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Refretting


bluefoxicy

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I'm curious about refretting. What would happen if I refretted my special 2? Why would I want to? What would I use for a fret wire? Bigger, smaller, closer to the board, further away, wider, narrower? What advantages do the changes produce? What damage does yanking off the old frets and adding new ones cause?

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My only .02 has more to do with the undertaking and not the benefits/drawbacks.

 

A buddy of mine is fast becomming a real good guitar tech/amateur luthier. He buys used guit's cheap and totally works em over. He's done some work on a couple of my guitars with excellent results.

 

He does virtually everything. . .but refretting scares the crap out of him.

 

He learned everything else on his own. We're talking learning the proper Ohm'age when wiring, to setting the action to the 'nth degree.

 

But, he's thinking about taking a class on how to do a fret job.

 

Anyway, you're talking about a cheap'ish guitar, so it's really your call.

 

I'd say do some homework, and go for it.

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The guitar plays great actually, it's had new pickups and tuners added, truss rod and intonation adjustment, I installed a new graphite nut, and it's getting new electronics as soon as I get my hands on some caps (hell I might do it when I get home, I can rewire it again later.. oh right, ran out of solder).

 

I'd love to level the existing frets properly though.

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The guitar plays great actually' date=' it's had new pickups and tuners added, truss rod and intonation adjustment, I installed a new graphite nut, and it's getting new electronics as soon as I get my hands on some caps (hell I might do it when I get home, I can rewire it again later.. oh right, ran out of solder).

 

I'd love to level the existing frets properly though.[/quote']

 

With all the money your throwing at it you could have bought a real guitar.

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Yup. I'm just a Network Administrator for NASA when I'm not messing with my guitar stuff. I'd have to have retraining to mod an amp. But there is a point as to how far you can take a Special vs the overall sound you get out of it for the investment. There is good money in fixing and modding amps and guitars. Skilled people are very hard to find.

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It's largely about pulling the things out. with a minor in proper seating.

Ever see bare fret wire?

Then if you build amps in your sleep the question should be self explanatory.

Google the details and go have fun.

 

TWANG

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I just wnt to know if I can use a soft pine board to tap down a high fret...or do I have to go buy a fret hammer?

The pineboard will work just fine Unless of course the fret hammer is made of tonewood. You could then belt some tone into your guitar. I believe Lennon used to strike his guitar with a tonewood hammer. Or was it Clapton =D>

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Re-fretting is only necessary when you notice that there are worn low spots in the frets where the string crosses and there's not enought fret height to dress and polish. If a fret dressing has never been done, you should be able to dress and polish and make it play better than it ever has. Cost: Zero if you can do it, Under $100 if you have to pay for it.

 

Do a google search for fret dressing. Find the Magic Marker method. It's not rocket science. Be careful, take it slow, and understand and follow the directions and you should be fine.

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I just wnt to know if I can use a soft pine board to tap down a high fret...or do I have to go buy a fret hammer?

 

A pine board is too soft.

I've just finished doing a LP custom fretboard for my LP project guitar (Spotlight Special)

and I got a fret hammer from Stew-Mac. It's a cheap but necessary investment

when you are going for a new fret installation or a refret. I didn't go for the cauls

because this is a one-off project, but I made my own out of hardwood (with a 12 inch radius)

for clamping in the frets after I installed them them with the fret hammer. I used

industrial strength cyano-acrilate to hold the frets in, but it soaks into the wood and

and difficult to scrape off, but it works well.

 

Now that I'm about ready to glue the fingerboard onto the walnut neck, I'm going to

order a radiused sanding block, but the fret sanding and dressing isn't going to

be done until the neck is under tension with the strings and the truss rod is adjusted.

BTW, I used my fret wire full length so that it is easier to hold. You have to slightly prebend

it or start in the middle of the fretboard and work out towards both ends. Cut the fret wire

to proper length with a pair of diagonal cutters (dikes).

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A Re-fret job is not for newbies....you can really mess up a guitar if you don't know what your doing or have the wrong tools. I'm going to come right out and say it....your guitar isn't worth it either. I could see it of you wanted Jumbo SS dunlop frets for a higher end guitar...then OK.

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As mentioned, unless you are really bored, you don't want to re-fret a neck just for fun. Many times I've had people come to me thinking they need a re-fret when all that was required was a level. However I worked on a '72 SG Special once and while I was doing the tune-up I noticed that it had been refretted, badly, in the past. I mentioned this to the owner and eventually he followed my advice and brought it in for a second refret job.

 

So here's the first lesson: a badly done re-fret can be worse than no re-fret. It's not a simple job. This other guy had really morxed up the fingerboard when he pulled the old frets out.

 

Anyway, long story short, it took me a full day to re-fret this SG, and that's with the watchful eye of Brian Monty over my shoulder giving me the step-by-step and providing all the funky tools and materials required.

 

Second lesson: if you want to learn this, cool, but don't try to learn it by yourself on a guitar that means a lot to you. I was very fortunate to have expert tutelage.

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