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11-07-2008, 08:19 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2004 Location: Montreal QC CA | | | Re-fret job - Slots too wide - HELP!
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Hello folks,
I've done some searching and lots of good advice on fretting but no answers came up.
I work (shop assistant/apprentice) for a small guitar company: Daddy Mojo guitars. We use a fret scale and a table saw when fretting our own necks.
As a favor to a friend, I offered to fret his fretless guitar (which used to belong to me) It was professionally de-fretted and the slots were filled with (I believe ash) strips. We did not build a jig and the neck was not compatible with our current scale/table saw jig & setup so I used a fret saw and a radiused block of wood (as a guide) to cut the fret slots by hand.
PROBLEM: I think the slots were cut too wide and the (regular medium, Stewmac 148) fretwire wont stay in, especially at the edges. Does anyone know the best way of remedying this problem? I believe LMII's SW75 wire has a wider tang and could be a good solution but it's not a sure one. They also sell a fret tang extender tool but it's 30$ and apart from this odd job I don't think I'll have much use for it around the shop. I've thought of epoxying and clamping every single fret but I was told that will most likely yield a less than desirable fret job... You guys are some of the best, please help me out here!
Cheers.
Last edited by sargebaker : 11-07-2008 at 09:51 PM.
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11-07-2008, 09:20 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Gladstone, QLD, Australia | | Quote:
Originally Posted by sargebaker  Hello folks,
I've done some searching and lots of good advice on fretting but no answers came up.
I work for a small guitar company: Daddy Mojo guitars. We use a fret scale and a table saw when fretting our own necks.
As a favor to a friend, I offered to fret his fretless guitar (which used to belong to me) It was professionally de-fretted and the slots were filled with (I believe ash) strips. We did not build a jig and the neck was not compatible with our current scale/table saw jig & setup so I used a fret saw and a radiused block of wood (as a guide) to cut the fret slots by hand.
PROBLEM: I think the slots were cut too wide and the (regular medium, Stewmac 148) fretwire wont stay in, especially at the edges. Does anyone know the best way of remedying this problem? I believe LMII's SW75 wire has a wider tang and could be a good solution but it's not a sure one. They also sell a fret tang extender tool but it's 30$ and apart from this odd job I don't think I'll have much use for it around the shop. I've thought of epoxying and clamping every single fret but I was told that will most likely yield a less than desirable fret job... You guys are some of the best, please help me out here!
Cheers. | use the widest tang possible and epoxy the frets in...next re-fret = new fret board.
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11-08-2008, 06:57 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Little Rock, AR | | Quote:
Originally Posted by PilbaraBass use the widest tang possible and epoxy the frets in...next re-fret = new fret board. | Yep.
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11-08-2008, 10:08 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2004 Location: Montreal QC CA | | | *gulp* Well thanks guys! Does anyone know of a fretwire with a particularly wide tang and a source for getting said wire? ANyone else have any alternative advice? |
11-08-2008, 10:25 AM
| | Registered User
Builder/owner Redeemer Basses | | Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Waco Tx | | | Did you try overbending the edges of the frets? if it is just the edges that are not catching try that, then set the edges with CA.
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11-08-2008, 10:33 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Grass Valley, CA | | | I ran into the opposite problem a while back, the LMII wire wouldn't fit in the slots I'd cut where as the StewMac wire fit fine. I just went out in my shop and measured a sample of each. The tang itself is similar width on both, but the teeth on the tangs are different. The StewMac teeth are about .033" wide overall and the LMII are closer to .041" (I did that by measuring about a 1" length of wire to include several teeth.) I hope that helps. |
11-08-2008, 10:56 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2004 Location: Montreal QC CA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by scottyd Did you try overbending the edges of the frets? if it is just the edges that are not catching try that, then set the edges with CA. | Yup I tried that.
I guess what I'll have to do is buy a larger tang/toothed wire and glue them in. Do you guys suggest an epoxy or CA glue? |
11-08-2008, 11:10 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Co. Kerry, Ireland. | | | What about stewmac's tang crimper, for widening tangs in a wavy pattern to fit.
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11-08-2008, 11:27 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Germany | | | I would glue some veneers back in, then resaw the fret slots. That might be the cleanest option I think |
11-08-2008, 11:28 AM
| | Registered User
Owner Fried Guitars Inc. | | | | | I have wicked in thin CA with a q-tip in order to build up some fret slots that were less than optimal. I just soak the tip and run it across the fret slot several times. This adds some thickness as well as some density to the fret slots. I use this technique when a customer brings a guitar in for refret and the wood has been softened from sweat and oil. |
11-10-2008, 08:31 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2004 Location: Montreal QC CA | | | I'm just gonna bump this once in case anyone else wants to throw out any other helpful info. |
11-11-2008, 09:21 AM
| | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Darkstrike What about stewmac's tang crimper, for widening tangs in a wavy pattern to fit. | i've used it on several re-frets with good results.
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11-11-2008, 03:07 PM
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I setup & repair guitars & basses | | Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Kensington, Ca | | | Stewmac tool
Quote:
Originally Posted by meandi i've used it on several re-frets with good results. | This will solve your problem. You'll also need to--you know this, right?--
give the frets a tighter radius than the fingerboard, and certainly glue them in, either before fretting, w/Titebond or LMI glue, or after, w/wicked in superglue. If you have the wherewithall to press these frets in with a caul, this job would be an excellent candidate.
I've actually squeezed the tang bead so that it's flatter, and then crimped the tang. Fretwire done like this has a "springy" feel to the gab, that I like. |
11-11-2008, 04:18 PM
| | | Quote:
Originally Posted by JLS This will solve your problem. You'll also need to--you know this, right?--
give the frets a tighter radius than the fingerboard, and certainly glue them in, either before fretting, w/Titebond or LMI glue, or after, w/wicked in superglue. If you have the wherewithall to press these frets in with a caul, this job would be an excellent candidate.
I've actually squeezed the tang bead so that it's flatter, and then crimped the tang. Fretwire done like this has a "springy" feel to the gab, that I like. | yes, i use this for bending my fret wire & i do bend to a tighter radius than the fingerboard with titebond for glue while installing.
i do use a clamping caul for installation.
there have been a couple of times where the tang crimper made a difference in that it allowed good compression of the fret tang into a loose slot. 
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