Refretting Musical Instruments

Ok, first let me begin by saying this is not a course on refretting. So don't try this on your '54 Strat, blah blah blah.
This page will give you a very good idea of how fret work is done, but again, I'm not trying to teach do-it-yourselfers here and my example below is of a neck in perfect condition with no twist or turns, nothing squirrely, equipped with a truss rod, never been refretted ...a cakewalk in other words this is as bare bones simple as they come.

Unfortunately poorly executed refrets have led many owners to tears as well as much deeper in their pocket. The number one reason I replace fingerboards is because someone destroyed the board while attempting to refret it. And there have been many times where I have had to explain to a customer that their "handiwork" will now make future repairs difficult, noticeable or down right expensive.

While adjustments and set-up's are easy to "make right" should your instrument fall into unskilled hands, I can assure you that replacing the fingerboard on your beloved Les Paul or seeing your collectors piece be scared for life is a bit disheartening.

Fret Removal

Heat 'Em Up, Move 'Em Out
 

First thing we've gotta do is get the old frets out. On the Strat pictured below I removed the bolt-on neck because it makes for much easier handling, yippee. I use a soldering iron to heat the fret prior to removal. My iron has a large tip, scuffed up a bit with a notch so it doesn't slide all over the fret and down onto the fingerboard. Heating them is a simple procedure as long as you avoid tattooing the board with the hot tip or touching your iron to plastic inlays and binding...poof!
 

 
Many frets were installed using a glue of some sort (usually aliphatic or Hide glue). Heat will soften that glue and ease removal, when warmed I can sometimes see it bubbling out below the fret.
On dry, brittle fingerboards a great deal of care must be taken. The tang which holds the fret in it's slot has many small "teeth" known as tangs which grip and compress the slot in order to hold it firmly. These teeth (see below) can can create chipping when the tang is being pulled from a dry or brittle fingerboard.
Goal number one is obvious, clean removal.  But when chipping can not be avoided I put the extra time and patience into gluing the chips back, filling what's missing and generally putting it into the best condition possible. Vintage boards can require a great deal of extra work. It's generally very difficult to spot the repaired chips but apparently it is not a procedure practiced by all as I see numerous chipped boards out there. Yuck!

"Pinching" the Frets Out

With a small pair of end nippers whose face has been ground flat, I slowly pinch under the fret and 'walk' the nippers from one side to the other immediately after heating the fret. Pinching is the key here. I avoid pulling upward and allow the wedging created by the nippers tip to lift the fret from the slot. You can see how cleanly the frets were removed on this one, but, not to blow my own horn, it was a relatively new board which had not been 'tinkered' with.

You can see the frets barbed teeth, often referred to as "fret tang" above.

Fingerboard Preparation
Preparation is 90% of the job.

Once the frets are out it's time to clean up the slots and fingerboard.

Depending on the age and wear on the instruments this can be a simple task or a bit more involved. Now is the time to insure the fingerboard is flat and plane it if necessary. Slight twist in necks can sometimes be repaired by planeing the fingerboard perfectly flat. There are limitations however...severely twisted necks could require so much planeing that one would drastically thin the fingerboard in order to achieve a flat surface.
Overly compressed frets, chips and divots can leave impressions in the board which will need to be leveled and sanded. Any damage to the fingerboard or fret slot is now repaired.

Fingerboard Radius
 

 
Checking the fingerboards radius.

If you look at the picture to the right you can see the different radii commonly used on fingerboards.  20" being pretty flat and  7.25" (or even 6 on some) being about as arched as they come. Different models and manufacturers use various radii ranging from dead flat to the cylindrical shape of an ole style Strat. Classical guitars and Mandolins often have boards that are very nearly dead flat and quite often give the illusion of being concave (which is possible, by the way, if the board has been zapped of all moisture and is drying out like a potato chip.)  This radius should be determined before any sanding begins.

 Changing the Radius

Can I change the radius of my fingerboard? To some extent the original radius can be changed if desired. We are however limited by the fingerboards inlays and overall thickness. A drastic change to the radius could require so much wood removal that we endanger the inlays or thin the board. Normally when I receive a request to change the radius it is because a heavy string bender wants a flatter radius up the neck.

 Compound Radius

A "compound radius" means the board starts out with a greater arch at the nut and gently tapers into a flatter radius. A good way to compare a single radius fingerboard to a compound radius is to compare the cylindrical shape of a spray can with the conical shape of an ice cream cone. When you lay them both on their sides you will see that the can's radius remains the same while the cone's radius increases (becomes more arched) as we near the tip.

Does that make sense? I hope so, because if you can get a hold of that concept you can understand what many heavy string benders have discovered... bending a string on a 7.25" radius neck will have the string "fretting" out in no time. Unfortunately the only way around it is crank the action up, flatten the radius or stop bending the string.

With the truss rod adjusted in a manner to render the neck as flat as possible I use a caul that matches the fingerboards radius and reshape as necessary. Clean, new boards like the Strat neck pictured here may require only a light scuffing while boards with damage, deep wear or warping may require planeing and resurfacing.  Get the mask, we may make some dust.

Next....Fret Wire Choice and Fingerboard Preparation