How to Replace Guitar Frets : File Excess Fret on Fretboards: Part 1

Filing a newly replaced fret on a guitar fretboard keep fingers safe. Watch a designer file excess material from a fret in this free guitar video.

Expert: Dan'L Terry
Bio: Dan'L Terry is a nationally award-winning artist/designer. His art has been exhibited in national juried shows and museums, on the covers of books and magazines, and in feature films.
Filmmaker: MAKE | MEDIA

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• guitars
• custom
• guitar repair
• customize

[Krzysmalaki74]

I just can't believe this....!!!

[azfryguy]

Ah man the Ebony board is just gonna snap!

[redfenderguy]

hes a complete idiot  mate i couldnt agree with u more

[Behindspace90]

NEVER use a 45° angle! Expertvillage is wrong on this once again (big surprise...). When using a 45° angle, a large part of the width of your frets is going to be lost. I barely use an angle myself (MAX 30°, if any) and I make sure the edges are just rounded off nicely.

[murrmac]

@sclogse1 , I've been fretting guitars for over thirty years, I know how to dress fret ends, my question to this dickhead was "How do you dress fret ends ON A BELT SANDER when the fretboard is attached to the guitar ?" (Which is the way it works in the real world)

It's kind of a rhetorical question, you see, because I already know the answer, which is "You can't", so it was pointless for him to even mention it. When did any guitar tech ever get a detached fretboard to refret ? Never.

[sclogse1]

@murrmac

You tape off the wood to protect it...and if the fret ends really stick out, you use a special clipping tool...

[sclogse1]

@vandealex

you probably have learned how to put frets in by now...lots of places on the web to show you...they are tapped in with plastic hammers...using the fingers and wrist for power, and not the arm.

[sclogse1]

Just had a custom guitar completed...frets filed. However, I own a 52 Les Paul, and a late fifties harmony H44, and when you look at those frets...they are so low and flat, they comparing them to a new fret beveled, filed and crowned guitar, they are still about 1/3 as high...really looking like pleasant little rises on the fret board, and not like road hazards...if your fingers feel like they're getting dented when you play, or beat up really fast...try lowering your frets drastically.

[vandealex]

agreed ... how do i put frets into a fret board ????

AARRGGHHH!!!

[methodinsane]

Guys the replacing frets section is multipart. This happens to be after the frets are in and he's ready to file the edges off..