LaXu

If you can't find replacement C-clips you can use a piece of guitar string. I've done that with several saddles due to either losing the tiny C-clips or breaking them. As long as you lodge the string in there well it'll work. Kinda sucks that no-one in Finland sells tune-o-matic parts..you'd have to buy a whole new bridge.

What's wrong with hand bent frets and press? I imagine when I press the fret to fretboard it should conform to the shape of the board. Why I don't want to make a roller bender is because it's a lot more work - the hardware stores near me really suck if you want to find something like the parts used for the Stewmac style fret bender and I don't have access to a router to make the one on the main PG site.

Early this year I refretted one of my guitars, an old Yamaha semihollowbody with a bound ebony fretboard. I hammered the frets in but in the end I had to glue almost all fret ends, some frets were bent due to too much hammering and some frets weren't tight against the fretboard in the middle. I think the reason was that the original fretwire had bigger barbs than any current fretwire..the fretwire with biggest tangs and right size I could find was the Dunlop 6120. So now I'm doing it again, this time I intend to press the frets in. I've built a DIY version of the new Stewmac "Jaws 2" press (fancy name for a block of wood, C-clamp and special cauls...). Using 6120 fretwire again. Anyway, how much should I overbend the frets? I've never found a clear explanation of how they should be overradiused - the Stewmac tutorial pictures show a very big radius and recommends hammering them in with one blow while others show much less radius and tapping them in.. What about tools to bend them? I don't fancy building a Stewmac style bending machine. Last time I used two pliers but if someone can think of a better tool, I'm all ears. Also, if I have to widen the tang, what's the best way to do this? Preferably using common tools, since I don't have access to Stewmac tools because I'm on the other side of the world.

I see, that's kind of what I thought. I marked the fret tops with a blue marker first and the sanding stone did take the marker off the tops on every fret but when I was recrowning (with sandpaper and a triangle file) I propably took too much off the problem frets.

Okay, I'm doing my first refret. Since I'm stupid, I decided to tackle using one of my favorite guitars, an old Yamaha SA-1200S semi-hollowbody made between 1979-1894 (don't know exactly what year). It has a bound ebony fretboard. After running into severe frets-popping-up problems with one fretwire, I got Dunlop 6120 and that sits better. It turned out that the original fretwire had barbs that were bigger than anything on current fretwire. I did manage to run into propably 70% of all refretting problems, from chipped wood to having to glue frets down. I've got the guitar fretted (though some of the fret ends could be sitting better against the binding) now and it plays well for the most part, but some frets have issues. The worst is the 17th fret, high E string. With the action low(ish), instead of an A5 note I get Bb5. Basically the 17th fret just buzzes and won't ring clearly. Raising the action cures this so I assume that the 17th fret is just a little low compared to the 18th? There's also some buzz when bending D and G strings at the 13th and 14th. Some minor buzzing on the 6th fret A string and 8 fret D string. What I'd like to know is how to fix all these? Did I just do a bad job leveling the fretboard and ended up with some frets that are a little too low? Should I just level it again? Is it okay to just level for example frets 6-22 since frets 1-5 are fine or am I better off leveling the whole thing?

Thanks. Will give that a try. First I have to replace a couple of frets though, they are way too low and leveling the others would take a bit too much off the tops.

Unfortunately I'm on the other side of the world. Sure I could get them from Stewmac but after shipping costs and possible taxes it wouldn't be cheap. Not to mention having to wait for them to arrive... I'd still like to hear some tips on filing technique with a triangle file.

Any ideas on making your own fret crowning tool? I tried making one by grinding a slot into a toothbrush and using sandpaper but that didn't seem to work too well, didn't round well. What other things I could use? I really don't want to buy a 50€ fret file... The traditional method of crowning the frets seems to be using a triangle file. What kind of file should I use and especially how? What's the best way to file to get a well rounded fret? Oh and I'm using Dunlop 6120 fretwire, ebony fretboard with binding.

Another thing to keep in mind is that trademarks don't automatically apply to the whole world. For example Gibson can't do much about exact Les Paul copies sold in Japan for example. They can't have the Gibson name on the headstock, but the design is exact from headstock to body shape. If these manufacturers want to sell the guitar in the States, they must change the headstock and body shape as far as I know.

Beveling didn't seem to help much. I got different fretwire with larger barbs and that helped quite a bit. I think I have to glue most of the frets though, because many seem to spring up a bit. I understand you could make a caul out of a block of wood with the fretboard radius carved in? Then covered with sheet metal (since just wood won't be strong enough). I've already made a curved support block for the back of the neck so could I just put some glue in the slot and then use a big C-clamp with the homemade caul to both press the frets in and also keep them seated while the glue dries?

Can't really see the tiny round anywhere, but I'll try beveling them. I actually did that but maybe I didn't bevel them enough?

I'm doing my first refret on my Yamaha SA and it seems EVERY fret won't go all the way down. Always stays about a paper's height off the fretboard (you can slip a piece of paper under the fret). I'm really puzzled by what causes this. To check the depth, I filed the barbs (I think those small nibs in the side of the fret tang are called that?) off on a short piece of fretwire and it goes in all the way on every fret, so it's not like the fret slots are too low. The old frets can also be installed back easily and seem to go in very easily. But when I try to install a new one, with barbs and all, it never goes in all the way and requires much more work to get in. Always stops just a paper's height from the fretboard and no matter how much I pound it won't go further. I install them by bending the frets (with part of the tang cut to facilitate the fretboard) to a smaller radius than the fretboard, then tap each end in a bit with a hammer then tap the fret in by tapping from side to side along the fret. Have tried different hammers and techniques and the result always seems to be the same. Under the neck I have a padded block of wood as support for the neck. Any advice?

Thanks for your help, I better forget that idea then. Guess I'll get the guitar and use the side dots for "manuevering" instead and have the inlay done by a pro when the guitar needs a refret.

You sure? Couldn't you just carefully file each inlay until it's level with the board?

I was thinking of getting me an Ibanez SZ520. I've tried it and liked pretty much all but the inlays (or lack of 'em more like)...there's only a confusing flame inlay on the 11-13th fret area. Now, would it be possible to add your own inlays to the other frets? What kind of problems could arise? Would leveling the inlays so that they match the fretboard radius be difficult? What would it cost (tools needed, inlay materials) to make something like block or trapezoid inlays (or something that goes with the 11-13th fret flame)? Oh and do you think someone who's never done inlay work could do the job? Of course I'd practice on plywood or something first..