How can I get my guitar's finish to look glossy again?ĭon't Fret! Learn how to fix those loose ones.Įverything you wanted to know about your guitar pick, but were afraid to ask. Click below to visit his web site and listen to audio samples from his two CD's! Next use the straight edge to check your work to be sure the fret is level with the others.įrom London Canada. The masking tape should keep any excess glue from leaking out over the fingerboard. Next you press the loose fret end into the slot and hold firmly for several seconds until the glue takes hold. Then place a drop or two of "crazy glue" on either side of the fret allowing it to run down into the fret slot. To reseat the fret, first remove your strings then put a strip of masking tape on the fingerboard on either side of the bad fret. You should notice that the fret can be pressed down in place, but of course just pops back up again. Press on either end of the ruler and if you experience any "rocking" that will indicate the troublesome fret. You lay the straight edge on the frets in line with the strings in the suspect area.
To detect the problem you need a straight edge, like a metal ruler or something similar. This almost always happens on the fret ends under either of the "E" strings and causes buzzing and dead notes, as well as a danger to your fingers! This is when a fret becomes unseated in the fingerboard and sticks up higher than the other frets. Once you’re thru all the grits the fret ends should be nice and polished.Looking for classic rock tab or sheet music? Click hereĪ common problem for both electric and acoustic guitars is loose frets. This is a few quick swipes up and down the board with each grit… Before moving on to the next grits it’s a good idea to gently hit the top of the frets, and even the board, just a tad to clean them up. One cool side effect of this method is that the fretboard edges will get just slightly rolled like an old vintage guitar. Go thru each grit, concentrating on the fret ends but also hitting the edge of the neck above the tape…this will polish up any sanding marks on the finish. Now you’ll want to clean up the file marks and the sanding you’ve done. 2 quick, light swipes on both sides will be sufficient… Use a 3-corner file to lightly file the bottom corners. Now the frets should be more comfortable BUT you’re gonna need to take care of the bottom of the fret ends. Once the tangs are sanded smooth, tilt the block in to match the bevel of the fret ends and sand lightly… It will usually take 2 pieces of sandpaper. Attach 400grit paper to the flat side and sand the edge of the neck (the fret ends) with the block, perpendicular to the board…ĭo this until you can no longer feel the frets underneath the block…in other words, once the block glides smoothly along the edge of the neck STOP and move on to the other side. I use a small piece of maple, sanded flat. You’ll hit the finish just a tad, but we’ll remedy that later…Once the neck is taped off, get a hard, flat sanding block. The tape will keep you from taking off more than just the protruding frets. This not only protects the finish, but it will provide a “stop” when you begin sanding.
The frets are protruding and the bottom corners are very sharp…The first step is to tape off the side of the neck with blue masking tape right below the bottom of the fret tang… I would not use this exact method on a very valuable guitar, for those I will tape off the fretboard and generally be far more careful with finish and even the final shape of the fret ends, but since most guitars are “players”, this is the most common method I use…This example is a MIM Strat with really sharp frets… I figured I’d share my method because it’s extremely easy. This is such a common problem, especially on Fender guitars, that I’ve done nearly 20 of these jobs in the last 2 months. It’s extremely dry here and if you live in a dry climate you have most certainly picked up a guitar with an unbound fretboard and found the frets sharp and uncomfortable due to the neck shrinking.