Sorry to say this, but sincerely, I feel you are learning in this video, not teach. You are missing many details and I stopped the video after 5 minutes. You are not measuring the tang of those frets and making sure they will fit in fretboard. You also do not show how you pulled the frets, your technique. If you are teaching, you cannot miss these points, and that is only in the first 5 min. Sorry.
Little tip, ALWAYS tape off your fretboard before rounding off the fret ends or doing any sort of work on the frets, you can seriously fuck up your board without it
Cheers mate! Yes you're absolutely right. I've just built my first guitar neck for the great guitar build off and the next step is to fret it. I definitely don't want to damage that!! Thanks for watching
@@AlexisGuitars No problem man! I thought this video was from a great beginner stand point, alot of these tutorial videos are professionals who have done this thousands of times already, but you did a great job showing what a more realistic experience will be like, mistakes and all, I remember the first few times doing this was really tricky and I ended up having to replace the neck on one of my strats because I didn’t tape my fretboard off and had a bunch of really bad looking tool marks of the edges, I didn’t get good at it until doing it for maybe the 5th or 6th time, but it’s a very fun process once you get the hang of it, and the satisfaction of having done an amazing fret job on your guitar is unlike anything else 😌
I really appreciate the feedback, thank you! My hope is that this inspires others who are new to fretwork to give it a go, showing that if I can do a half decent job so can you haha
I'm on my 4th refret starting in a week and I can feel your pain. In my first one I kind of knew it was gonna be difficult so I spent a lot of time trying not to screw up. As you said, patience is really important! Watching a lot of quality material about this will help a ton.
Good luck for.your next re-fret! Absolutely agree, patience, watching TH-cam vids and simple practice is so important. I thought I did an ok job in this video considering it was my second time, but I really needed a levelling beam haha now that I have one I'll revisit this fret job. Thank you for watching and commenting!
@@AlexisGuitars I'm about to do my second refret since im just not happy with the first one. I didnt have the right tools (mainly a good leveling block) and the fret rocker wasnt good quality. The higher frets arent well levelled. One tip I would say, as @AlexisGuitars mentioned... make sure you have proper tools (most important are a leveling block, fret rocker and crowning file)... I got most of my tools from Amazon (aside from crowning file) and they werent good quality... Other tools from amazon like soldering iron, fret saw and puller are fine from Amazon but the tools that you need to make sure the frets are level, you will need quality stuff... doesnt mean you need to spend an arm and a leg though. Ive found a brand called Hosco thats made in Japan and good quality but doesnt cost an arm and a leg.
The issue with basing fret leveling on a few frets via fret rocker, is it only checks to see if those few frets are level to the same plane. This plane doesn't necessarily represent the span of the neck. I've been able to check an entire neck with a fret rocker, but it's a different story when you put a notched straight edge over most of the frets.
Great! Good luck with the refret. Remember the fret levelling step. I only did a spot level here and have since learnt the importance of fret levelling 😂 there are loads of helpful videos on how to do it properly. Thanks for watching!
Alexis thank you. I will now start doing this myself because of your video. I will take my time, and learning from you, I will not miss out levelling the whole fretboard, where I would have been tempted to make your mistake. Thanks again. I love big frets and I cannot lie.......
That's great! Good luck with your fret job! Definitely consider getting a long straight-edge or levelling beam that you can glue some sandpaper to (using the masking tape and super glue trick) in order to level out the frets. There are some fairly cheap straight spirit levels on amazon which should do the trick if you are on a budget like me!
Cheers! Glad it was helpful. Since this video I've switched to using wood glue when installing frets. It's so much easier to clean than super glue. Best of luck mate!!
I made the stupidest mistake and rounded the edges before I put the new frets. As a result I get my high E string caught under the fret ends. Besides that everything came out great, sucks that I made that mistake but it was my first ever fret job and I went with stainless steel frets. So I’m somewhat proud of myself for how level and shiny they came out. Have to give myself some credit for taking on SS frets and not really messing up the frets but rather the neck lol if that makes sense.
Haha thanks for the tip! I was actually wondering whether it might be better to round them off first, but good to know what to look out for! That's impressive that your first go with stainless steel frets went so well. My first ever attempt (this video was my second) was years ago with stainless steel too but I made a mess of it. I was just experimenting to see what's involved. Luckily the neck is still useable, just needs another fret job!
@@AlexisGuitars thanks. I also did Ibanez style rounded fret ends. I used the boroqe fret fill to do the ball ends, it works really good with SS. I used a dremel to cut the fret tangs and then did the round over, I also used calipers to get the fret length right since I can’t file the fret ends after pressing them in. It was a huge learning curve lol but now I can’t wait for my next try.
only cuz ya asked... its nice to use the rocker & marker to accent ALL of the high spots TOGETHER, so you can see the BIG PICTURE in one perspective. itll keep you from "chasing" high spots all the way into next week.
Hi Robert, this isn't a tutorial. This is me sharing/vlogging my first time giving this a proper go. A refret is both a daunting task and a fun money saving skill, so a realistic documentation of what it looks like for a beginner might be interesting for some. Hope that clarifies
@@AlexisGuitars thanks Alexis, I'll give it a watch. I'm afraid the how to videos search pulled yours up and... I like the way you phrase it as a "sharing of your first time", that's helpful!
U need to level the fret using leveling beam, fill in the wood chip using the wood dust n radius the board back properly before refret. U can get the dust from the board. Don’t let the fret board ugly with the chip, that show the people who work on it..
What did you do about the gunk that was at the end of each fret slot when you put the new frets in? Did the glue that you put in spread out and recreate it? Or did you leave the tangs going all the way to the edge of the fretboard? Cheers
Hi mate, I left the tangs going to the end of the fretboard. What I didn't do in this video but have since done on subsequent fretjobs is mix super glue and sawdust/sanding dust to plug the gaps under the fretboard on the sides. Hope this helps!
@@AlexisGuitars Ah, I wondered about doing something like that glue/sawdust mixture. Did you put that in after the frets were in place? Sorry for all the questions!
No prob, ask away :) yes I put in the frets, file the ends flush with the side of the fretboard and then any gap on the sides of the fretboard and fret tangs I fill
That's great! It's a daunting step but worth it. One thing I didn't do in this video but I'd an essential step is a fret level using a straight edge and light sand paper before rounding off the frets
use fret erasers to polish your frets after filing, also cover your pickups when sanding the frets down and tape up your fretboard stops you damaging the fretboard and getting filings in the pickups
Cheers for the tips! Glad to say I followed these on my latest build. Though I didn't use fret rubbers as they're too pricey. I used a nail buffing pad instead which worked great
@@AlexisGuitars I always thought that a crowning file should work for levelling out individual frets, but on the instructions that came with it, it said only to use it on flattened frets (i.e. after the sanding beam has done its job). After watching this, maybe I'll try it. Great video - nice to see someone who isn't a pro (no offence) and so is a bit more attuned to the sorts of things us beginners need to know (I was surprised to find the tangs didn't go to the end and its just some kind of crust at the edge!). Cheers
Cheers mate! If there are one or two frets which need lowering, then a crowning file can do the trick. A levelling beam or at least something straight with light sandpaper stuck to it is definitely the better way to do things. And no offense taken, that's exactly what I was hoping to happen with this video :)
I wanted to see your video but sadly the audio was almost nonexistent making it hard to hear even with my volume maxed out so I can't subscribe to your channel
@@AlexisGuitars sorry I really was looking forward to learning and part of that process is hearing what you say has a lot to do with that so I scrounged up my earphones,odd you need mic work and I need headphone work or maybe I'm just plain old as dirt
I just did my first refret recently, old kramer neck I reused for my last build. The ends were also filled in. I filed the ends of the tangs off then added a drop of superglue at each end when hammering in to help hold the ends down. Worked a treat. I think the ends are filled with sawdust and glue but my neck is also gloss black which I did not want to do over lol
That's a good idea to glue the ends down too. I have an old SG style guitar which is in desperate need of a re-fret. It also has a glossed neck and frets that don't reach the end so I'll try that super glue trick you did. I need a lot more practice on some spare necks before tackling that one, though!
@@AlexisGuitars I watched a LOT of TH-cam first! But the results are pretty good. Only issue I'm having is getting the angle at the ends right because I don't want to damage the finish. They're smooth enough but not right lol
I've seen some awesome fretwork on TH-cam where the fret ends are basically spherical. It's amazing how much this tedious job of fretwork can transform a guitar in terms of playability
Hi Briggsy, yes and it scrubbed right off when I worked on the frets after. Just needed a once over with the fret foam to smoothen the frets out and take any clear coat off
Replacing fret wire is far easier and far less time consuming then learning to play a guitar. Special tools aren't required but are nice to have a few of them, my dremel and fret crowing tool are all thats really required. You can easily make a fret leveling flat sanding block.
That's funny. I'm rebuilding an Yamaha pacifica "Tele" and now on refreting part. I was searching for alternative ways of doing this procedure and stumbled on this comment. I am using the tools that already have and found the dremel to be useful for this job... And thanks that i'm not the only one using it 😁 Just dont have a crowning tool. Guess im trying with the detail file
![How To Refret A Guitar [EASY and MINIMAL TOOLS TUTORIAL]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/SkzROuq2-2M/mqdefault.jpg)
Tele Transformation - th-cam.com/video/bAzUMCBBDbs/w-d-xo.html
Sorry to say this, but sincerely, I feel you are learning in this video, not teach. You are missing many details and I stopped the video after 5 minutes. You are not measuring the tang of those frets and making sure they will fit in fretboard. You also do not show how you pulled the frets, your technique. If you are teaching, you cannot miss these points, and that is only in the first 5 min. Sorry.
Yes you're right, I'm learning in this video. This was my second time fretting a guitar. This isn't instructional, just a vlog. Thanks for watching
Read the title of the video....
Shit man I'd rather pay someone to do this. To much work
Little tip, ALWAYS tape off your fretboard before rounding off the fret ends or doing any sort of work on the frets, you can seriously fuck up your board without it
Cheers mate! Yes you're absolutely right. I've just built my first guitar neck for the great guitar build off and the next step is to fret it. I definitely don't want to damage that!! Thanks for watching
@@AlexisGuitars No problem man! I thought this video was from a great beginner stand point, alot of these tutorial videos are professionals who have done this thousands of times already, but you did a great job showing what a more realistic experience will be like, mistakes and all, I remember the first few times doing this was really tricky and I ended up having to replace the neck on one of my strats because I didn’t tape my fretboard off and had a bunch of really bad looking tool marks of the edges, I didn’t get good at it until doing it for maybe the 5th or 6th time, but it’s a very fun process once you get the hang of it, and the satisfaction of having done an amazing fret job on your guitar is unlike anything else 😌
I really appreciate the feedback, thank you! My hope is that this inspires others who are new to fretwork to give it a go, showing that if I can do a half decent job so can you haha
I'm on my 4th refret starting in a week and I can feel your pain. In my first one I kind of knew it was gonna be difficult so I spent a lot of time trying not to screw up. As you said, patience is really important!
Watching a lot of quality material about this will help a ton.
Good luck for.your next re-fret! Absolutely agree, patience, watching TH-cam vids and simple practice is so important. I thought I did an ok job in this video considering it was my second time, but I really needed a levelling beam haha now that I have one I'll revisit this fret job. Thank you for watching and commenting!
@@AlexisGuitars I'm about to do my second refret since im just not happy with the first one. I didnt have the right tools (mainly a good leveling block) and the fret rocker wasnt good quality. The higher frets arent well levelled.
One tip I would say, as @AlexisGuitars mentioned... make sure you have proper tools (most important are a leveling block, fret rocker and crowning file)... I got most of my tools from Amazon (aside from crowning file) and they werent good quality... Other tools from amazon like soldering iron, fret saw and puller are fine from Amazon but the tools that you need to make sure the frets are level, you will need quality stuff... doesnt mean you need to spend an arm and a leg though.
Ive found a brand called Hosco thats made in Japan and good quality but doesnt cost an arm and a leg.
Can I ask : if I wanna change mid-jumbo frets to jumbo, do I have to saw the fret slot a bit or the hammering will push it in anyways? Thanks
Hi, as far as I'm aware, the fret slots themselves are a standard size regardless of the fret type but I'm not certain
Thanks a lot
The issue with basing fret leveling on a few frets via fret rocker, is it only checks to see if those few frets are level to the same plane. This plane doesn't necessarily represent the span of the neck. I've been able to check an entire neck with a fret rocker, but it's a different story when you put a notched straight edge over most of the frets.
Absolutely, definitely an essential step!
Get yaself a levelling beam and its professional to consider fall away too ;) Nice Vid!
Cheers! Happy to report that I've since got a levelling beam and learnt a lot from this experience in the video
I'm getting ready to do this same thing, so this video was really helpful... Thanks Alexis!
Great! Good luck with the refret. Remember the fret levelling step. I only did a spot level here and have since learnt the importance of fret levelling 😂 there are loads of helpful videos on how to do it properly. Thanks for watching!
Preparation prevents piss poor performance.... this video is part of my preparation for a old strat copy neck.
Preparation, patience and practise.... and a levelling beam. Good luck with your strat copy neck!
Alexis thank you. I will now start doing this myself because of your video. I will take my time, and learning from you, I will not miss out levelling the whole fretboard, where I would have been tempted to make your mistake. Thanks again. I love big frets and I cannot lie.......
That's great! Good luck with your fret job! Definitely consider getting a long straight-edge or levelling beam that you can glue some sandpaper to (using the masking tape and super glue trick) in order to level out the frets. There are some fairly cheap straight spirit levels on amazon which should do the trick if you are on a budget like me!
Ps buy a leveling beam lol
Haha thanks for the tip. There are so many tools I either need or need to upgrade. Wasn't sure where to start!
@@AlexisGuitars tell me about it! I also learnt that a lot of cheap tools are really really bad and actually create more work lol
Haha we need to learn some things the hard way, I guess!
Great video. I learned a lot. Wish me luck on a Frankenstein guitar that I’m quite fond of .
Cheers! Glad it was helpful. Since this video I've switched to using wood glue when installing frets. It's so much easier to clean than super glue. Best of luck mate!!
@@AlexisGuitars that's a cool tip! I will try with wood glue, once the super glue ruins my fret board
Yes it's much easier to clean up with wood glue and it fills the gaps under the frets nicely. Good luck with your fret job!
I made the stupidest mistake and rounded the edges before I put the new frets. As a result I get my high E string caught under the fret ends. Besides that everything came out great, sucks that I made that mistake but it was my first ever fret job and I went with stainless steel frets. So I’m somewhat proud of myself for how level and shiny they came out. Have to give myself some credit for taking on SS frets and not really messing up the frets but rather the neck lol if that makes sense.
Haha thanks for the tip! I was actually wondering whether it might be better to round them off first, but good to know what to look out for! That's impressive that your first go with stainless steel frets went so well. My first ever attempt (this video was my second) was years ago with stainless steel too but I made a mess of it. I was just experimenting to see what's involved. Luckily the neck is still useable, just needs another fret job!
@@AlexisGuitars thanks. I also did Ibanez style rounded fret ends. I used the boroqe fret fill to do the ball ends, it works really good with SS. I used a dremel to cut the fret tangs and then did the round over, I also used calipers to get the fret length right since I can’t file the fret ends after pressing them in. It was a huge learning curve lol but now I can’t wait for my next try.
Nice, thanks for the video
I want to put medium jumbo frets on my acoustic guitars
"That was a clean....pullout" 🤣
Haha I've been waiting for someone to comment on that!
only cuz ya asked... its nice to use the rocker & marker to accent ALL of the high spots TOGETHER, so you can see the BIG PICTURE in one perspective. itll keep you from "chasing" high spots all the way into next week.
Cheers mate! Fretting tips are always welcome
Decent video, very poor audio.
I'm not sure... but you've never done this before... so you want to show us how to do it ... while you do your first refret?...😬
Hi Robert, this isn't a tutorial. This is me sharing/vlogging my first time giving this a proper go. A refret is both a daunting task and a fun money saving skill, so a realistic documentation of what it looks like for a beginner might be interesting for some. Hope that clarifies
@@AlexisGuitars thanks Alexis, I'll give it a watch. I'm afraid the how to videos search pulled yours up and... I like the way you phrase it as a "sharing of your first time", that's helpful!
U need to level the fret using leveling beam, fill in the wood chip using the wood dust n radius the board back properly before refret. U can get the dust from the board. Don’t let the fret board ugly with the chip, that show the people who work on it..
Thanks for the tips!
Guten tag - Awesome video, thank you for the information :)
Vielen Dank Aaron!
Fair play tricky job
What did you do about the gunk that was at the end of each fret slot when you put the new frets in? Did the glue that you put in spread out and recreate it? Or did you leave the tangs going all the way to the edge of the fretboard? Cheers
Hi mate, I left the tangs going to the end of the fretboard. What I didn't do in this video but have since done on subsequent fretjobs is mix super glue and sawdust/sanding dust to plug the gaps under the fretboard on the sides. Hope this helps!
@@AlexisGuitars Ah, I wondered about doing something like that glue/sawdust mixture. Did you put that in after the frets were in place? Sorry for all the questions!
No prob, ask away :) yes I put in the frets, file the ends flush with the side of the fretboard and then any gap on the sides of the fretboard and fret tangs I fill
Nice playing! I'm a bit hesitant to do it myself still but you're giving me confidence. Thank you.
That's great! It's a daunting step but worth it. One thing I didn't do in this video but I'd an essential step is a fret level using a straight edge and light sand paper before rounding off the frets
@@AlexisGuitars Thankfully, I have done all the steps up to fully refretting. Thank you for the info!
use fret erasers to polish your frets after filing, also cover your pickups when sanding the frets down and tape up your fretboard stops you damaging the fretboard and getting filings in the pickups
Cheers for the tips! Glad to say I followed these on my latest build. Though I didn't use fret rubbers as they're too pricey. I used a nail buffing pad instead which worked great
@@AlexisGuitars I always thought that a crowning file should work for levelling out individual frets, but on the instructions that came with it, it said only to use it on flattened frets (i.e. after the sanding beam has done its job). After watching this, maybe I'll try it. Great video - nice to see someone who isn't a pro (no offence) and so is a bit more attuned to the sorts of things us beginners need to know (I was surprised to find the tangs didn't go to the end and its just some kind of crust at the edge!). Cheers
Cheers mate! If there are one or two frets which need lowering, then a crowning file can do the trick. A levelling beam or at least something straight with light sandpaper stuck to it is definitely the better way to do things. And no offense taken, that's exactly what I was hoping to happen with this video :)
I wanted to see your video but sadly the audio was almost nonexistent making it hard to hear even with my volume maxed out so I can't subscribe to your channel
How interesting! I haven't heard others mention audio problems. I'll have a listen myself.
@@AlexisGuitars I like the way you go about showing your work maybe just repositioning the mic will help out
@@garybrady9531 thank you! One day the channel will be large enough to afford a proper mic!! Thanks for watching despite the audio difficulties
@@AlexisGuitars sorry I really was looking forward to learning and part of that process is hearing what you say has a lot to do with that so I scrounged up my earphones,odd you need mic work and I need headphone work or maybe I'm just plain old as dirt
I can hear the audio just fine
I just did my first refret recently, old kramer neck I reused for my last build. The ends were also filled in. I filed the ends of the tangs off then added a drop of superglue at each end when hammering in to help hold the ends down. Worked a treat.
I think the ends are filled with sawdust and glue but my neck is also gloss black which I did not want to do over lol
That's a good idea to glue the ends down too. I have an old SG style guitar which is in desperate need of a re-fret. It also has a glossed neck and frets that don't reach the end so I'll try that super glue trick you did. I need a lot more practice on some spare necks before tackling that one, though!
@@AlexisGuitars I watched a LOT of TH-cam first! But the results are pretty good. Only issue I'm having is getting the angle at the ends right because I don't want to damage the finish.
They're smooth enough but not right lol
I've seen some awesome fretwork on TH-cam where the fret ends are basically spherical. It's amazing how much this tedious job of fretwork can transform a guitar in terms of playability
@@AlexisGuitars yeh just a bit tedious if you're not in the mood lol
Did you just spray clear coat on top of metal frets!? Jesus...
Hi Briggsy, yes and it scrubbed right off when I worked on the frets after. Just needed a once over with the fret foam to smoothen the frets out and take any clear coat off
@@AlexisGuitars but why not just spray it before adding the new frets? That’s how it’s usually done I believe.
Perhaps! But this way works fine too
@@briggsymusic it can be done either way, a lot of people do spray the frets and then scrape the finish off
@@briggsymusic Fender and many other builders apply finish directly over the frets. It’s a very common practice.
Replacing fret wire is far easier and far less time consuming then learning to play a guitar. Special tools aren't required but are nice to have a few of them, my dremel and fret crowing tool are all thats really required. You can easily make a fret leveling flat sanding block.
Thanks for the tips! Yes a fret crowning tool, files and some kind of levelling beam stand out to me as necessary
That's funny. I'm rebuilding an Yamaha pacifica "Tele" and now on refreting part. I was searching for alternative ways of doing this procedure and stumbled on this comment.
I am using the tools that already have and found the dremel to be useful for this job... And thanks that i'm not the only one using it 😁
Just dont have a crowning tool. Guess im trying with the detail file