Really good, thanks. It's nice to hear someone talking clearly about the work in a straightforward manner. Good job.

Amazing technique you have. So impressive.

I was having a terrible time getting frets into an ebony fretboard. The water trick really helped! Thanks!

That is such good video at about 9:00. You can actually see the fret popping up on the sides as you hammer the middle. I see you mentioned this but didn't highlight it.....very important for backyard fretters! Always put a little extra radius in nickle silver frets before seating....the sides seat better and you have to take, overall, less off when leveling. Use about a 14" or so radius for the frets on a 16" fretboard. (don't over radius with stainless steel frets). This is one of those things people pass over but is extremely important. The way your fret sits high in the middle before seating is exactly the way I do it. Don't go too high or you have to take too much off the middle when leveling.....the middle won't seat well. You can buy a radius caul from china fairly cheap....if you don't have a press then use it with a hammer. It will drive the whole fret down at once.....I use it after I hammer them in like you. I do a rocker test after putting all the frets in.....then go back with the radius caul. I always get one or two frets that sit a little proud. I deal with them first (with a little 5" sanding block that's about an inch wide...a piece of squared up rosewood)) when leveling to get them close to the others before using a long sanding block. This took me ten years to figure out but makes all the difference. A rule of thumb is.....if a fret sits .003 high you will have to take .006 off all the frets to level them at a minumum...usually more. If you do a spot level first you take off a little less overall. If you got the frets to low when leveling I would bet you had some very high frets that didn't seat well. Anything lower then about .037 is going to cause problems with tone and buzzing. It's best if the frets are leveled to .043 or higher....very hard unless you use high frets to begin with....especially for a beginner. I still use .053 or higher frets when installing. It gives me a cushion to get the guitar perfectly level and end up with meat on the frets. To me, level frets, play perfect with and without a capo. A hard thing....it has to be perfectly level. It's not unusual to have a couple buzz spots with a capo and the fret rocker is not clicking anywhere. It can be very weird when leveling.....you can get it level....the rocker isn't clicking....put the strings on and it's not level. Tension does weird things to frets....be patient.

Excellent video, very clear and educational. Thank You!

Best luthier vids on tube! Thanx!

Excellent tips and skills

Hi Greg ..fine work¡¡.I´m luthier too in Spain,I have been repairing all kind of guitars for a few years ...and now ,at this time that a few pieces of my wood stored are cured and ready to do proper works, I´m starting with building my own mark guitars. I have to say that after ready a lot of books of guitar making and viewed same videos, I can recognice your neat and precise work,congratulations and thanks for your videos.;)J

Very good video. It shows exactly how to do a fret job. I have never heard anyone say lucky for me I have MS. LOL. Great video.

Thanks for the tip on installing from large to small.

Amazing video well put together thank you! Subscribed!!

Greg, this is a well done video showing several procedures that work. I’ve picked up several ideas that I will use... one is the welding clamp press - I happen to be a welder and I have several different types that I can make work. Another is the 30 degree file holder to dress fret ends... very good. I am building my 3rd guitar and I’m getting better all the time and it’s because of luthiers like you who are willing to share their knowledge and experience. I appreciate what you give to the guitar building people like me who need every tip they can read about and try. I am disappointed after reading some of the ‘know it all’ caustic comments. There are a couple on this post that need to post their own KZread videos to show us once and for all the ultimate answers and skills needed to confirm their brilliance. In Instagram, I use the ‘block’ and ‘un-follow’ feature to clean up and clear out the anger and abuse. Your videos are quite good and I for one appreciate your effort and down to earth approach, thank you...✈️✈️✈️

@gregnelson3486

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, there are those who have to "one up" others and I feel sorry for them. Don't mind them expressing themselves and exposing their own ignorance and/or social ineptitude. Every time you point a finger there are three more pointing back at you. I guess that works for what I just posted but I can live with that.

Wonderful video. Thanks = )

Very good lesson. Thanks

great video thank you

Thanks for the video. I like it. ~ I regret throwing some guitars away or giving them away just because the frets were in rough shape.

I just tried to refret an old guitar, which wasn't too valuable to me, but I really failed. This is really the art of crafts...

@cugir321

4 жыл бұрын

It not as hard if you get a few things right. Slightly over radius the wire. Be sure the neck is very level before sanding. (to radius fingerboard and level frets) Try to use the same wire the first 5 times you do it. Using bigger wire can create a multitude of problems. Too little relief in the end if frets are too tight. Too much if you cut the slots to wide for the new wire. Too wide isn't always loose frets. Another problem is not getting the slots perfectly clean. If it has binding and it's your cheap beat up guitar.....you can cut through the binding to clean the sides of the slots with a saw (don't cut all the way down on the binding)....take a little of the tang off on both sides, seat the fret then use gel super glue to fill the cuts in the binding. If the binding pops off use a little thinner super glue on the side with a toothpick to put it back....then fill slot with gel super glue. For black binding it works very well....almost perfect. You can smooth the gel when you file the fret ends....you'll never see it. Keep the super glue off the wood....tape the neck. You'll lose some shine on the binding but.....it's you cheap axe!

Nice video mate!!!

thanks for tutorial about frets installing🙏

Fantastic info thanks

Nice! I think i will go ahead and swap out my frets on my guitar due to them being extremely low and not being changed in a lot of years, causing extreme fret buzz, i've already leveled them, recrowned them (a rather bad crowning done with sandpaper and a small piece of wood, but it ended up just alright). I still have fret buzz with extreme action on my guitar. Since it's christmas, i thought: i might just aswell! :) Cheers, great video, gave me some good ideas on how to get it right.

great vid, thanks

You are great

The best fret bending "jig" I've ever seen is just a shallow slot on the edge of your bench; you guide the fret wire with one hand (A) while pulling the tang through the slot with the other (B). How much pressure you apply with hand A determines the degree of curve. It's an easy skill to master, and it couldn't be cheaper.

a lot of thanks master.

Thank you!

I have a question. i have bought the Dunlop 6130 jumbo fret wire. It comes pre-cut. I see they look pretty straight. Is there a "proper" way to bend these to a curve ? Will the "hole in piece of wood" jig work for small individual pieces of frets work ?

you should try sintoms frets i just put a set on a strat and they went on great

I don't think the hole in a stick method will work well for short pieces. You can try simply pressing or hammering the straight frets in but if you wanted to pre-bend you may need to make an anvil and caul that is a tighter radius than the fret board and see if you can shape it that way. Worth a try.

Thanks man. I hope I will be a guitar maker but not today. thanks again. :)

I personally don't think it is necessary. Carefully installed frets do just fine without adding glue and since I build and repair instruments that should last multiple lifetimes there will come a day when frets will need replacing. Glue simply makes that task all the more difficult. Sometimes you need a drop or two of glue for a fret that won't cooperate but gluing all of them doesn't make sense to me unless they aren't fitting properly in the first place.

@cugir321

4 жыл бұрын

That's great but over time things will change with the wood. The customer won't have to bring it back to you for a high fret if they're glued. (sorry) PRS glues them....and they put them in well.

great bit of work mate.. good to see the tips of making tools etc.. really helps ..

@francinediamoneka4822

6 жыл бұрын

accumulatorguitar jhhu

Would you be interested in Rosewood fretboard samples?

Like your fret press (welding clamp) may I ask, what size of clamp did you use?

@gregnelson7168

5 жыл бұрын

Something I had around that seemed to work. Not sure If I picked it or it picked me but it works.

Increable..i have seen lot of videos with the same situation, but with diferent solutions ...I love creative...insted of buy expesive tolls hahahaha

SUPER

I got curious about the step where you cut out the tangs from both edges of a fret. I have seen other videos where people don't do it. If there is no binding is that step helpful at all? If the tang can be precise cut to size then the benefit I see is it is easy to nip the remainder of the edges as well to file them. But tang cutting is time consuming. What is the downside of skipping this step? Is nipping or filing the edges harder with the tang on?

@gregnelson7168

2 жыл бұрын

Notching the tang is only necessary if you are binding or if you plan to fill the kerf that is visible with something that more closely matches the fret board like colored epoxy. Otherwise I see little benefit if any. I bind all my fret boards. Like the look and like the feel. If I ever do get fret sprout due to humidity changes I guess it would be easier to fix but not a driving factor.

What happened to chapter 23?

Hi Gentleman, please, tell me which is generally the size in mm that you use to re-fret an acoustic guitar. Best regards.

@nelsonsguitars4656

3 жыл бұрын

This is very much a personal preference thing. Some people like really tall frets and others want them short. Some like them narrow and others like them fat. You get to decide.

Can I send you a les Paul and have you level the frets and PayPal you when you are finished?

Do you feel glue is unnecessary for fret installations?

@MosheAlvarez

8 жыл бұрын

+Cletus32261 Ok. I was taught to always use glue

From where i can buy frets ?

@Arcturian1111

5 жыл бұрын

Ebay... Search Fender Frets. I bought 9.5 Radius precut frets there for my Ibanez.

What are you trying to say Archie?

and then you SMASH with the SMASH oyu gotta make sure you SMASH because it'll SMASH SMASH

I know it's old but for current viewers, I have a piece of stewmac high and wide under a microscope- no fillet.Anyhooi, that's. not why the edges are chamfored.

why many talks?