basic fret procedure

[fuzzking]

so much frustration can be avoided if you know what you're doing, even if only half-decently. I have my history of being unhappy (yeah I know, I'm a "Karen customer" ?!?) about fret work and nut jobs by people charging good money and delivering half-arsed product, e.g. no decent fret crowning/polishing, high/low frets, fret ends sticking out, nut too high or slots off centre, too much material on the nut (e.g.,3 mms of material above slots...) you name it - I've seen it.

really, I'd like to encourage everyone to get a crowning file, a fret end file, a rounding file and different grades of micro-mesh for going 'that extra mile' that shouldn't even be necessary in the first place if you paid someone good money for a fret job. I don't dare ripping out frets out of a vintage fretboard and I never took the effort to practice on throwaway necks, neither do I dare installing frets (only did this twice in my life, and treating a beautiful neck with pliers and a hammer broke my heart) - so someone else gotta do it, but after fret install, I'll gladly take take over the whelm.

how I do frets (easy way):
- if strings are still good, leave them installed, detune and stick string ends together with painter's tape and tuck them away from working space.
- set neck straight (look along the neck or use a ruler, most rulers will do). we're not talking about µm here.
- tape off openings where metal dust might potentially settle (suggestion: area around neck pickup)
- blacken top of frets with sharpie
- drag fret level file along frets (somewhat carefully and patient, less is more!) until there's not a single fret left with sharpie on top
- then add sharpie again
- use crowning file until there's only a *hint* of sharpie left on every fret. patience is the key. use decent lighting. if there's a blank fret and all others have a hint of sharpie left on them you lowered the fret (in relation to all others), you messed up and need to re-dress.
- take your time, be patient: there should only be an almost invisible line of sharpie left on top of *each* fret
- dress fret ends by rounding them off with either a needle file or dedicated fret dressing file.
- btw., no need to tape off the fretboard if you're patient and careful
- listen to the sound the file makes, e.g. when dressing fret ends you'll hear a metallic sound, and at some point it will sound 'less metallic': watch out, you'll dig into the wood with the next stroke.

frets are all dressed now , crowned and end-dressed now. super! (that's what the 200 €- service guy did not do)
get your different grades micro-mesh, start with course and run up to highest during following procedure:

- take a sponge or foamy/flexible sanding block, wrap micro-mesh around it tightly, and run it across the whole fretboard, putting emphasis on frets. tape off fretboard in case it's a maple neck.
- always keep micro-mesh clean/moist. never use clogged up stuff (will happen sooner than you might expect).
- go through the grades until you reached fine coarse. only drag along the length of the neck, never at a right angle (if you want 'rolled fingerboard edges', go for it) stay calm and collected.
- also, drag medium grade/ higher grades micro mesh along the edges of frets and fretboard edges at an angle of your desire, but always in one smooth motion.
- we don't want clogged mesh at any point.
- use your different grades micro mesh until it all feels super smooth.
- clean the neck/wipe off any residue, treat freatboard with some oil and enjoy.

I know, it must seem as if I were talking out of my arse.
Next in series will be about fixing half-arsed nut jobs.

[fuzzking]

I know most of this must have an utterly disapointing flavor to it, but it's super easy to do and it's working 98% of the time. patience is key

[JSett]

I will happily polish my own frets at home but actual fret dressing has always scared the life out of me. That level of destructive maintenance is all too easy to go too far on.

The guy I've been using local to me does a great job and, because I bring him work almost every month, will do me a full fret dress and setup (not that I need the setup part at all) for about £70 a pop which, to me at least, is worth not having the stress of potentially fucking things up.

[fuzzking]

wow, that sounds good. totally different experience.

I didn't mean to come across as a know-it-all (haha I ain't), I just happen to be stuck at where-the-sun-don't-shine and I always have to fix half-arsed jobs. you can walk into music stores and they'll laugh at you for even daring to walk in with "an old guitar" and they'll gladly serve everyone but you. it's extremely frustrating. so I came up with my formula for saving 'new frets', and it works. folks are usually impressed by my 'after re-fret' fret jobs, and it's just that I tried to rescue major fuck-ups. seems good enough. but anyway, it's like cooking: are you going to take that 'extra mile' to make a 'super schnitzel'? "we only have regular schnitzels. we have standard schnitzels you fool. if you want a good schnitzel grow it yourself.. blah. basic playability should not be at extra charge > yeah I'm talking to you, fender and gibson and 'guitar technicians'. a fret is a fret is a fret. no excuses

[fuzzking]

noone in my area really , but just in case (tinder-style?): bring your fave guitar, we'll have a look at the frets. that's how desperate I am regarding socializing.