https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/refret-question/ Guitar Noise Discussion Board en-US Thu, 04 Jun 2026 10:14:17 +0000 wpForo 60 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/refret-question/#post-100500 Mon, 02 May 2005 03:20:06 +0000 http://frets.com/ and you'll find a good pictorial tutorial and fret work (and lots of other good stuff) if you look around a bit.]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance Ricochet https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/refret-question/#post-100500 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/refret-question/#post-100498 Mon, 02 May 2005 03:15:21 +0000
Would it be beter to address the fret problem before or after I refinish the neck?]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance xg5a https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/refret-question/#post-100498 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/refret-question/#post-100299 Sat, 30 Apr 2005 17:34:03 +0000
Unless you have a neck to practice on, go buy the book or video. You can also get a luthier to replace a single fret for $10.]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance Nick Torres https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/refret-question/#post-100299 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/refret-question/#post-100297 Sat, 30 Apr 2005 17:32:00 +0000 How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great. IIRC, his GP version is actually better. Neither is expensive. Stew-Mac.com also sells books and videos on this topic. There is more info to be conveyed on this topic than I would attempt to put in a forum posting. Somebody might have a good link to instructions, but I rarely trust free info to be entirely accurate.]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance gnease https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/refret-question/#post-100297 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/refret-question/#post-100295 Sat, 30 Apr 2005 17:18:31 +0000 Guitar Repair and Maintenance Nick Torres https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/refret-question/#post-100295 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/refret-question/#post-100294 Sat, 30 Apr 2005 17:15:31 +0000 Guitar Repair and Maintenance xg5a https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/refret-question/#post-100294 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/refret-question/#post-97802 Mon, 11 Apr 2005 04:15:26 +0000 Guitar Repair and Maintenance xg5a https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/refret-question/#post-97802 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/refret-question/#post-96972 Wed, 06 Apr 2005 08:41:47 +0000
For tools, you'll need a few things:

- masking tape to protect the surface of the fretboard on both sides of the fret... it'll help minimize splintering
- a soldering iron to heat the fret a bit - that makes it come out easier
- end nippers... you might want to grind the outside face of these flat. You'll use them to ease out the old fret
- a hammer with a small head (most folks use a small brass hammer; I use a small steel one that I actually made in high school machine shop class years ago) to whack it into place
- small files to trim and dress the edges
- a straightedge for leveling with the others, plus your usual dressing materials

A couple of things about refretting... you say it's an old Strat. At one point in Fender's history, frets were mounted from the side - I've seen pictures of a funky setup they had for sliding all the frets in at once! If yours has this construction, you'll be pulling the tangs out through wood that's never been touched - be very careful of splintering! Although I've never done any fretwork on this construction, I know they're out there... you might actually want to tap the fret out sideways, if that's the way it went in.

Second, you'll want to radius the fretwire a bit tighter than the radius of your fretboard before you start. The goal is to give the fret a good solid whack with your hammer that essentially seats it in one shot - the tangs are biting down and out in one smooth motion, and they grip well. Placing it with small taps over the surface can lead to loose frets, and a heavily grooved fret kerf... then the only solution is a slightly bigger kerf and more investment in fretwire for the new size.

It's not a complicated job - unless the fretboard is bound - but there are some tricks to it. Many shops do a fair amount of fretwork... see if you can watch a pro before you tackle yours (or get a cheapo to practice your repair work - garage sales are good for that)]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance NoteBoat https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/refret-question/#post-96972 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/refret-question/#post-8231 Wed, 06 Apr 2005 06:29:00 +0000 Now i'm planning on refinishing the neck in gloss, and have decided to fix the fret. I would assume that it needs a new fret. Now i've done all sorts of things with frets, like leveling, dressing, crowning, polishing, etc..., and have a lot of experience in guitar repair in general, but never actually replaced frets. What would be involved in replacing the fret? Would I need any special tools, and where could I get a small portion of fretwire without spending $30 on stew-mac?]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance xg5a https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/refret-question/#post-8231