HNSMTFRG - My StewMac Refretting Tools Have Arrived - Woo Hoo!

[Modern Saint]

HNSMTFRG stands for Hot New StewMac Tools For Refretting Guitars

All my life I have been DIY'er. If I feel that the job on anything was too big, I don't have a problem to have someone else do it. My first work on a guitar was a pickup change done to my first electric. This included routing with a Dremel back when I was 16. With that change I also install a Badass bridge, tuners and the simplest of all straplocks. I knew of a really good guitar tech who I met later and would have him do my recrowning as well as other things that I was not comfortable doing.

Well 34 years later I now have the ambition to tackle the one job I feared the most. Considering the overall costs to have it done by someone else, I chose to now embrace my own confidence and savy to attempt it myself. Thanks to another guitarist who plays for a living and does instrument maintenance gave me the confidence to do DIY.

Here is the link to the day that I ordered the tools.

http://markweinguitarlessons.com/forums/showthread.php?27092-Guitar-Maintenance-StewMac-Tool-Order-for-Refret-jobs

My Tools Have Arrived!

The Tools Are All Laid Out

The Neck Sits In The Caul Cradle

The First Victim

The First Fret to be Removed

Ta Da - The First One is Out

Over Half Way Done

All Done

The High Register

To The Top

The next step will be to "Clean Out the Fret Gaps of Glue" and then "Level the Fretboard".

Mark I figure that you may put this thread into the Guitars, Guitars, Guitars later.

 

[dodgechargerfan]

Cool!
This is something I have been considering as well.
I have a couple of guitars that are really not worth paying someone to refret and I have a pile o' parts that I'm going assemble and the neck could use a fret job..
So, two or three jobs should be reason enough to invest in the tools.
The bonus is acquiring a new skill.

Good luck with your project.

 

[Modern Saint]

Getting ready to planning the fretboard for high spots with my fretfile as my helper Tabitha looks on.

Planning the fretboard with the fretfile

Tools to clean the fretslots

Curved blade to remove any residual glue from the fret slot. Nothing came out as I feel that this guitar already once had a fret job. The frets were to easy to pull out.

Using the fretslot saw to deepen and clean out the fretboard. There are two blades to used to push and pull towards the center so no damage is done the outer edge.

All Done for now

Close of the fretboard

I have a couple of items to get still and hopefully that is it.

• Fretboard Planer to restore the radius
• Radius Gauge
• 18" Straight Edge
• Frets (6150) - Gonna buy them from Warmoth since I love the feel of my new neck.

Glue is on the way and should be here tomorrow. The other items sometime next week. drool0

 

[tgk03]

I am so excited that you are doing this and documenting it. I may get the courage to put a new fretboard on project guitar in the wings....

 

[Tiltsta]

Wow. This is going to be a great thread!

 

[Chad]

very cool.

 

[Lerxst]

When I need a refret, I know who I'm calling

 

[Elias Graves]

EG

 

[Mark Wein]

 

[Chad]

Those pics remind me of the fretless bass I made in college. I had an old beater bass, so I decided to rip out the frets, fill the slots and make it a fretless. It didn't turn out half bad, the bass was crap to begin with.

 

[Tiltsta]

This thread definitely needs to be added to the blogs when it is all done.

 

[Modern Saint]

I am so excited that you are doing this and documenting it. I may get the courage to put a new fretboard on project guitar in the wings....

Thanks TGK! I don't think it is courage, it is more being cheap as well as trust.

Those pics remind me of the fretless bass I made in college. I had an old beater bass, so I decided to rip out the frets, fill the slots and make it a fretless. It didn't turn out half bad, the bass was crap to begin with.

Thanks Chad. My old bass player - you know the one wearing the makeup took his Music Man Stingray Bass and did the samething back in the early 80's. I guess we were willing to try anything back then - well and not too.

This thread definitely needs to be added to the blogs when it is all done.

I gotta remember that

 

[Modern Saint]

Here is my continuing saga on my refret project. Like any start up business or project, a small investment is necessary so yesterday I got more goodies.

Verifying the straightness of the neck. I will be adjusting it so that when I sand the fretboard, everything will be uniform.

Radius Guages

Verifying Neck Radius

I checked it in multiple places to verify that I don't have a progressive fretboard.

Verifying Snading block curvature. I will use the block along with attached sandpaper to cleanup the fretboard.

Measuring at the nut and first fret. I will eventually be ordering a Floyd for this guitar as well as the clamp and need to know the whether I will be using R2 or R3 for the nut.

I will show more progress on cleaning the neckup later and am awaiting my order for frets from Warmoth. I chose to go with Warmoth's frets as I like the feel of my rebuilt Tele.

 

[Chad]

you have way more patience than I. Lookin good.

 

[OGG]

You're gonna be a pro at this stuff in no time Randy.