Fret Installation for the Unbound Fretboards
Source: Fret Repair
Fret Installation – Unbound Fretboards:
Replacing the frets on a guitar with an unbound fretboard can be one of the most straight-forward repairs you will make. This article explains the process of fret installation only. Read the article Fret Finishing for Unbound Fretboards for the final steps in this fret repair.
This type of repair usually involves an Indian Rosewood, Ebony or Maple Fretboard and standard crown frets.
Articles You Should Review:
Fret Assessment
Essential Fret Repair Tools
Optional Fret Repair Tools
Specialty Fret Repair Tools
Fret Problems
Anatomy of a Fret
How to Remove Frets
Tools and Materials Required:
Sturdy Workbench
Protection Pad
Top Protection Template
Neck Cradle
Roll of Fretwire
Plastic Tipped Hammer
Fine Dovetail Saw
Bag of Lead Shot
24″ Stainless Steel Straightedge
Reworks End Nippers
Fret End Dressing Tool
12″ Bastard File
Fretboard Leveling Tool
Fret Files
Needle Files
Silicone Carbide Sandpaper
Garnet Sandpaper Assortment
#0000 Steel Wool
Guitar Preparation:
Secure the guitar on the workbench by clearing off any unused tools and materials. Set the neck in the Neck Cradle and secure the guitar to the workbench.
Remove the strings and place the top protection template on the guitar top plate and tape it into position.
Start with fret removal with the end nippers. See the article on Fret Removal for detailed information of this step.
Check Your Neck Relief:
Check the neck relief with the strings off the guitar. If there is tension or compression of the fretboard from the truss rod, you may need to slacken the rod to let the neck rest. If the fretboard is too concave or convex to be leveled by the fretboard leveling process listed in the step below, you may need to crank in some forward or backward bow into the guitar neck.
Always check with a straghtedge (a very straight edge), prior to starting a repair on the the fretboard leveling process. You don’t want to end up with a fretboard that is thick on the ends and thin in the center or visa-versa.
Level the Fretboard:
Next you should load your Fret Leveling Tool with 100 garnet sandpaper and make long even strokes along the length of the fretboard, until it is completely level and all of the imperfections are gone.
Set a 24″ Stainless Steel Straightedge on the fretboard and check that there are not humps or valleys in the wood. If there are, continue to sand until the fretboard is completely dead-level flat. This is essential in order to have a successful fret job.
Now go over the fretboard with 220 Garnet sandpaper loaded in the Fret Leveling Tool.
Clean Out The Fret Channels:
The fret channels will need some cleaning. You can do this with a Fine Dovetail Saw. You should prep your saw with a couple of pieces of thin scrap wood on either side of the blade that is gaged to the coordinate with the fret tang depth. This way you will keep the fret slots a consistent depth and be setup to drive your frets into position.
Ultimate Guitar Repair Tip #1: Keep several fret channel saws on hand with different blade cutting widths. Use the one that is closest to the width of your fret tang for the best success rate.
Prepare the Frets:
I like to use a temporary fret holding jig. It is very easy to make. Just take some scrap wood and drill hole large enough to fit a fret end into the hole. Drill the holes about 1/4″ or so apart and as you cut each fret to length, place it in the appropriately numbered position, which you mark on the jig. This way no frets get mixed up and you have them right at your fingertips.
Cut each fret to length with the Reworked End Nippers. I cut the frets about 1/8″ long. Cut the frets from side to side and not top to bottom as you tend to crush the tang this way.
Prepare the Fret Channels:
Just one more little preparation job is handy here. I take a triangular file with fine teeth and run tit parallel with the fret channel. This puts a little chamfer on the wood edges of the channel and allows the next repairman (which could be you), a much easier time of unseating the frets without the wood chipping as much.
Fret Installation:
Take your plastic hammer and start installing the frets. start at one end of the fret slot and gentle tap the fret until it is fully seated in the channel. Sight down the channel to make sure of this.
Double check that the fret is standing perfectly vertical before you go any further. Once you are assured that the fret is vertical, progressively pound the fret into the channel until you reach the opposite end. Give the very ends of the frets a few extra raps to make sure they are seated properly. This may bend the overhanging fret end over a bit, but that is OK as long as it is slightly bent.
Frets Over the Soundboard:
This fret installation is often a challenge for the repairman. The fretboard that extends over the guitar top is not very well supported and you get a lot of bounce when hammering the frets into place, often to the point where all you do is hammer and get nowhere.
I take the canvas bag full of lead shot and after starting the fret, hold the lead shot into position with one hand and locate it beneath the fret being hammered and this takes a lot of the hammer shock out of the top. You should have at least 3 – 5 pounds of lead shot in the bag for this to be effective.
If you are going to get humps or waves in your frets, it is in this location that it will likely happen.
Next we will discuss the dressing and finished of the fret job to put this final professional touches on the job. See the following article Fret Finishing for Unbound Fingerboards.
Tags: fret dressing, fret installation, fret job, how to install frets, unbound fretboard fret installation
