refretting a Fender stratocaster PART 5 (cleaning out the fret slots)

Jason from The Musician's Den in Evansville, IN walks you through a complete refret on an '04 American Deluxe Stratocaster. In part 5 we clean out the fret slots, and get the neck ready to be jigged up for the fingerboard leveling.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• refret
• guitar
• The Musician's Den
• luthier
• lutherie
• fretwork
• Fender
• American Deluxe
• Stratocaster
• repair
• rosewood
• fingerboard
• neck fret

[rrrajiv1234567890]

Why not heat the hook? That way one can have the glue stick to it and pulled out?

[smbstressfest]

@rrrajiv1234567890 If I heated the hook, likely I'd compromise the temper of the steel making it slightly softer and I'd have to resharpen it more often.

[lart1990]

where can you learn this stuff. is there an apprenticeship you can do or what?

[smbstressfest]

@lart1990 There are many good lutherie schools one can attend if their pockets are sufficiently deep. Also, there are a lot of great instructional books and videos on the subject. You might be lucky enough to apprentice with a great repair tech if you can find one looking for help around the shop. Don't hold your breath though, many techs may be reluctant to train someone who could very likely be a potential competitor at some point in the future.

[azfryguy]

Have you ever used the StewMac precision router ro clean frets?

[smbstressfest]

@azfryguy To clean out the fret slots you mean. Yes, on bound fingerboard refrets sometimes you have to get in there and rout out glue and other crud. Especially if the frets were expoxied in previously.

[TheRebel101]

You're vids are great and really informal. Thank you very much for sharing.

[dragnetion]

what sort of fret wire do you use?

[smartsump]

I have a 74 ibanez SG i need to refret, lacquered maple neck, the frets are real low and worn , it appears the lacquer covered the frets originally, any advice on removing them , i cannot seem to get the fret pliers to get a grip of the frets, thanks

[lart1990]

@smbstressfest ya. just looks like such an awesome job.

[smbstressfest]

@dragnetion Over the years I've used damn near everything I could get my hands on. I tend to keep almost every size imaginable around since everyone's tastes differ in terms of size and alloy. However like most repair techs, I probably go through more Dunlop 6100 than anything else.