This guy is just "too good" the patience and accuracy he shows are second to none and have you all noticed how bloody clean his workshop is, when I went in my shed after watching these films I felt ashamed and have started to clean up the place I suppose it shows in your work if you work in a messy environment ( now my wife wants me to watch more of your videos David.) Like the music he plays too Peace and Love Neil
Hi Jyme, the fretwire bender was bought from a guy in Germany. I got it from Ebay if I remember correctly. Been a few years now. Clean your next lot of fretwire with acetone, you will be surprised to see what comes off it , I was amazed too. I will never install it now without cleaning it first. Watch the video, I show what comes off it
AWESOME VIDEOS, I'M FINISHING UP A NUNNO N4 BUILD MYSELF, I WAS GOING TO SELL IT BUT I THINK I'LL KEEP THIS ONE FOR ME HAHA. BUT NOW I HAVE THE TEMPLATES WITCH TOOK QUITE A WHILE TO MAKE I MUST SAY, LONGER THAN THE ACTUAL BUILD ITSELF. I'VE LEARNED TONS FROM WATCHING FLETCHER'S VIDEOS HE IS A TRUE CRAFTSMAN AND BRILLIANT GUITAR BUILDER. I JUST WISH HE WOULD PUT OUT SOME MORE DANG BUILD VIDEOS IT'S BEEN WAY TO LONG HAHA. I KNOW HE IS PROBABLY CRAZY BUSY BECAUSE OF HOW NICE HIS GUITARS ARE. THANKS FLETCHER YOU REALLY ADDED GREAT JOY TO MY LIFE WITH THESE VIDEOS, VERY GENEROUS OF YOU TO SHARE YOUR WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE, THERE ARE MANY WHO AREN'T SO SHARING. I'M PLANNING ON STARTING MY OWN RUclips CHANNEL SOON, EVERYTHING GUITAR RELATED, BUILDS, GEAR REVIEWS, MUSIC REVIEWS, I'M ALSO A 20 YEAR TATTOO ARTIST SO MY CHANNEL WILL HAVE A LOT OF ART CONTENT AS WELL, NOT TATTOO LESSONS UNFORTUNATELY PEOPLE NEED A PROPER APPRENTICESHIP FOR THAT SEEING AS BODILY FLUIDS ARE INVOLVED BUT EVERYTHING ELSE AS FAR AS ART TECHNIQUE AND A BUNCH OF OTHER THINGS LIKE THAT, OH YEAH AND HORROR MOVIES AND FX MAKEUP.
Hey thanks for that, glad your enjoying the videos. I'm just using a 1 tonne press that you can pick up anywhere but I modified it to take the Stewmac fretting cauls. Stewmac also sell the whole package but its pretty pricey.
I guess that titebond is more a filler to fill the gaps and to make the fret sit better. And since not all fretboards have glued frets, do I really have to superglue the frets if I use titebond in tje slots? thanks again for your time. The build is progressinh really good thanks to all your videos which I have studied closely:-)
Did you make your fret wire bender? It does look home made, if you did can you give a parts list, it looks the simplist I've seen yet and works very well, thanks. Why do you wipe the fret wire with acetone? I have never seen or felt grease on mine or are they dirtier than I thought? Thanks.
I have a bit of a strange question, I suppose. Could the frets be pressed in by use of some sort of hydraulic mechanism, given the slots are machined to a slightly smaller size than the fretwire is and eliminate the use of glue? Suppose the fretboard material is aluminum. I don't know of too many adhesives that could adhere the wire to the aluminum. And no, this isn't just for shits and giggles. I've loved guitars since day one and I am taking on the task of creating one in my CNC course at college. Any help would be appreciated.
it would be great in theory if not for the fact that it would be incredibly difficult to machine or cut precisely the narrower slot width that would over the course of 21 frets, because the compressive forces in each slot, once accumulated will backbow a neck. This kind of compression fretting is actually a good remedy for necks that have a severe bow. You could though, when making the neck/board assembly, plane a slight relief into the board by tightening the rod slightly, leveling it dead flat, and then loosening the rod so that now you have a curvature in the neck. This process would be cancelled out with a compression fret job and you would end up with a neck assembly that is totally dead flat because the back bow from the compression fret job and the relief you initially planed into the neck will cancel each other out. Some luthiers build them like this and think it makes for a more stable neck. I don't think it's really necessary, though my answer is 10 months late and I don't know how helpful this will be.
Hi david, Nice guitar you are building, I am now watching all your video's, it looks very good. I like the dots on the fretboard very much. But then what is the glue (or something you are using to fill the holes under the fretwire with the wood dust? is this also aceton?
A question regarding the leveling process of the sides of the frets that starts @ 3:47 all the way to the end.. isn't that risky? Doesn't that carve into the side of the fingerboard? Why don't luthiers just pre-fit and then bump that sucker in? This especially if they're stainless steel frets (much harder material).
I do stainless steel all the time. No its not risky. It would be hard to actually start removing wood. You get a feel for it as you are filing the edges, you can hear when you are getting close to being flush. Hard to trim a fret perfectly to size and hammer it in and be a perfect fit. Try it, you will see what I mean.
that is truly amazing how well you build guitars, infact you inspired me to begin a guitar building project, could you tell me what the machine is you're using to press the frets in?
Hello David! I need to ask you a question. I starting fretting my first neck today, follow a method of a friend of mine where we poored superglue on the tang of the fret and then pressing/hammering the fret in. Only did one fret, will continue tomortow. however, i feel it was way to messy, and I need to remove superglue from the fretboard. I have seen that you use tutebond in the slot, press the fret in, wipe of....much less messy. Do you superglue from the fretends afterwards?
Very good work ....but I think the cuts on the fretboard was a little to deep !!! That's why at the end was showing , that under the fret was empty space ...and had to be fill out !!! Also if the cut is deeper than it needed ...is weakening the straightness of the neck !!!
I watched a video where a guy rubbed sawdust into the gaps under the fret ends without gluing it, then he said no one would ever know... I'd say he's either been very lucky or his guitars hardly see the light of day.
The attention to details is remarkable !
It must feel awful good knowing you're literally the best at what you do? You're crushing it.
Thanks for the awesome videos!
thanks for showing the wood dust and super glue trick. i use something similar to save the vintage nuts on my older fenders
Great job on the neck so far! Looks like it's being made right in the Fender Factory
This guy is just "too good" the patience and accuracy he shows are second to none and have you all noticed how bloody clean his workshop is, when I went in my shed after watching these films I felt ashamed and have started to clean up the place I suppose it shows in your work if you work in a messy environment ( now my wife wants me to watch more of your videos David.) Like the music he plays too
Peace and Love
Neil
Hi Jyme, the fretwire bender was bought from a guy in Germany. I got it from Ebay if I remember correctly. Been a few years now.
Clean your next lot of fretwire with acetone, you will be surprised to see what comes off it , I was amazed too. I will never install it now without cleaning it first. Watch the video, I show what comes off it
AWESOME VIDEOS, I'M FINISHING UP A NUNNO N4 BUILD MYSELF, I WAS GOING TO SELL IT BUT I THINK I'LL KEEP THIS ONE FOR ME HAHA. BUT NOW I HAVE THE TEMPLATES WITCH TOOK QUITE A WHILE TO MAKE I MUST SAY, LONGER THAN THE ACTUAL BUILD ITSELF. I'VE LEARNED TONS FROM WATCHING FLETCHER'S VIDEOS HE IS A TRUE CRAFTSMAN AND BRILLIANT GUITAR BUILDER. I JUST WISH HE WOULD PUT OUT SOME MORE DANG BUILD VIDEOS IT'S BEEN WAY TO LONG HAHA. I KNOW HE IS PROBABLY CRAZY BUSY BECAUSE OF HOW NICE HIS GUITARS ARE. THANKS FLETCHER YOU REALLY ADDED GREAT JOY TO MY LIFE WITH THESE VIDEOS, VERY GENEROUS OF YOU TO SHARE YOUR WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE, THERE ARE MANY WHO AREN'T SO SHARING. I'M PLANNING ON STARTING MY OWN RUclips CHANNEL SOON, EVERYTHING GUITAR RELATED, BUILDS, GEAR REVIEWS, MUSIC REVIEWS, I'M ALSO A 20 YEAR TATTOO ARTIST SO MY CHANNEL WILL HAVE A LOT OF ART CONTENT AS WELL, NOT TATTOO LESSONS UNFORTUNATELY PEOPLE NEED A PROPER APPRENTICESHIP FOR THAT SEEING AS BODILY FLUIDS ARE INVOLVED BUT EVERYTHING ELSE AS FAR AS ART TECHNIQUE AND A BUNCH OF OTHER THINGS LIKE THAT, OH YEAH AND HORROR MOVIES AND FX MAKEUP.
Hey thanks for that, glad your enjoying the videos. I'm just using a 1 tonne press that you can pick up anywhere but I modified it to take the Stewmac fretting cauls. Stewmac also sell the whole package but its pretty pricey.
Hi Lloyd, I apologize for my late reply - Yes, you can wick super glue in from both sides after you have seated the frets, I usually do this myself
Good job man!!!
Amazing ! Thanks for sharing.
The glue helps keep the frets seated and is easy to clean up. Not sure I understand your 2nd question ?
Nice. Sawdust and super glue. Im gonna use that
thank you very much! keep up the good work!
Love your work. Can I ask why you use tightbond to adhere the frets in this fretting video and not in the others please. Thank you in advance
I guess that titebond is more a filler to fill the gaps and to make the fret sit better. And since not all fretboards have glued frets, do I really have to superglue the frets if I use titebond in tje slots? thanks again for your time. The build is progressinh really good thanks to all your videos which I have studied closely:-)
omg how tidy you are always !
cool vid....what size fret?
Did you make your fret wire bender? It does look home made, if you did can you give a parts list, it looks the simplist I've seen yet and works very well, thanks. Why do you wipe the fret wire with acetone? I have never seen or felt grease on mine or are they dirtier than I thought? Thanks.
What is that brown powder and liquid?
I have a bit of a strange question, I suppose.
Could the frets be pressed in by use of some sort of hydraulic mechanism, given the slots are machined to a slightly smaller size than the fretwire is and eliminate the use of glue?
Suppose the fretboard material is aluminum. I don't know of too many adhesives that could adhere the wire to the aluminum.
And no, this isn't just for shits and giggles. I've loved guitars since day one and I am taking on the task of creating one in my CNC course at college.
Any help would be appreciated.
it would be great in theory if not for the fact that it would be incredibly difficult to machine or cut precisely the narrower slot width that would over the course of 21 frets, because the compressive forces in each slot, once accumulated will backbow a neck. This kind of compression fretting is actually a good remedy for necks that have a severe bow.
You could though, when making the neck/board assembly, plane a slight relief into the board by tightening the rod slightly, leveling it dead flat, and then loosening the rod so that now you have a curvature in the neck. This process would be cancelled out with a compression fret job and you would end up with a neck assembly that is totally dead flat because the back bow from the compression fret job and the relief you initially planed into the neck will cancel each other out. Some luthiers build them like this and think it makes for a more stable neck.
I don't think it's really necessary, though my answer is 10 months late and I don't know how helpful this will be.
Hi david,
Nice guitar you are building, I am now watching all your video's, it looks very good.
I like the dots on the fretboard very much.
But then what is the glue (or something you are using to fill the holes under the fretwire with the wood dust? is this also aceton?
A question regarding the leveling process of the sides of the frets that starts @ 3:47 all the way to the end.. isn't that risky? Doesn't that carve into the side of the fingerboard? Why don't luthiers just pre-fit and then bump that sucker in? This especially if they're stainless steel frets (much harder material).
I do stainless steel all the time. No its not risky. It would be hard to actually start removing wood. You get a feel for it as you are filing the edges, you can hear when you are getting close to being flush. Hard to trim a fret perfectly to size and hammer it in and be a perfect fit. Try it, you will see what I mean.
Hi do you always glue your Frets or only on certain woods, thanks,,Paul.
Please...if my neck is 10 inch radius,can use 9,5 inch radius ss frets? Or must be exactly neck and fres radius?!
You should be fine. Wick some CA in from both sides into the slots as well to lock those frets in.
Does the ebony fingerboard need special finish ? Or multiple fine sandings are enough ? Thanks.
that is truly amazing how well you build guitars, infact you inspired me to begin a guitar building project, could you tell me what the machine is you're using to press the frets in?
Hello David! I need to ask you a question. I starting fretting my first neck today, follow a method of a friend of mine where we poored superglue on the tang of the fret and then pressing/hammering the fret in. Only did one fret, will continue tomortow. however, i feel it was way to messy, and I need to remove superglue from the fretboard. I have seen that you use tutebond in the slot, press the fret in, wipe of....much less messy. Do you superglue from the fretends afterwards?
2 questions. why are you using wood glue for the frets, and why dont you clip after glue has cured?
??? How were guitars fretted before super glue?
Don't fret about it ! Just fret it :-) And then let me know how it all went
Very good work ....but I think the cuts on the fretboard was a little to deep !!!
That's why at the end was showing , that under the fret was empty space ...and had to be fill out !!!
Also if the cut is deeper than it needed ...is weakening the straightness of the neck !!!
You could be right !!!!!!!!
Hi, its Super Glue
I watched a video where a guy rubbed sawdust into the gaps under the fret ends without gluing it, then he said no one would ever know... I'd say he's either been very lucky or his guitars hardly see the light of day.
What are you using at 4.10 when you clean up the ends of the frets?
A fret-end dressing file
supper man
What is that thing you apply on 5:30 ?
Thanks :)
Rosewood dust and superglue
At 0:45 I ended up blowing to the screen. Hehehee