Fret Work

Frets take a lot of abuse: string pressure, bending, oxidation — over time it all adds up. Worn frets can cause buzzing, dead spots, poor intonation, and an instrument that fights you instead of playing for you. But don’t fret! (Pun intended.) You probably don’t need a full replacement.

Fret Rehab

Assuming you have enough fret height left (and you probably do), this process will restore a like-new experience to your fretboard for a relatively minimal cost:

• Level — A precision straight-edge is used to sand all frets to a uniform height, eliminating high spots that cause buzz and dead notes.
• Crown — Each fret is re-profiled to a rounded top, minimizing string contact area for better tone and feel.
• Dress — Fret ends are beveled toward the fingerboard so they don't catch on your hand as you move up the neck. No sharp edges!
• Polish — Every fret is polished smooth and shiny for looks and feel.

Fret Surgery

You probably don’t need this yet. But when you do, know that it’s major surgery — and it’s costly. The results are pretty amazing, though. Not only do you get shiny, new frets… you get a completely smooth, crowned, and burnished fingerboard. It’s like a fresh canvas for your art.

It’s expensive because the process is extremely labor-intensive:

• Remove – Each fret is heated to loosen the glue and carefully pried up to minimize splintering on the fingerboard.
• Radius – Using a white wax pencil, I scribble densely over the whole board. With a radius sanding block that matches your original fingerboard radius, I level the fingerboard carefully, using the pencil marks as a guide so I know when I’ve touched every square inch. Note: this procedure is not for lacquered maple necks, only exposed hardwoods.
• Repair – Many fingerboards have chips or valleys that can be repaired using wood dust and glue. Once sanded, you won’t feel a thing.
• Slot Prep – Between the original glue residue and dust, and all the new dust I’ve added from sanding, those slots are full of gunk. Each slot is cleaned and tested for depth and width against the new fret wire.
• Install – Each fret is fitted into place, one-by-one, slowly and carefully to be sure that they are fully seated end to end. Then each of the extending ends are clipped. If the fingerboard has a binding, the trimming is more complex and happens before pressing them in.
• Glue – Using capillary action, cyanoacrylate glue is carefully flowed into the slots to hold the frets in place. I use woodworkers paste wax to protect the fingerboard from glue residue.
• Fret Bevel – The ends are straight and often a bit wide of the fingerboard at this stage. I use a special filing block to bevel them towards the center of the neck on both sides.
• Clean Up – There is always some last minute remediation of chips, glue, scratches, etc. to handle before working on the frets themselves. If you have a lacquered maple fingerboard, this may include repairs to chips in the nitrocellulose finish.
• Fret Level, Crown & Dress – Finally, I follow the same procedure detailed at the top to make your new frets play like a new guitar.

Hopefully this helps you understand why this is a costly job. Each of these steps is labor-intensive, and many of them are repeated fret-by-fret (times 22 or 24).