitars later on.

I have a question on fret tang ends: I see you left them exposed on the side of the neck, while my asians have some sort of filler material on the sides, matching the color of the fingerboard.

Are there any (mis)advantages on either method? I suppose the filler saves manufacturers from some filing work.

Thanks

[smbstressfest]

It's just personal preference really. In a factory setting it can save time not having to file on the fret ends. I've done it both ways and prefer running the fret ends to the very end of the neck.

[gullywoots]

Hi, thanks for your answer.

I sorta got the feeling that exposed tangs make it look more "luthieriesque" while the filler looks more "factoryesque". Not that either looks better or worse.

What material is used to fill those gaps? Wood dust + super glue?

I had my old Gibson Explorer refretted by a luthier who's supposed to be the best in town, but the filler he used has gotten a lighter tone than the rest of the fingerboard wood. Any way around this?

thanks again

[smbstressfest]

Usually a shellac burn in stick is used. It's heated on an iron and then just applied over the gap. I've done that before but I'm not as slick as those factory dudes who do it all day.  As far as the filler used on your Explorer, all you could do is knock the filler out of there and do it again... if it IS a shellac stick, it will be easy to remove. If it's epoxy or superglue it will be tough.

[judaspriestshrine]

Jason, just a quick couple of comments. First, thank you for doing this. Budding luthiers everywhere eat this stuff up.

Second, you mentioned a couple of times that your eyes burned while removing the frets from the smoke/glue. Why not place a small fan on your work table and blow it towards where you are working? It won't affect the heat on the frets, but will blow the fumes away from your eyes. I do something similar when cutting onions in the kitchen! Try it!

[smbstressfest]

I used to use a little gooseneck fan clipped on my workbench to draw the fumes away but it went out on me years ago and I haven't seen another one since. If it's really bad I bring over my big fan but it makes too much noise for the camera. I just always run the onion under water as I'm cutting it...

[theshyguitarist]

I had a question. Why not protect the rosewood from absorbing the polishing compound by using tape?

[smbstressfest]

We did tape the board off in video 19, it's just that no matter how much or well you tape you always force some compound down under the tape up close to the sides of the frets. I always go back after the tape is off and try to remove any residual compound that may still be presesnt, and that's all I was really doing here in video 20.

[theshyguitarist]

I didn't realize you were using a cleaning chem in this vid. It seemed as if you were still polishing the frets here and doing it over unprotected wood.

Thanks for the clarification.

[smbstressfest]

Sure. In any case, we really don't need to worry so much about rubbing compound getting on the wood. At worst, you'll just have more of a mess to clean up and possibly some crud caked down into the open pores of the rosewood. There is solvent in most compounds (the semichrome stuff I used actually has an ammonia smell) but it will evaporate, and doesn't harm the wood. The only other thing in polishing compound of interest to us is the actual fine organic material.

[smbstressfest]

This is totally inert, and won't be "absorbed" by the wood. Many guitar factories who polish their frets before the guitar heads to stores just use a buffing wheel and they buff over the wood and everthing. I also play clarinet, and I can tell you that wooden clarinets are always buffed to nice sheen, and they're typically made of grenadilla. In guitar terms we'd call this african blackwood, which is a member of the rosewood family... so no worries at all!

[Dime7]

Hey man i have a question...i have a Dean guitar for 2 years now and..for like a month till now..on the small strings on some frets,almost on all,when i pick the note i get a vibrato along the note...i need a refret?or the neck isn't straight enough?I'm from Romania and we have only 2 good luthiers,but not in my town so before going to them maby you could help me with it.Please answer,thanks!

[BOULDERDP]

I tried the buffing idea on my LP rosewood fretboard. I had put way too much linseed oil on it way too many times cause the shop said it was a cleaner. My mistake. It looks better now but very shiny. I would prefer to have the original natural rosewood look back. Anyway I can get rid of the shininess?

[smbstressfest]

Sorry it took me so long to respond here, I guess I missed the question there at the end back when you first posted. To remove the sheen from the built up linseed oil you could try some 0 or 00 steel wool against the grain at first and then finishing up WITH the grain. Or you could use a box knife blade as a little scraper (a well worn one might be ideal) and then just scrape back and forth on the rosewood with the grain, letting the frets be your stop each time. Hope that helps...

[wakefieldyorkshire]

What a joy to watch such a craftsman going about his trade, Jason is a true perfectionist.

[marts500]

Jason..fantastic video set.You really should be marketing these on dvd..(if you don't already!)I really hope you do a set-up video soon.BTW what would you recommend for a tusq nut..can i make my vintage trem any smoother with lube..?

Best wishes

[MOGTROG]

hi jason great series of videos, ive just finished a fret job, ive done a couple of refrets before but thanks to your videos this was by far the best ive ever done, i even gave it the fingerboard round over and fret end treatment and i managed to steam out some nasty looking plastic dot markers and replace them with abalone, i also made mr stewart mcdonald a bit richer in the process thanks again!

[smbstressfest]

Awesome, glad to help! And of course I'm sure STEWMAC is happier as well :-)

[dstrats]

Hi,

Great job! I really, really enjoyed watching all of your re-fretting vids. This is something I'd really like to do. Some questions:

Did you put up the vid of you replacing the nut?

Do you feel it's better to pay a tech $250 to get a fret job, or to put money into all the equipment you need to do it yourself?

If your re-fretting a nitro finished neck which glue do you choose.

Thanks for showing the Dunlop 6000. Those are my fav. Take care!

-D

[smbstressfest]

No nut replacement video for this guitar, it came with an LSR nut. I will be having to shim it when I reinstall of course. I personally like having the tools and equipment to do my own work. That's a personal choice though, some people like fixing things while others have neither the time nor talent. When refretting a nitro lacquer neck I'll tend to use titebond original or weldbond glue.

[dstrats]

HI, thanks for the reply.

Just out of curiosity, how much do you charge for a fret job? Would you take an order from California? Could I send just the neck?

I ask cuz I really liked how thorough you are. It's hard to find a tech you can trust and being that you showed exactly how you do your thang you can help but trust your method.

Thanks in advance!

Thanks in advance!

[dstrats]

Sorry, I meant "can't help but trust your method".