Acoustic Guitar Refret part 1

[KayCee]

Hi all,

Here's an acoustic guitar refret that we did recently. Customer wanted jumbo frets on his Maestro CJ-1. Here's how it turned out.

regards,
KC

Acoustic Refret

This is a 10" radius fingerboard

Heating up the fret to loosen it from the slot

Removing the frets

Levelling the fingerboard with a 10" radius block

Removing gunk from the slots. Fingerboard looks new again.

Fretwire bent and cut to length.

Frets are hammered in using a brass hammer which doesn't mar the frets

A small straightedge is used to check if the frets are seated in properly.

The frets are crowned and polished. Guitar is good to go.

 

[Gr3y]

that seems like a good tutorial 8)

where can i buy frets to try it out?

 

[juju]

hi kaycee,
on a side note, can i know where can i purchase files for frets?
thanks

 

[vernplum]

May I ask, why does the fretboard need levelling? Isn't it already flat, or there has been some warping or what? Seems like quite a bit of sawdust - aren't the inlays affected?

Great series of pictures and very illuminating - thanks.

 

[Gr3y]

i believe its coz the fingerboard need some re-radiusing? the inlays wun be affected for sure.. do you know how thick inlays are? those wood dust are not enuff to kill those inlays to me..

 

[KayCee]

Hi Vern,

Good question, we need more of such questions to make this forum fruitful.

The fretboard approximates closest to a 10" radius, and I wanted to make sure I was getting a 10" radius throughout, hence I levelled the fingerboard. It's also a guarantee that the fingerboard will be dead flat after that. We check our work regularly with straight edges and going by feel is not enough. Hence, we take the necessary steps to ensure a specific result.

As for the wood dust in the pic, remember its an entire fretboard and hence the amount of dust generated can be misleading. Usually, levelling the fingerboard will take off less than half a millimeter of wood. if the guitar has been refretted several times, yes it would be safer to take off the inlays as the fingerboard has probably been levelled many times before that.

regards,
KC

 

[KayCee]

Juju,

You can purchase files from specialist luthiery stores liek LMI and stewmac

www.lmii.com
www.stewmac.com

Or, you can be like me when I started out, i.e use a triangle file to round the frets.

cheers,
KC

 

[KayCee]

Gr3y,

You can buy frets from the specialist stores that I mentioned in JuJu's post. or maybe you can try making them yourself! haha... kidding

cheers,
KC

 

[juju]

Kaycee,
thanks so much cheers!

 

[kahuna]

how much did the refrettin cost?

 

[Marksman]

Yeah, im pretty curious too... how much does a refret cost?

 

[KayCee]

Prices start from 250. For problematic necks, prices may vary. Generally, most refrets would fall between the 250 - 300 price range. Thanks

KC

 

[Marksman]

Nah, we should be the one thanking haha. =)

 

[Gr3y]

hmz.. i feel thats a very decent price for all those work.. i've heard about charges as high as $600 elsewhere! thats a scary rocket price imho...

 

[KayCee]

Gr3y,

Let's not compare prices here. Everyone has different business perspectives and as long as one does good work and makes someone satisfied, that's the most important. Cheaper doesn't mean worse and vice versa. At the end of the day, we believe what a customer wants is fair appraisal and quality work and we strive to deliver that everyday.

KC

 

[fgl]

nice touch to have the fretboard protector plate while heating the frets prior pull out ... normally hand hole the solder over the frets but having that protector (stewmac I believe) certainly adds security to the job at hand especially for maple / laquered necks

 

[KayCee]

Yeah certainly, actually even if the solder goes onto the fretboard, one will be sanding it down later. The protectors are from stewmac as I was simply lazy to go make some myself.

KC

 

[Zer09er]

Hi,
Just like to mention that Kaycee has done a killer refretting job on my axe. :wink:
Regards.

 

[deathism]

oooooh..millions of frets..they look so sweet.

and LARGE!

 

[rottenramone]

..

nice work KayCee!

still need to bring my stingray for some more filing. if only i had the time to.