DIY Punk guitar tech: Fret repair
Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 12:27 pm
Just a thread to add some of the odd DIY guitar tech stuff I've done over the years. First up: spot repairing frets instead of re-fretting.
My '59 Guyatone had some biggish dips near the nut. The frets are very low and I didn't want to level them any lower or they would be non-existent. I considered re-fretting but I wanted to do it myself and had not yet learned how.
I had the idea of using solder to build up the dips but considered that others would have had the idea, so off I went on a google research mission. There were lots of people who hadn't done this, stating that it wouldn't work for various reasons, but the most common reason was that the solder would not hold up to regular playing. I found one person who HAD done this, stating that after a year of playing the solder was holding up just fine. This is the person to listen to when researching anything - those who do.
I also reason that even if the solder didn't hold up forever then it ceratinly did not prevent me re-fretting down the line.. So I did it.
Masked the fredboard off with sticky tape (had no masking tape alas - probably not a wise choise as the tape can melt if solder drops on it...) I scratched and roughed up the dips with a blade and sandpaper to key the surface for the solder to really grip to. I then heated the dip with the solder iron for a while. This was my main worry about the process: heating it enough to work with the solder but not long enough to expand the fret and surrounding wood enough to damage or loosen the fret. I have no tips for this other than guessing and being careful. It looked like this when i was done:
I then began leveling the frets down using small needle files and sand paper. Once the lumps were leveled and the sides of the frets filed flat I then went through the normal fret-leveling and polishing process.
To finish off I oiled the board with my super secret fretboard oil blend....
Finally polishing off the excess oil and polishing...
I also cut a TUSQ nut down from a huge acoustic blank - it was the only one big enough to match the knackered original nut.
Final word: Since I did this repair a year or two back I've not had it restrung (due to other repairs and knackered tuners) so cannot confirm if the solder will hold up. At the end of the day it will work for some time for sure, and doesn't stop me refretting anyway. Win/win as far as I'm concerned.
My '59 Guyatone had some biggish dips near the nut. The frets are very low and I didn't want to level them any lower or they would be non-existent. I considered re-fretting but I wanted to do it myself and had not yet learned how.
I had the idea of using solder to build up the dips but considered that others would have had the idea, so off I went on a google research mission. There were lots of people who hadn't done this, stating that it wouldn't work for various reasons, but the most common reason was that the solder would not hold up to regular playing. I found one person who HAD done this, stating that after a year of playing the solder was holding up just fine. This is the person to listen to when researching anything - those who do.
I also reason that even if the solder didn't hold up forever then it ceratinly did not prevent me re-fretting down the line.. So I did it.
Masked the fredboard off with sticky tape (had no masking tape alas - probably not a wise choise as the tape can melt if solder drops on it...) I scratched and roughed up the dips with a blade and sandpaper to key the surface for the solder to really grip to. I then heated the dip with the solder iron for a while. This was my main worry about the process: heating it enough to work with the solder but not long enough to expand the fret and surrounding wood enough to damage or loosen the fret. I have no tips for this other than guessing and being careful. It looked like this when i was done:
I then began leveling the frets down using small needle files and sand paper. Once the lumps were leveled and the sides of the frets filed flat I then went through the normal fret-leveling and polishing process.
To finish off I oiled the board with my super secret fretboard oil blend....
Finally polishing off the excess oil and polishing...
I also cut a TUSQ nut down from a huge acoustic blank - it was the only one big enough to match the knackered original nut.
Final word: Since I did this repair a year or two back I've not had it restrung (due to other repairs and knackered tuners) so cannot confirm if the solder will hold up. At the end of the day it will work for some time for sure, and doesn't stop me refretting anyway. Win/win as far as I'm concerned.
