daveinspain Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 I have a very bad habit of playing very heavy handedly on the guitar… I have posted in the past pics of some of the the frets on my guitar with really deep divots… I don't want to refret my guitars and lose my nibs and all that so I was thinking… Isn't there a way to fill the divots ? There must be some sort of solder or epoxy of something that NASA uses that would fill the divots and make them even stronger and better than before. If it doesn't exist someone should make something that will and market it… Seems logical, no? Could be something good for Gibson to think about... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted December 8, 2016 Author Share Posted December 8, 2016 What about silver solder, couldn't that fill divots and then sand them down to match the hight of the rest of the fret? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted December 8, 2016 Author Share Posted December 8, 2016 Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself, oh wait... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Can't be done. Refret, or file fret(s) down to height of divot. You will then have your own actionless wonder. I used to know someone with a LP that it had been done to. I couldn't play it. Best of luck anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunatic Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 It could be done, however any sort of building up of the divot using metal will require heat e.g. soldering or brazing. Even let's say you were willing to risk the fingerboard catching fire, you would have to find a metal that exactly matches the fret in terms of composition, bond, durability, etc. Given fret wire is an alloy with other trace elements, finding an exact match may be difficult. You would have to run some tests on the existing fret and proposed material to gauge the match, and more importantly, the strength of the bond. This will be time consuming and likely expensive. Then there are epoxy products, but again, there are risks in the application of these products. Simple is good - just get a re-fret. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 Quit playing the d@mn things, Dave! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quapman Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 Can't be done. Refret, or file fret(s) down to height of divot. You will then have your own actionless wonder. I used to know someone with a LP that it had been done to. I couldn't play it. Best of luck anyway. Damn, I thought another old f^ck like you would appreciate the old guitars. I loved my old actionless wonder. If you weren't such a good player I would fly over there and rip you a new one. lol. Dave, you can get them refretted. A decent luthier can put those nib things back on if you really need them. You will pay for it but it can be done. I would just have him grind them down to a proper height and be done with it. I'm likely the minority but I don't care about the nibs. Ahhhh but what do I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brc Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 Back in the early- mid 50s when I was just starting out playing guitar, one of my guitar teachers had a Fender Stratocaster which I will never forget . He did have all of his frets filed down and I loved that guitar. Even after I stopped taking lessons from him, he would let me borrow his guitar once in a while because he knew how much I loved the Stratocaster. Damn, wish I had it now . If you are thinking about a re-fret job, maybe consider taking them all the way down. I know most players don't like the feel of a fret less guitar, but it suited me just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 Damn, I thought another old f^ck like you would appreciate the old guitars. I loved my old actionless wonder. If you weren't such a good player I would fly over there and rip you a new one. lol. Ahhhh but what do I know. This was LOW, Quap....the frets were just bumps! The guy who owned it loved it but it buzzed and clanked and I couldn't get a clean note from it! As he mostly played with distortion full on it didn't matter to him. Anyway many thanks for the compliment - my old one is still working fine thankyou, though your offer of a free replacement is er, deeply touching ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 Depending on how deep they really are (they often do look worse than what the wear really is), you could try to use some 0000 steel wool to see if you can improve it. Tape the neck with some blue painters tape on either side of each fret you're working on to protect the rosewood/fret-board, and as an added precaution, cover the pickups, you don't want the residue and dust from the steel wool getting to the pups. most of the wear is probably in the first few frets and away from the pickups, but still, to be safe, cover them with this tape too. then just see what you can buff out on each fret. There's also the idea to have the frets re-leveled, of course, if you don't know what you're doing, bring it to someone who does. This will not remove excessive fret wear completely, but it will improve the wear marks. The only solution is of course, refretting... I don't think you'd loose the nibs if you find a guy who knows what he's doing. But at the end of the day.. there is no way to repair a fret by filling the wear lines. if they are that bad, they gotta go. eventually, you're going to need a refret, nibs or no nibs.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted December 10, 2016 Author Share Posted December 10, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 That repair looked surprisingly legit in the video, though I think the heat required to melt the solder will make a mess of the nib/binding. The guitar he is repairing didn't have binding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 Hmmmm. Solder is hard? Don't think it is. I hope this works for you but I'm concerned that it might not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted December 10, 2016 Author Share Posted December 10, 2016 Hmmmm. Solder is hard? Don't think it is. I hope this works for you but I'm concerned that it might not. That guy uses regular solder but I saw another guy using silver solder who said its harder and does a great job... I'm going to try it... Can't hurt and might be the perfect fix! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted December 10, 2016 Author Share Posted December 10, 2016 Hmmmm. Solder is hard? Don't think it is. I hope this works for you but I'm concerned that it might not. This guy uses silver solder and says its harder and does a great job... I'm going to try it... Can't hurt and might be the perfect fix! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdecantoo Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 I think this method would work but not with the materials he is using. The Solder he is using is too soft so it would not last long at all. I would try silver solder with at least 15% silver content. Also use the apropriate flux for the solder you will be using. The problem may be finding a fine tip soldering iron that would reach the temps to melt the solder. Silver solder requires a much higher temp. You might be able to use a pencil tip torch but you would have to use a heat shield instead of tape. Here they sell 4"x6" sheets of aluminum for flashing on roofs. Works well for heat shields. Cut some strips and use in place of the tape. Maybe place a dampened piece of, Paper towel or toilet paper under the shielding to help with the heat. Oil your fretboard first to keep from soaking up the moisture. As far as nibs go, maybe cut some strips of an old t-shirt a few inches wide, dampen with water and place on top of the nibs. Don't be shy with the heat shielding. The more the better. The color of the solder probably won't match the fret wire if that wouldn't be a problem. Would I recommend anyone doing this? No! Will I try it? Yes. Seems I have have the same issue with heavy handed playing! Edit, I'm pretty slow at typing with one finger! You beat me to the silver solder!lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 Can't hurt I think it most likely will damage the guitar. At the very least it has a lot of potential to hurt the guitar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 Do not do this. If you can't buff the frets down a bit you'll want to take it to someone and have new frets installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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