Refretting a guitar is one of those things that sounds quite daunting at first, just like when you take your first steps fixing your bike, your car, or formatting your PC. However, learning how to refret a guitar can become a handy tool to add to your skillset if you intend to be a casual guitarist or are interested in knowing your instrument a bit better.
In some ways, refretting your guitar makes it less of a stranger to you and allows you to have a more in-depth knowledge of how it is built and assembled when you go to buy your next one. The transformative power of refretting can help to take your knowledge of the guitar, as well as your playing skills, to the next level.
If you think your guitar needs refretting, or you simply want to know more about the process for future reference, I have broken down everything you need to know to get started.
Frets are potentially the most important part of the guitar, as they dictate how the guitar sounds and allow you to accurately play notes and chords. Frets essentially divide your guitar into sections along the neck, acting as a guide for you to find notes with ease. They raise the tone or pitch of the guitar up or down a semitone, which is crucial in ensuring you hit the right tone. Without them, players are often left guessing as to where to find the right notes to play, making them extremely important when it comes to increasing playability.
Additionally, frets also act as a tension point for the guitar sound, meaning that when played, the string vibrates from the fret, rather than the bridge of the guitar. This allows the player to accurately produce a certain note, ensuring that they are playing with the correct intonation.
Any good guitar player should keep an eye out for fret wear and tear and act quickly to remedy the issue. Fret wear can be caused by many factors, some of which may surprise you.
Often, rust can occur due to the grease on our fingers (and eventually other environmental elements, such as dust, beer, nicotine and other such substances). Additionally, frets can simply become worn down after frequent use.
You will start to notice it in little things. Depending on how uniform the wear and tear on your fretboard is, you'll notice things like:
Chances are, if your fretboard isn't that worn down, fret levelling will keep you going for a while longer without having to resort to the hassle of refretting, which, if you are not too keen on doing yourself, will have to be handled by a professional luthier.
However, fret levelling will fix most of the issues mentioned above only temporarily, until you finally refret your axe. Fret levelling makes sure no frets are higher or lower than the rest, as this will significantly impact our playing, sound, and cleanliness.
By just making sure that the frets are in shape with a file or sanding tool, we can take the higher frets down to equal positions throughout the fretboard. In this video, you can see how easy this actually is, with two pieces of equipment:
There are several factors that influence the sound and feel of fret wire, including the width, the size and shape of the crown (the top part that we place our fingers on), or the material.
The most common material used for frets is Nickel Silver (which has no silver in it, despite its name), but there are a few others:
Refretting your guitar can seem a little daunting at first, which is fair enough, as it is a complex process. However, if you are careful and abide by the following steps, while making sure you act with precision at every turn, your guitar will be refretted in no time, and you can get right back to playing!
The first thing to do is remove the guitar neck from the body if it is bolted, as you will work much more comfortably this way. If your mast is glued, you will have to wrap and cover the whole body to protect it, as we do not want it to be damaged during the process.
Remove the tuners, string guides and nuts. Secure the neck with a vice, holding it by the neck socket and with rubber protections to not mark it. Make sure to support the blade so that it is firm to work on it, but we are not forcing the neck or deforming it.
On a rosewood fretboard, make sure the wood is hydrated before you start, or removing the frets could cause major splintering. If you see that the wood is dry, clean it and apply lemon oil as you would in regular maintenance. If your fretboard is varnished, pass a sharp blade on the joints to free the frets from possible varnish residues.
Now you can start to remove the frets. For this, you will need a normal pencil soldering iron, like the one used for electronics, and some small pliers with a flat tip. These are sold in lutherie tool stores for about 30€.
However, in any hardware store, you can buy almost the same ones for about 5€. The only thing you will have to do is file the head a little to make it completely flat to hold the frets well.
This is one of the most delicate steps. Pass the tip along the fret with the soldering iron delicately, as your main goal is to melt the glue and retract the wood slightly. The idea is to grab the fret with the tongs while you pass the soldering iron, and with very soft movements, grope it until it comes out.
On a varnished maple fretboard, you must be cautious how long you expose the soldering iron to the fret, or else you can burn the varnish, producing bubbles or even black spots that will not be removed.
In any case and for the same reason, be extremely careful that the tip of the soldering iron touches only the fret and not the wood by an oversight. Concentration in this step is fundamental.
Once you have removed them all, it is time to check the damage. It is usual for tiny pieces of wood to pop out in places. Keep them and glue them with cyanoacrylate.
If there is a hole or crack in the fretboard for some reason, you can try and repair it, again, with wood dust and cyanoacrylate. Once this paste dries, it can be sanded, and it will be quite disguised.
Next, confirm that the fingerboard radius is correct and consistent along the entire length of the neck. To do this, you will need a radius ruler, which you can buy online or at a hardware store.
If it's all good, we can go ahead. If not, sand it to give it the correct radius. In the case of rosewood necks, there is no problem. For varnished maple, you will have to remove the varnish first.
You will need a fingerboard sanding block of the correct size. First, put a sheet of 235 grit, self-adhesive sandpaper on it, before shaping it with forward and backwards movements.
It is very important to exert the same force on all points of the block to avoid sanding more on one side than the other and deforming the fingerboard. Check with the ruler every few passes. I emphasize this because I ruined a fretboard this way the first time.
Whether or not you have had to correct the radius, the next thing to do is clean the fret grooves of sawdust, wood and glue. Do this with a blade, however, it is easy to slip and scratch the fretboard in this process, so be especially careful.
Next, make sure that the width of the old fret tooth matches the new one you will install. With a triangular file, smooth the edges of the grooves so that the fret teeth enter without problems (no more than a couple of passes). After this, go over the grooves again with the blade to clean them thoroughly.
It is time to prepare the frets. When buying them, you can find them in several formats: in rolls of several meters (oriented towards manufacturers and professional luthiers) and in pre-cut rods of various sizes, straight or curved.Although I usually choose the curved ones for convenience, I recommend the straight ones if you will do this often.
You can bend them yourself to the curvature you need. You will need a fret bender from a good brand to do this. If you have time and a reliable hardware store at hand, you can take a look at YouTube, where you will find several tutorials that explain how to build one.
A very important detail to consider is that the frets that you are going to place must have a radius a little smaller than that of the fingerboard, that is to say, more curvature. If their radius is the same or more prominent, the edges will be slightly raised and poorly seated. The importance of the fret bender is paramount. Be very careful in this aspect.
The first thing to do is clean the rods with a rag soaked in solvent. This will remove any substance that might give us any problems with the glue.
Since each fret has a different length, it is convenient to have a place to put them in order once we have them cut. Starting with the last of the frets, we measure them. Cut with sharp pliers, leaving a few millimetres on each edge.
Once they are all cut and organized, it is time to introduce them into the grooves. Here you have several methods for all budgets. The most popular today are fret presses.
These offer great comfort and regularity because they press equally over the entire length of the fret at the same time. On the other hand, as you can imagine, they are a bit expensive.
There are several versions of the same concept, which also have their solution. I, however, opt for the method that has been used forever; a hammer with a rubber head. I have never used the press, but I have not had much trouble with the hammer either.
Another thing you will need is a support for the back of the neck that will hold it without marking it when it comes time to cock the frets. It is something as simple as a block of wood with a curved contour. You can make it yourself with a wood strip or, again, buy it here. Remember also that the workbench's surface should be as firm as possible. Take advantage of the area just above the table leg to maximize pressure transmission.
With all the preparations done, all that remains is to start inserting the frets. Put one or two small drops of cyanoacrylate on the tooth. With soft blows of the hammer, it is introduced first, at one of the ends. When it is ready, you cock it with light blows until the fret is perfectly seated.
If any of them are badly seated or short at one end, it should be removed and replaced. Never try to cock it from the sides, as it is possible that when you remove it, the fret will be deformed, in which case you will have to cut a new one. Any glue stains on the fingerboard should be removed immediately with a damp cloth. Keep one handy at all times.
Once all the frets are inserted, it is time to cut the excess ends. Use a Dremel-type mini drill with a cutting disc. You must do it little by little and with short passes to avoid the fret from overheating, as this could cause the fret to move as the glue melts or even burn the wood. Again, put protection tape on to avoid accidents.
With a straight wooden block on which you need to place a sheet of 235 grit self-adhesive sandpaper (the same you have used to give the correct radius to the fingerboard), finish off the frets on the sides. After that bevel the same by sanding the edges with an angle of 45 degrees, and delivering the final touches to leave them smooth to the touch with a file.
All that remains is filling the gaps between the fret tooth and the wood. For this there are two options: use putty or the famous formula of wood powder and cyanoacrylate.
In my personal experience, I must say that the putty is much more comfortable to work with. Once the mixture is dry, fine sandpaper (350 or 400) can give it a perfect finish.
Once this is all done, you will have to do the fret levelling we talked about at the beginning. Once that’s done make sure the frets are good to go, and restring your newly refretted guitar!
Choosing to DIY your refretting can be a cost-effective and informative exercise, however, you must be extremely cautious when doing so. Many people rush into refretting, and end up making crucial mistakes or learning hard lessons at the point where it's too late to save the guitar.
Before beginning the refretting process, make sure you have all of the following materials;
Additionally, you need to make sure you are adept at all the skills required to successfully refret your guitar. This includes sanding, filing, wood cutting, glueing with precision, measuring, and using key hardware tools such as Dremel drills and soldering irons. If you are not confident in these skills before refretting, I highly recommend practising beforehand to ensure you are up to scratch.
The biggest pitfall guitar owners make when refretting is rushing the process, which in turn can ruin the frets and even the guitars. Make sure you act with precision at every step, and take things slowly to avoid careless mistakes such as inaccurate measuring, over-sanding, or incorrectly bending the frets.
If you aren’t confident in the skills required to refret a guitar yourself, or you simply want to ensure that the job is done perfectly, it might be worth considering asking a professional to do it for you. While it may cost more at first, it can be a worthy investment to make sure that your guitar is in top shape for playing, and may also prevent you from needing future repairs.
If you are going to ask a professional to refret your guitar, it is crucial that you find an experienced luthier to do it. A luthier is someone who specialises in guitar making and repairs, and is the best person for a refretting job. Make sure you do your research before selecting a professional, by looking at reviews of luthiers near you, asking others in your community for recommendations, and even checking out some of the professional’s work to make sure they will do a good job with your guitar.
The big question is how much a refretting job is going to cost. This entirely depends on whether you DIY the job or ask a professional luthier to do it for you.
If you wish to do it yourself, the price may be more than you think, as quite a few materials are required. On the lower end, once you have bought everything you need, including the fretwire, fret press, sandpaper, and all the necessary tools and hardware instruments, you can expect to pay around 100-300€. However, the price significantly drops for subsequent refretting jobs, as you will have most of the materials you need, and can typically be done for under 50€.
However, if you opt for the professional option, you can expect to pay much more. As well as paying for the materials, you are also paying for the labour and skill of the luthier. Depending on your area and the experience of the luthier, you can expect to pay between 300-700€ for a full refund. This might seem steep, however, it is worth it if you don’t have the necessary skills yourself, and don’t wish to pay for the materials yourself.
To avoid needing costly repairs, it is important that you maintain your frets as well as possible. Here are some of my top tips to help you extend the life of your frets;
In most cases, levelling your frets will suffice to get your guitar back into top-notch playing standard. If you don't have the right tools, they are not hard at all to find and not all that expensive, considering you'll have them for life.
If you're at all curious about learning new ways of fixing and taking care of your guitar, I highly recommend trying to refret your guitar at some point. There is a lot of value that can be found in refretting the guitar yourself, as you will gain a deeper understanding of the instrument.
There are video tutorials on YouTube if you are nervous about it. Worst comes to worst, you will have to take your guitar to a luthier anyway to fix what you did. They might even be kind enough to give you some tips and show you where you went wrong.
So, technically, nothing bad can come of giving it a try!
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