The $3 hack for polishing frets without steel wool
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 พ.ค. 2023
- Throw away the steel wool and check out this genius hack for polishing frets like a pro. No more iron filings killing pickups or getting stuck to everything.
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I'd reccomend NOT throwing out your steel wool and instead setting it on fire. It looks cool, and is way more metal 🤘 than just huckin' it in the trash.
You saved my '78 Greco SA-700 with this. Took 5 minutes to file out all fret rust and corrosion, and mine was much worse than this guitar at opening. Looks like new. Thank you!
This is definitely the best pro-tip for guitars I’ve seen in ages.
they make a nail buffer with 8 surfaces (4 sides x 2 levels) too.
also foam sanding block with very fine paper on all sides... can use for fret-sprout too.
Thanks Six. I'm guilty of the steel wool method but I'll get some of these for the next job.
Brilliant, both the fret and the tip!
This works so well...thank you. Was using music nomad frine which was doing very little, so much better with your tip
Yeah, these work great! I got a dozen pack from Amazon for about $6. I think is used two or three for the one guitar I was working on IIRC.
Thanks for the tip man. Worked great!
Good tip. I usually just play the frets shiny, but either method works well.
Thank you for this great tip.
Nice--and directly to the point. I'm in
Wow. Great tip.
Thank you!
Thanks for the video. I never could understand peeps using steel wool on electric guitars. Asking for trouble
Thanks so much! I’m a female guitarist. I started playing a few years ago. When I had some sharp fret ends, I used one of my nail files to adDRESS (no pun intended 😂) the issue. I had no idea nail buffers are the same material as micro mesh. Makes me wonder what else I can use to clean, maintain, and repair my guitar from my makeup kit! 😂
That’s actually a cool idea. My partner used to be a makeup artist so I’ll be interested to see what other things I could find that’d work and raid their makeup kit.
Hope you check out more of our content as we’re always working toward being more inclusive with our content and trying to teach as much stuff as we can to all players out there.
I was wondering to myself a few days ago if a nail file exists that might work for fret dressing!
Did you have a nail file with a smooth edge or was it an emery board or something?
Does anyone of you have the link?
Awesome
Great tip. I use micromesh but this is a great alternative.
Would love to see a vid debunking or confiming the "C137 mod" that people do to their 50w EVH 5150iii el34. Some people say it works. Others like Jens Kruse say it is a farce....would love to have the circuitry explained....or not wat evs...
The last person I’d ever take advice from would be Kruse given our experience with his products.
We previously used to modify 5150III amps but no longer do and we developed a daughter board for true 3 channel operation with some tweaks.
Mate! I'm guilty with the steel wool 0000 !!!
I've used the felt tip on a Dremel (works gd!) but yeah...Ill be giving this a crack!!
Another alternative I've heard of for steel wool is 3M/Scotch Brite pads. They come in varying "grits" like steel wool, but they're plastic (I think... non-metal at least), so they don't leave dangerous metal fibers behind.
We’ve used them before but the issue is they’re not readily available in every market worldwide. In Australia for example you’ve got to go to a specialist place to get it and it’s quite expensive.
@@drgearaustralia Oh interesting. I figured, being 3M, they'd be available all over the place.
Lol America moment
why about the grit? in Germany we have some blocks with 4 sides, so which one do you recommend to use? Thanks for this cool and cheap hack
Start from the most coarse and make your way to the finest.
How long will the frets look clean and shiny ? Great info - Thanks . 🇨🇦🎸✨
However long a piece of string is. Everyone’s frets tarnish at different rates due to climate, playing time, amount you sweat, how often you change your strings etc etc.
3m scratch pads work really well too.
Not available easily worldwide. Nail buffers are cheap and readily available in all markets for a pittance. That was the point in sharing this particular hack. It provides a good option for people anywhere in the world that may not have a hardware store or access to specialist materials.
@@drgearaustralia You did an outstanding video. I wasn't trying to say the 3m scratch pads were better. I was just trying to let people know that there's options.
Amazon sells 3m scratch pads pretty cheap. And in America, every Wal-Mart, should have them. In fact, every grocery store should carry them too. They're usually kept near the dish soap. They work great for scrubbing pans.
We use to use them all the time, when I was pipefitting. Take good care and thanks for all your helpful information. You seem like a cool guy. Take good care. Peace.. Joe
hey is it possible that doing this can make the frets uneven, or is it just supposed to be polishing? I did this when changing strings and now i've got frets that don't even work (frets 11 and 12 play the same note as the 13th fret on the D and G strings), and lots of fret buzzing. It could also be due to humidity and that I've changed to lighter strings, so I might have to adjust the truss rod (altough I can't find any backbow with the string test...). Thanks!
Nope, these pads have way too fine a grit to remove anything but microns of material. If you use an aggressive nail file or similar type of hard abrasive, then you may remove material but you'd feel it byt the frets being very rough.
Logically, you've changed your string gauge, and also there's humidity so going to a lighter gauge will cause back bow, lowering the action in the middle of the neck, showing any inconsistencies in the fret heights. Chances are those frets are already uneven and changing the string gauge has exacerbated it. Adjust your truss rod and it'll potentially come good.
@@drgearaustralia Right yeah i definitely used the wrong tool (nail file instead of nail buffer...). Adjusting the truss rod helped a bit, but yeah I'm pretty sure i'll have to even my frets now. thanks for the answer!
@@drgearaustralia actually i think I found the reason i've got this problem, and if I'm right it's worse than the frets being uneven: after removing the strings I wanted to polish the frets but didn't have the tools, and then I went on a trip for two weeks. Thus my guitar was without strings for more than a month which I think changed the shape of the neck :(
Showing a better picture of the box would have been nice. What does it say on the box?
It’s a nail buffer, the box is unimportant as there’s a million different brands out there.
do you actually need to tape up the freboard if you are just going over the frets?
Personal preference. It will prevent the bird being shined up if that’s not what you’re looking to do and also minimise the pads getting blocked up.
I´ve been using that nail buffers for a good while not knowing if I am a geniuos or an idiot 😅
Well now you’ve got confirmation from a professional that you made a smart discovery so kudos to you.
Two doubts, does that tool work properly to polish the frets' ends (to get a smoother neck)? On the other hand, in UK, Is that kind of tool available in drugstores? Thanks in advance.
No idea what you’re referring to on the first part. These are to remove tarnish from frets and polish them to a shine.
As for availability, have you followed what I said in the video and gone to some place that sells beauty supplies or performed a simple Google search?
@@drgearaustralia Thank you.
Sorry, it is because I am not a native English speaker.
I had refretted the instrument recently and, although I have been smoothing the fret ends for ages [I don't know if it is correct or not, to me, a "fret end" is the point where I cut the fret wire {with pliers} before inserting, each fret, into the fingerboard]) the fact is that I did not achieve to give a rounded shape to the fret ends (although I have been trying to smooth them with metal wool)... That is why I ended up watching this video, and I was wondering if those nail buffers could be helpful in order to smooth and give a round shape to the fret ends (basically that is why I sent my first message).
Thank you again.
@@drgearaustraliaSorry your answer was quite rude to be honest, I have the same issue but reading your answer, asking is pointless. So why do you ask viewers to leave a comment then?
@@gerardoromano3436 then you either didn't watch the video or read my reply to the commenter above. This is simply for removing tarnish from frets and polishing them, it's got nothing to do with refretting or removing burrs or excess material from the fret.
If you find it rude then I'd say that's a cultural difference as I'm not a fan of having to pad out what I say with needless pageantry and being round about when being direct is far simpler.
Ultimately I'm giving advice for free, so I don't owe anyone anything.
@@drgearaustralia it must just be a cultural thing. I'm American and didn't find your reply rude at all.
Does it matter what grit it is? I found one online 400/6000 grit. I'm new to this and didn't have the money for the expensive guitar tools yet.. but I have a squire with just poor frets...when I bend the strings, it's like bending on sandpaper. Just absolutely terrible. So I'm in dire need of a quick fix
That’s pretty common on things like Squier and Jackson as Fenders QC is very poor these days.
You would need to do something a bit more drastic and do a proper polish on them which would require using sandpaper, masking tape and eventually the buffers.
You’d need 600 grit then 1200 grit sandpaper to get rid of the scratches from factory before you could polish them up.
I'm a bit late to the party, what do you think this would also work on stainless steel Frets and get them back to playing smoothly?
Stainless frets shouldn’t need such regular polishing given that they’re stainless. They shouldn’t feel rough either unless they weren’t polished up correctly at factory.
How would you compare this to, say, fret erasers?
They’re fine but aren’t as easily obtained and leave rubber mess everywhere.
Ive honestly used toilet paper or paper towel and jewlers rouge buffing compound for 10 years now.
Yeah that can work too. We use a Dremel with buffing wheel and metal polish, but this is more for the average Joe and can be accessed basically everywhere around the world for next to nothing. The local chemist will have these in stock as will most places that sell anything to do with nails. Plus they tend to be easier to work with for novices as there’s no mess to clean.
Nice tip!
Would you have an alternative to 0000 steel wool for cleaning a rosewood fretboard?
We use naphtha to clean boards. In the cases where there’s a lot of long term gunk really stuck in there, we use a razor blade as a scraper. If you want to return the board to a high polish, then a polishing wheel on a drill or synthetic steel wool.
can i unsharpen the fret ends with it too?
Nope. Need files or sandpaper to do that.
Will this work for rusty pickup magnets?
Unfortunately not. That requires something a little harder and isn’t an easy thing to do.
@@drgearaustralia wouldn't a little baking soda and water work? Just use a small medium toothbrush and scrub it off. Have you ever heard of that? Someone told me about that years ago. He also said 000 steel wool with a very light spray of WD-40. But again I've never done it, but he was a luthier, and learned his craft from his dad. His dad was know for being a great luthier. If you try it and it works let me know.
Personally I'd just replace them. Anyway, I just discovered your channel and I'm going to have Sub. I'm looking forward to watching more of your video's. Peace.. Joe
Good tip. But why not use super fine wet and dry sandpaper. Say 1500 to 3000
Because it’s not as easily accessible as a nail buffer, especially outside of places like the US where many hardware stores only go up to 1200.
The point in this was to offer up a simple solution for players everywhere round the world to spend the least possible to get their frets polished. These are available at basically every chemist and supermarket and cost very little and last quite some time.
OK Good logic. Thanks@@drgearaustralia
For alloy frets a polish like Brasso is best. I wouldn't use abrasives on alloy frets. Use chemical polish and a rag. Stainless frets are where you're going to have trouble. Most of the time when a person installs SS frets they don't polish out the microscratches left after the leveling process. Just using a crowning file still leaves a strip of metal that has lengthwise striations that will hang up the string when bending you can really feel the scratches. I would recommend micromesh but using various fingernail files will get you started but you want to finish with some 2000 or finer micromesh.
I don’t know if you actually watched the video, but the point of it was that mail buffing pads are micromesh. That’s why I recommend them for regular users to clean frets.
I work with stainless steel, and it's well known to avoid using regular steel, or even tools that have been used for regular steel, with it. The issue is that fine particles of steel may get embedded in the stainless steel, and then rust. For the same reason I wouldn't put wire wool anywhere near a guitar. I watch a number of luthiers on TH-cam and I've never seen one use steel wool on a guitar.
Hold on... steel wool gas other uses. great to clean copper pipes. Great tip tip though! No metal bits getting stuck in my fingers.
Half way through realised it's not about fretboard but the fret.
good, BUT nail polishing pads are made for nails and not metal, thus they buff themself more than metal. They will do the job, but not to the mirror finish. I know, because I use them on my frets. I buff the frets and then use the steel wool for the finishing. You will see and feel the difference between polishing frets with the finest nail pad on the planet, and then doing 5 passes with a 0000 wool.
Not true. Nail buffing pads are the same as Micromesh which is fine for doing metals as that’s part of its design. You can easily get to a mirror finish with buffers in the same way you can with a micromesh pad.
Steel wool is trash and it’s 2024, there are better materials for polishing that won’t result in fine metallic dust around that can short out pickups and electronics. Even synthetic steel wool is better
@@drgearaustralia The dust is the main problem that is true. BUT, unfortunately, it still gets you the best results. I'm saying this, BECAUSE I search for an alternative as well. I do feel you, man. And no, Micromesh is kinda weak as well. The thing with those is that they will polish frets, but not to the point of strings smoothly gliding on top of them, which is the best fret feeling and my goal. TBH, the micromesh finish will be fine for most people, BUT doing steelwool AFTER THAT will give you EVEN BETTER results. That is what I do. P.S.: I haven't tried those StewMac fret rubber erasers and what not, but I heard that they are not that good as well.
A small piece of raw leather will polish frets' easy to use and last forever
Can you get it at the local chemist though? What about the supermarket?
@@drgearaustralia
Old leather shoe' leather shoe string' old leather items laying around the house etc or take the belt away from your girlfriend and use that. It's not that hard to figure out.
Will last forever.
Pro Tip: Maybe use that beret afterwards and get it closer to a finish sheen.
Oooo, swing and a miss. It’s a flat cap or a coppola but at least you tried.
This wasn’t a video showing the job done start to finish, just a handy tip to keep frets in good condition without splashing out on micromesh or having to use a buffing wheel or dremel.
@@drgearaustralia If your "flat cap" is made of wool then my point still stands.
"Maybe use that beret afterwards and get it closer to a finish sheen." So you dont have to use a buffing wheel or dremel..
Cool.
Throw away the steel wool and the lip hook.
Nah, had it for over 20 years. No reason for me to ditch it.