Omega Posted February 4, 2008 Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 I just performed my first refret (bolt on 7-string Ibanez). After paying close attention to all of the 'how to' books, I'm still left with what a appears to be a problem (to me at least). After hammering in the fret wire, I've noticed there are some small spaces at the edges of the fret board (between the fret wire and the fret board). This spacing issue does not inflict all of the frets; mostly the upper frets. The space is about .25 mm or so. Please be aware the fret wire is NOT loose whatsoever, despite the spaces. I'm wondering if these spaces are a problem? I've done my best to eliminate them (ie, re-bend the wire, glue, etc.). However, the small spaces don't seem to go away. Based on your experiences, please let me know if you believe if I'm okay and can move on to the leveling process, or if I need to fix the spacing problem. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAI6 Posted February 4, 2008 Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 Maybe the slots aren't deep enough.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acousticraft Posted February 4, 2008 Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 Did you bend an even radius in the fret wire before you tapped it in. If not then it will not sit down properly at the ends where it really matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Posted February 4, 2008 Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 i`d say overbend the fretwire and check the slots too see if its deep enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted February 4, 2008 Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 check the depth of the fretslots, and deepen them if required. The gap you describe will be a problem down the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrentis Posted February 4, 2008 Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 Did you bevel the slots at all? This can make some very tiny gaps sometimes. After making sure the depth is enough, I might look at this. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MescaBug Posted February 4, 2008 Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 Check this post. I had a similar question some time ago. I was suggested to fill the gap with glue. Frets are rarely flush with the fretboard, except and high-end guitars. Even then. A friend of mine has a PRS McCarty, and it's easy to see that they filled the gap with black glue. http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...mp;#entry359872 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted February 4, 2008 Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 Check this post. I had a similar question some time ago. I was suggested to fill the gap with glue. Frets are rarely flush with the fretboard, except and high-end guitars. Even then. A friend of mine has a PRS McCarty, and it's easy to see that they filled the gap with black glue. http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...mp;#entry359872 I believe they were discussing the depth of the slot itself, as in the fret does not seat against the bottom of the slot. The fret should evenly seat against the fretboard. You need to ensure the slot depth is deep enough to make sure the tang does not bottom out. If you bind or inlay a fretboard, you need to also make sure glue has not filled the slot(again making it impossible for the fret to seat properly). It is also a good idea to bevel the top of the slot a bit (small file does the job quickly), as sometimes the tang and bottom of the fret are not perfectly matched at 90 degree (meaning the joint is a little rounded, and may not seat against a square edge at the top of your slot). If your frets are bottoming out, you need to remove the fret, check and make sure the slot depth is deep enough, and that the fret is not bottoming out at the top of the slot on a sloppy tang/fret joint. If you have binding, and the tang has been removed under the ends, you usually use a bit of CA under the fret ends, press till it sets, and your in business. Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega Posted February 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 Thanks for all the great suggestions. In fact, I'm going to go home for lunch (I'm at work) and check the depth of the slots, since I'm obsessing over the problem. I actually took some wood off of the fret board, so maye the slots have become too shallow. To note, I use a slotted pliers to bend the fret wire. It's harder than I thought. I'm not sure how 'perfect' the bend needs to be, but mine radius bends are typically always somewhat imperfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammy Posted February 4, 2008 Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 I'd vote for the slots being too shallow as well... Nice way to check this is get a small section (5cm) of your fretwire and put about a 45 degree backwards bend in it about 5-10 mm from the end. On this small straight section, file off the fret tangs. This should now easily slide in to the fret slots and will allow you to check every part of every slot carefully... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted February 4, 2008 Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 Not that you couldn't make a tool that does the exact same thing, but a tool like this link is good insurance against a shallow slot. Jammy's idea sound like a good one too. Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Abbett Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 (edited) I had the same symptoms but a differant cause. When I was finish sanding my fretboard, my slots were fine but my binding is softer the then wood, I must have angled my sanding block a little. I had a slight angle on the binding, it wasn't a perfect curve like the neck. My frets had a little angled gap where the binding was on one side. My solution was to sand the neck a tiny bit to even out the curve at the binding. It cleared up the problem. Oh, and I'm using home made tang cutters: End nippers ground flat. When I cut the tang sometimes it makes the end of the fret bend up a little. Sqeezing the metal on the tang makes it wider. This wasn't a problem, as I just used a bigger hammer. It went into place. -John [Edit: changed "neck" to "fretboard" per John's suggestion -Rick] Edited February 5, 2008 by Rick500 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalwarrior Posted February 10, 2008 Report Share Posted February 10, 2008 When taking some wood off the top of the board you may have accidently taken a bit extra off the edges. I did this to one of my necks. To fix the problem I left the frets about 10mm past the edge of the board and after pressing them in with a fret press I hit the ends with a hammer to over bend them and it did the trick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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