How refret a previously defretted neck

[dewi]

I have a Marcus Miller neck that I had defretted (i had it done). It has some sort of wood filler/epoxy in the grooves. How would I go about refretting this neck? The only problem that I see is the filler where the previous frets were. Thanks in advance!

Dewi


Oh and I really like the darkstar pickups, how does everyone think it would work in a Musicmaster?

[mkrtu9]

why don't you just have it done like you previously did? Other wise you will have to resaw the grooves for fret wire then just install new wire, file, level, file, level.

[mkrtu9]

also you probably could get some good info in the luthiers corner.

[Turnaround]

Originally Posted by dewi

The only problem that I see is the filler where the previous frets were.

If the filler is epoxy, then new slots will need to be sawn in - no that's not easy. But the problems won't stop there. The new frets won't press in easily - the residual epoxy in the end grain of the fingerboard slots will inhibit that. Hammering them in will be hazardous for the same reason - and the frets are likely to kink.

But assuming you get the slots resawn accurately and the board is levelled properly and you get appropriately sized frets in place, then all you have to worry about is trimming the frets to length, bevelling the ends to about 35 degrees, levelling all the frets, recrowning them, rounding the fret ends, and polishing them all.

If you haven't done this kind of work before, don't expect it to go well. It's not easy. Defretting is a whole lot easier.