FRET FILES/NUT FILES

[GREGMW]

I was looking at Stew Macs site and see they have about 6 different styles of fret files ranging from $35 to about $90

What are you guys using and any suggestions?

SAME QUESTION FOR NUT FILES TOO

They have a 3 in 1 fret file (cat 0685) for $36.00 which I thought might be ok,

Thanks

Greg

[Guitarfrenzy]

The Stew Mac "Three-in-one" Fret File should do a good job for you. They are definetly the set I'd recommend someome starting out with, since they work great for the price. I have the Offset Diamond Fret File that Stew Mac sells, and it does a good job, but I'd recommend the 150 grit one, since the 300 grit one I bought is more for light crowning. It works great also. Basically either of the diamond and steel fret files should do you a very good job, it's just finding out which is best for you. Diamond files should last alot longer.

As far as the Nut files go. You can make your own out of a set of feeler guages. Roughen up the edges of the feeler guages so they will cut and you should have a good starting set. But to get ones that will last a long time, hopefully forever unless you lose them, you would want to invest in a good set of Nut Slotting files. You can look at a Stew Mac book that will list the recommended nut file sets for the type of instrument your planning on slotting for. For example, to do electric guitars they recommend these: #821, #4541, #4542, and #4543. Some of these files are double sided files that have 2 different sizes for one file. They aren't cheap, but they are very important for getting a professional nut slotting job. You can just buy a few at a time until you get them all.