Smoothing frets?

[santucci218]

Hey! I do setups and such at my work, but I have a more specific question. A lot of times on cheaper guitars have really rough frets. Not even talking about the edges of them, but the tops. Bending a strings feels like grinding the string across sand paper. Generally, for re-polishing frets and getting the grime off, I use 0000 steel wool, but that really just polishes them. It does not take out the grittiness. Would a light sandpaper correct this issue? I understand it would take some time. Or maybe rubbing compound?

[Rattman]

I think you are on the right track, as I've done many "sampling" of this type before. I bought a mess 'o fret tools from that 'fret tool' guy on eBay about 3-years ago. Of course the KEY to getting the best results are: prep and patience. Taping off the fretboard really helps protect the rosewood, ebony and of course maple. Ha ha.. just make sure your tape is really 'low tact' or as non-sticky as possible. It's a major drag fixing self-inflicted 'pull outs' with CA or 'super glue'.

[T-Bird]

Hi.

I use 1000 or 2000 grit sandpaper wet.

With a crowning file if it's an extra special job.

Regards
Sam

[tstone]

For a first class result, I like the fine StewMac diamond crowning file, followed by fine sandpaper, followed by polishing compound on a miniature felt buffing wheel.

[nervous]

I love these:

STEWMAC.COM : Micro-Mesh Soft Touch Finishing Pads



with these:

STEWMAC.COM : Fingerboard Guards



Together they have made the frets gorgeous of every bass and guitar I have owned in the past 5 years. No more taping or worrying about damaging the fretboard. The pads last a long time and it's a great range of grits. Super smooth, mirror polished frets. Super clean with no compound goo flying or steel wool bits sticking to the pickups. I have added 'wings' of blue painters masking tape as extensions on a couple of the guards for a little added fretboard protection.

[202dy]

Fret sanding tool.

Obtain a squeegee from the local auto body supply store. Cut in half with a razor blade. Place half in a vise with the long side exposed. File notch in long side. Bass E string nut file works great. A chain saw file works well, too.

Wrap 600 grit in notch. Use fret guards to protect the fingerboard. Change as necessary. Follow with 0000 steel wool. It can also be wrapped around the tool.

On an inexpensive guitar it is not cost effective to tape off the fingerboard and use micro mesh. This is quicker and the cleanup is minimal.

[mordechai]

Originally Posted by 202dy

Fret sanding tool.

Obtain a squeegee from the local auto body supply store. Cut in half with a razor blade. Place half in a vise with the long side exposed. File notch in long side. Bass E string nut file works great. A chain saw file works well, too.

Wrap 600 grit in notch. Use fret guards to protect the fingerboard. Change as necessary. Follow with 0000 steel wool. It can also be wrapped around the tool.

On an inexpensive guitar it is not cost effective to tape off the fingerboard and use micro mesh. This is quicker and the cleanup is minimal.

That sounds clever. Could you post a picture of it? I love seeing home made tools, and I can't quite visualize this.

[santucci218]

Originally Posted by nervous

I love these:

STEWMAC.COM : Micro-Mesh Soft Touch Finishing Pads



with these:

STEWMAC.COM : Fingerboard Guards



Together they have made the frets gorgeous of every bass and guitar I have owned in the past 5 years. No more taping or worrying about damaging the fretboard. The pads last a long time and it's a great range of grits. Super smooth, mirror polished frets. Super clean with no compound goo flying or steel wool bits sticking to the pickups. I have added 'wings' of blue painters masking tape as extensions on a couple of the guards for a little added fretboard protection.

This. Thank you. Do you use all the different grits each time? Or just the first time? Or do you ever use the heaviest grit? Give me some more info on how you use these please!

[SirGrotius]

Interesting! Those tools look great.

[202dy]

Originally Posted by mordechai

That sounds clever. Could you post a picture of it? I love seeing home made tools, and I can't quite visualize this.

Push the button! It's a .bmp file. Should be able to open it in either Paint or Picasa.

Not my design. Pretty sure it is one of Dan Erlewine's. Wrap the sandpaper around the squeegee. Then by rolling between thumb and fingers a new surface can be fed into the groove. This is quick and useful. Two frets will usually wear out the abrasive.

[nervous]

Originally Posted by santucci218

This. Thank you. Do you use all the different grits each time? Or just the first time? Or do you ever use the heaviest grit? Give me some more info on how you use these please!

It all depends on the starting condition of the frets. For example whenever I would get a new guitar or bass I have a routine that I always go through. I put them on the bench and give them a thorough visual inspection, check the action & relief, make any necessary notes then remove the strings and start taking a closer look at the frets, fretboard, bridge, saddles, etc. I also take teh small straight egde and check for high frets. Next it all gets ceaned with naptha to remove old grime and waxes. All screws and tuner nuts get snugged. Almost always these are loose or in many cases (truss rod covers, strap buttons, etc) are stripped and need some love. Once I am happy with all that I can address the frets as needed. To your question if teh relief was good and I am happy with the action and I have found no loose or (unusually) high frets I can simply give them a nice buffing/polishing with any of the 2 or 3 finest grades of the micro mesh. As long as there are no grooves in them they shine up very quickly. I forgot to mention that I always finish with a jewelers polishing cloth on my finger. Mirror smooth and shiny. Now, if I had to do any fret filing with my diamond fret file then I have to begin with a slightly coarser grade of micro mesh to remove marks and work to the finer. It sounde complicated but honestly in most cases I take one pass up the neck with my chosen fine grit and one pass up with the polishing cloth and I am done. Probably less than 10 minutes. No need to over think or over work the frets.

One other small point, on the metal guards. I took one and cut the width narrower so that it fits neatly between the upper frets on both bass and guitar. I have also cut some of the small polishing pads in half to make them easier to work with and allow/expose more usuable sanding area.

I'll take a coupel quick pics of that with the masking tape wings as well as a couple 'after' polishing pics (if I can find them). It's really all prett simple stuff. Far easier than it probably sounds here...

[santucci218]

Originally Posted by nervous

It all depends on the starting condition of the frets. For example whenever I would get a new guitar or bass I have a routine that I always go through. I put them on the bench and give them a thorough visual inspection, check the action & relief, make any necessary notes then remove the strings and start taking a closer look at the frets, fretboard, bridge, saddles, etc. I also take teh small straight egde and check for high frets. Next it all gets ceaned with naptha to remove old grime and waxes. All screws and tuner nuts get snugged. Almost always these are loose or in many cases (truss rod covers, strap buttons, etc) are stripped and need some love. Once I am happy with all that I can address the frets as needed. To your question if teh relief was good and I am happy with the action and I have found no loose or (unusually) high frets I can simply give them a nice buffing/polishing with any of the 2 or 3 finest grades of the micro mesh. As long as there are no grooves in them they shine up very quickly. I forgot to mention that I always finish with a jewelers polishing cloth on my finger. Mirror smooth and shiny. Now, if I had to do any fret filing with my diamond fret file then I have to begin with a slightly coarser grade of micro mesh to remove marks and work to the finer. It sounde complicated but honestly in most cases I take one pass up the neck with my chosen fine grit and one pass up with the polishing cloth and I am done. Probably less than 10 minutes. No need to over think or over work the frets.

One other small point, on the metal guards. I took one and cut the width narrower so that it fits neatly between the upper frets on both bass and guitar. I have also cut some of the small polishing pads in half to make them easier to work with and allow/expose more usuable sanding area.

I'll take a coupel quick pics of that with the masking tape wings as well as a couple 'after' polishing pics (if I can find them). It's really all prett simple stuff. Far easier than it probably sounds here...

I may be doing some fret shopping thanks to you! I have one of the metal fret guards at work, and I know what you meant about them being too wide sometimes. Ill order two and cut one. Fine Idea!

[nervous]

Originally Posted by santucci218

I may be doing some fret shopping thanks to you! I have one of the metal fret guards at work, and I know what you meant about them being too wide sometimes. Ill order two and cut one. Fine Idea!

Note that these do come 6 pc to a pack so it's essentially a lifetime supply! There are certainly other fine grit sanding options as noted earlier in the thread and they are all viable and fine. Wet/Dry auto sanding sheets can be easily cut into strips and are cheap. So I know the 3M Micro Mesh may be a bit pricey but it's good stuff that I am sure you will find other uses for once it's there. Biggest deal with Stew Mac (like most mail order) is having to tack on some substantial shipping on a couple small, lightweight items that could probably ship first class for a lot less.

[santucci218]

wait, 6 to a pack? It says pack of 9 on the website. Do you mean 6 of each grit?

[nervous]

Originally Posted by santucci218

wait, 6 to a pack? It says pack of 9 on the website. Do you mean 6 of each grit?

I was referring to the metal guards. You said you would buy a 'couple' as if you were thinking they were sold as eaches. They are 6 guards to a pack.

[santucci218]

Originally Posted by nervous

I was referring to the metal guards. You said you would buy a 'couple' as if you were thinking they were sold as eaches. They are 6 guards to a pack.

OH! Haha. You have me on stew mac drooling at all the re-fretting and leveling tools. Somebody needs to buy me a $500.00 Gift Certificate!

[nervous]

I am a little late in getting back with these but here are some pics of the fret guards as I use them with the added 'wings' that fully cover and protect the full width of the fretboard. I found that with just the guard alone (if too aggressive or from any lapse of concentration) it was possible for the abrasive in hand to contact the fretboard so this completely eliminates that from happening. They also give you a little more to hold on to while sanding or polishing The fret level checking tool is an aluminum piece I picked up on eBay for a nice price. Works well.




You'll note that the guard on the left is narrower. I cut this one down to better fit between the higher frets, especially on guitars.

[Growly Lytes]

Originally Posted by nervous

I love these:

STEWMAC.COM : Micro-Mesh Soft Touch Finishing Pads



with these:

STEWMAC.COM : Fingerboard Guards



Together they have made the frets gorgeous of every bass and guitar I have owned in the past 5 years. No more taping or worrying about damaging the fretboard. The pads last a long time and it's a great range of grits. Super smooth, mirror polished frets. Super clean with no compound goo flying or steel wool bits sticking to the pickups. I have added 'wings' of blue painters masking tape as extensions on a couple of the guards for a little added fretboard protection.

I ordered this a day ago from Queensland & should get it ina day.The exact same pads & grits plus some liquid abrasive & nail files all by Micro Mesh.
Cant wait to polish them little suckers.I to have some grinding on the tops the bugs the hell outta me.

[Growly Lytes]

Originally Posted by nervous

It all depends on the starting condition of the frets. For example whenever I would get a new guitar or bass I have a routine that I always go through. I put them on the bench and give them a thorough visual inspection, check the action & relief, make any necessary notes then remove the strings and start taking a closer look at the frets, fretboard, bridge, saddles, etc. I also take teh small straight egde and check for high frets. Next it all gets ceaned with naptha to remove old grime and waxes. All screws and tuner nuts get snugged. Almost always these are loose or in many cases (truss rod covers, strap buttons, etc) are stripped and need some love. Once I am happy with all that I can address the frets as needed. To your question if teh relief was good and I am happy with the action and I have found no loose or (unusually) high frets I can simply give them a nice buffing/polishing with any of the 2 or 3 finest grades of the micro mesh. As long as there are no grooves in them they shine up very quickly. I forgot to mention that I always finish with a jewelers polishing cloth on my finger. Mirror smooth and shiny. Now, if I had to do any fret filing with my diamond fret file then I have to begin with a slightly coarser grade of micro mesh to remove marks and work to the finer. It sounde complicated but honestly in most cases I take one pass up the neck with my chosen fine grit and one pass up with the polishing cloth and I am done. Probably less than 10 minutes. No need to over think or over work the frets.

One other small point, on the metal guards. I took one and cut the width narrower so that it fits neatly between the upper frets on both bass and guitar. I have also cut some of the small polishing pads in half to make them easier to work with and allow/expose more usuable sanding area.

I'll take a coupel quick pics of that with the masking tape wings as well as a couple 'after' polishing pics (if I can find them). It's really all prett simple stuff. Far easier than it probably sounds here...

Hey bro thanks for the info here.Can you tell me if its possible to strip the sandpaper from the foam ? I think the pads a little big as is to polish the frets so cutting them is a good idea but maybe they can be taken off the foam.
Im should be getting em in a day.

[Growly Lytes]

Originally Posted by nervous

I am a little late in getting back with these but here are some pics of the fret guards as I use them with the added 'wings' that fully cover and protect the full width of the fretboard. I found that with just the guard alone (if too aggressive or from any lapse of concentration) it was possible for the abrasive in hand to contact the fretboard so this completely eliminates that from happening. They also give you a little more to hold on to while sanding or polishing The fret level checking tool is an aluminum piece I picked up on eBay for a nice price. Works well.




You'll note that the guard on the left is narrower. I cut this one down to better fit between the higher frets, especially on guitars.

Sorry for all these questions but ive got some very thin pieces of copper strips very shiny & really flexible.Do you think i could make my own fret guards from these copper strips all i have to do is cut a slit in them the correct size ?
I can post a pic if you wanna see it.Im just worried about it being copper.My father got them from work but i dont have a clue what they are for.They are the perfect size to be fret guards.
Does it have to be a certain material ?