Thank you SO much for this detailed multi video course. I am a good mechanic and handy person. I capably refinished a 335, electronics too but frets have always scared me. Now thanks to you I am going to attempt to re-fret a 72 SG that I just bought.
What about painter's tape for situations where masking tape could mess with the finish? My dad was a signwriter and he used it over finished wood every day for creating straight lines and masking areas without it causing issues. Sometimes on paint that was new and therefore not totally hard and dry too. I've used it to cover pups etc when doing maintenance and it's never caused any problems.
Hi Ben, you don’t need a fret end file because your a genius. Us mortals need the tool though because I don’t have enough ‘habit’ to do a 33 degree file by hand so I’ll carry on buying your tools.
Why do you / should you angle and dress the fret ends before levelling and crowning them, wouldn't it make more sense to do it the other way round? I'm no expert but to my mind I can think of a couple of practical benefits, such as: 1, A little more support for the levelling file, so less chance of straying off radius and no chance of messing up the ends. 2, The angle on the fret ends will be more uniform and you won't have to redo any frets that were too high before levelling.
Where would one get a "tiny crowning file with a safe edge". I've used a similar file before without the safe edge, I can get good results but need to be mega careful. The safe edge would help a lot. Also I don't have a grinder, or any skills with a grinder :)
What file would you use if you just needed to shorten the odd fret end here and there (Just got a Jazz bass where the odd fret pokes out over the edge of the board and tries to bite my hand).
Mike Whitaker I was thinking the same. Wonder if he's been following along? I don't know if I could watch if I had a guitar that was such a prized instrument. It would be like watching a video of a loved one undergoing quite a serious operation I think. Regardless of just how skilled the surgeon was.
I imagine that part of the "being allowed to release this" is that he'd watch it first to make sure it was ok. That and that the end result was to his satisfaction. So I'm assuming that the player is happy with the result and has played it in already.
Question, when you said you wanted to create the same feel at the fret ends, and with the compound radius that you've done, won't you have the same problem as before with the strings falling off the frets when bending. A lesser angle on the fret ends would be of more benefit even when rounded over one would imagine. And when working on a guitar neck that cannot be detached, instead of using tape directly onto the bodywork, push the guitar neck through a black bin liner so you only have the neck showing, and then apply any additional padding where needed once the bin liner has been secured.
While greatly appreciative of all the instructional and information videos you do, I must point out that the little blue 'file' icon in the lower left corner looks like a whale on my phone...
Its always a pleasure to see skilled people work with pride in what they do.well done Sir.
Thank you SO much for this detailed multi video course. I am a good mechanic and handy person. I capably refinished a 335, electronics too but frets have always scared me. Now thanks to you I am going to attempt to re-fret a 72 SG that I just bought.
No one else on RUclips does this elaborate of a refret tutorial, good tips and good work man, cheers!
I'm really enjoying these vids on this SG dude. lots of cool tips. keep up the good work
What about painter's tape for situations where masking tape could mess with the finish? My dad was a signwriter and he used it over finished wood every day for creating straight lines and masking areas without it causing issues. Sometimes on paint that was new and therefore not totally hard and dry too. I've used it to cover pups etc when doing maintenance and it's never caused any problems.
Hi Ben, you don’t need a fret end file because your a genius. Us mortals need the tool though because I don’t have enough ‘habit’ to do a 33 degree file by hand so I’ll carry on buying your tools.
I like the credit card method of holding sandpaper accurately- can think of lots of other uses for that, not just fret ends
love this guy's passion.
Im saving this vid just as a fret end shaping tutorial!!!!!!!!
Well... that's what it is... so good idea.
At 6.50 is that the "tardis" landing in the milking parlour? Great video series Ben. Cheers
Rob.
Why do you / should you angle and dress the fret ends before levelling and crowning them, wouldn't it make more sense to do it the other way round?
I'm no expert but to my mind I can think of a couple of practical benefits, such as:
1, A little more support for the levelling file, so less chance of straying off radius and no chance of messing up the ends.
2, The angle on the fret ends will be more uniform and you won't have to redo any frets that were too high before levelling.
Where would one get a "tiny crowning file with a safe edge". I've used a similar file before without the safe edge, I can get good results but need to be mega careful. The safe edge would help a lot. Also I don't have a grinder, or any skills with a grinder :)
Hi Cris, is it possible touch or damage binding in this way without any masking tape ?
Looks awesome! What fret wire size is this? Thanks mate
What file would you use if you just needed to shorten the odd fret end here and there (Just got a Jazz bass where the odd fret pokes out over the edge of the board and tries to bite my hand).
I'd be fascinated to see Kelly's reaction to the result - did you get that on film?
Mike Whitaker I was thinking the same. Wonder if he's been following along? I don't know if I could watch if I had a guitar that was such a prized instrument. It would be like watching a video of a loved one undergoing quite a serious operation I think. Regardless of just how skilled the surgeon was.
I imagine that part of the "being allowed to release this" is that he'd watch it first to make sure it was ok. That and that the end result was to his satisfaction. So I'm assuming that the player is happy with the result and has played it in already.
Mike Whitaker would be interesting!
I'd like to see that, I'm sure he chuffed
He probably had it refretted again
First in. I'm loving this series. Can't wait for it everyday :)
You are the best
Question, when you said you wanted to create the same feel at the fret ends, and with the compound radius that you've done, won't you have the same problem as before with the strings falling off the frets when bending. A lesser angle on the fret ends would be of more benefit even when rounded over one would imagine.
And when working on a guitar neck that cannot be detached, instead of using tape directly onto the bodywork, push the guitar neck through a black bin liner so you only have the neck showing, and then apply any additional padding where needed once the bin liner has been secured.
Your prototype tool sounds like the tardis. ^^
Make sure the frets are the same size, like feet.
9:55, you were looking for 'chatter marks'
All that metal dust on the tape!
Its not better to remove the binding, refret it and put the binding back on?
d0tnix I don't think there would be any way to do that without ruining the finish or having rebind it with completely new binding.
d0tnix That's a no no. Binding must stay.
While greatly appreciative of all the instructional and information videos you do, I must point out that the little blue 'file' icon in the lower left corner looks like a whale on my phone...
Jah Rastafari I'm never gonna stop noticing that now
I'm like wood, I am difficult and problematic too :D
Nothing comes close to the fret edge binding.
I hope the troublesome bolt-on wasn't one of those notorious Ibanezes...
Wood does one thing well...it moves.
Do you know what pickups were in it?
where is part 5??
After part 4 and before part 6
Makes several types of tools specifically to replace using traditional methods.
Ditches tools he machines himself to use traditional methods.
MY FRIEND I DONT KNOW WHY ..!!!,,,,BUT I LIKE A LOT SEE YOU WORKING...!!!😃😃🎸🎸😉
So you don't use a belt sander for any of this process?
LOL.🤪
Its always a pleasure to see skilled people work with pride in what they do.well done Sir.