In this video I demonstrate how to clean up nasty, corroded frets. Many times, just using steel wool and polish will suffice. This guitar, however, needed a more aggressive approach.
I like that you got everything squeaky clean and put a fine polish on the frets without resorting to all the specialized guitar cleaning and conditioning products.
I’ve got to be honest, with string grooves that deep in the frets, I would have done a full fret level and recrown. The damage is too deep. But you certainly made it much better from the work that you did.
Excellent job. Years ago I had a purple fishbelly Japanese Strat which a friend of a friend said he'd dress the frets for me. He forgot the jeans technique for reducing the stickiness of the tape and he pulled half the varnish of a beautiful maple neck.
Apart from the steel wool, I think the viewer should consider the title of the video as accurate. He did polish the frets. The title did not say " How to level, file, crown and polish frets"
Great stuff. Very detailed and clearly explained. I would Add 1 thing: cut a plastic bag, and tape-it Over your Pickups and "any open guitar cavity" to Ensure No Steel-wool shavings: touch your electrical components or enter your guitar. I am a bit of a Fanatic when I do guitar work. oNe LovE from NYC
The way I see it is this guy is still learning what he is doing. Is was a bit premature for him to launch out and make a instructional video about this topic at his level of experience and knowledge on the subject.
Much better safer ways to do this than steel wool. Search ‘fret polishing + Stewmac’ or ‘fret polishing + Music Nomad’ And I wouldn’t use regular beige masking tape .. get the low tack or extra low tack tape from Stewmac, I’ve had regular masking tape leave sticky residue, and you can get by with just 2 pieces of tape .. you just keep moving the 2 pieces up the neck as you polish each fret .. saves time and money in the long run.
Save yourselves TIME & Money . I bought a $8 dollar Finger Nail shaping and Polishing Kit for Women . It came with a charged & rechargeable hand held wireless Dremel . I chose the right attachment which the instructions it told me what to use , I used fret guards and some Polish and was done 24 frets SILKY SMOOTH and polished frets !!! My frets never get as bad as these in the Video but if you wanna save time and money Amazon is your best friend for Fret Polishing . ENJOY !!
The amount of fret wear on this guitar where the strings have dug “micro-trenches” into the frets appears pretty deep. A complete re-fret would solve a lot of problems. Trying to smooth & polish the frets would be like putting band-aids on a cancer sore.
Excellent video, FixTheThings! It would be really great to see more videos like this! Perhaps some refretting, dressing, etc. videos. An easy way to clean up the sides of the frets would be to use a polishing compound like Autosol. Or Brasso, like you also mentioned. I've used that for years, and it works great! It even brings out a great mirror-like shine as well :-) Have a great one Cheers!
I have leveled about a dozen of my necks and just feel the whole "polishing" of frets is somewhat overblown. Level with a beam using 320, re-crown with a tri-corner file. So now a small spot in the center needs fine sanding with 800 grit about 10 strokes inline with the fret...done. Feels good / plays good...next.
I might hang mine upside down when I do the steel wool. let gravity help keep the fine shavings downward away from the pick ups - but then mag elec is likely more powerful force on the shavings ....
Great video, thanks man. I would add to 8:40, taht it is better to do this at start before covering fretboard itself. If will guard your neck wood and will work better for removing it all in one time. Also, for frets like this, crowning or fret change would be needed actually. Still good starting guide for polishing itself.
Little extra tipp ... Try avoiding steel wool on electric guitars (with acoustics its fine) ... coz the particles will get attracted by the Pickups and that can destroy them ... I would go for something like the rough side of a kitchen sponge and maybe some polishing comound, Or even the (often blue) rough side of a eraser. Same effect but saver for your pickups
@@WannaBeatle-Paul_McMichael all this talk about not using steel wool coz it will damage the pickups, i think the safest method if someone's gonna use steel wool on their fretwires is to just detach the neck entirely if they have a bolt-on neck. for set necks, i've seen a vid where this dude put a painters tape on the pickup, then after using steel wool he put another painters tape on the pickups to trap the shavings that got attracted to the magnets so it gets trapped and dont go anywhere
@@RyuujiChannel you're absolutely correct. I don't always take the neck off (but, I do take my clothes off haha) when using steel wool to polish the frets. but, I will tape up the pickups. but, sometimes instead of steel wool, I'll use a metal polish and a cloth to do it. or other times I'll use a Scotch Brite pad (a very fine one) or similar. doing it that way is a lot easier and doesn't create a mess.
Fretboards are only certain sizes, like jumbo or medium; even a classical guitar, which can have really wide fretboard like 53mm, the fret spacing is uniform - it's amazing that guitar luthiers don't have a set of one-piece covers to throw on the whole neck, to save all the masking tape work?
This was a minimal fix. Yes, the first 3 frets really need to be replaced. This is a task left for a trained tech as the fingerboard could be damaged (slots).
para dar brilho em trastes eu uso lixas 800, 1200, 1500, 2000. Recomendo polir um por um ao inves de usar o bloco. não está errado, porem, polir traste por traste o acabamento fica melhor.
I agree, I tried it on my dirt cheap chinese-made unplayable guitars for experiment purposes and I'm glad I did. Now, I just use 10,000 GRIT sanding paper. 1 stone 2 birds, if you will. it cleans the frets and and fingerboard. most fingerboard are finished with 4000 grit sanding so it should be good.
Some re crowning might be nice here at least. Well, in the case, that smaller height is not a problem for a player. Also, everybody, even biggest pros are doing the stuff a little differently, that is why it could be considered art too. SOmeone love fret files, others triangle. Some use dremel to polish, some manual way and so on. :)
I just bought a bunch of Harley Benton guitars from Thomann, some have that "sandpapery" feel on the frets (unpolished I guess); should I use steel wool on them or just "wear them in"? Harley Benton are great guitars, btw, even though they may need some work done :)
Don't ever use steel wool on your guitar! It gets attracted by your Pickups and may kill them eventually. Just use a polishing compound and a cloth or fret rubber from Thomann.
What kind of steel wool do you have over there? In Sweden we have "Svinto", it is very easy to use and nice on your hands :) But maybe it's not the same.
Question, how often do you recommend cleaning your guitar this way? Recently I've been doing it every 2 months, I use the steel wool lightly but I still worry that my frets will wear out fast
Simply look at the guitar. The guitar tells you what it needs. If it looks nice no need to clean it. This guitar was rusty. Normally lemon oil is enough for cleaning, without sandpaper or steel wool.
Ok that being said Why should anybody believe you ? Do you have an answer for that ? Not that I'm gonna believe you So what do you have to say about that ?
Hey bud, why did you not just rub the steel wool along the length of the fret instead across the fret? Rubbing the steel wool along the length would have removed tarnishing on sides of frets. It also leaves any fine scratches travelling in the direction of string bends. I finish my frets with a polishing wheel on a dremel tool which honestly smashes the amateur finish you are left with after your attempt. I find it really hard to believe that your are a guitar tech. Who have you toured with?
Try some brasso a small swatch of cloth to apply the metal polish. A heavy card template to protect the fingerboard with a cut slit for the fret to sit. Easily home made with scissors, experiment. and a soft lint free cloth to remove the brasso residue and to polish to a shine. And last but not leased a little bit of elbow-grease and a good wanking motion. Oh ! and maybe some light elastic gloves to protect your dainty little fingers from the nasty ol' metal polish (Brasso). Do alternate frets top to bottom this will allow polish to dry and not smear the fingerboard ( ie, fret 1 then fret 3) thus allowing polish to cut the fret. yeah..... shouldn't take but a few minutes to apply when polish is dry.. think of the frets as tiny little penises, give them a good wank to get them to shine. P.S. WIRE WOOL are you mad!!!!!!"? bye bye pickups. steel wool the best way to fuck up your pickups. Try'd and tested by the world renowned. Young idiots club.🙄😏😣🥱
Not true. Magnets can effect pickups, but not plain steel wool. Yes, it can get messy, but that’s why you should cover the pickups with something like tape to avoid the pickups grabbing the steel wool.
Those frets will never play right with flat tops. Those need recrowned and then polished. I'm 100% sure they are also in need of leveling. Yeah, they need a complete level job, crown and polish. Sorry man, I had to say it. Thanks for the tips though.
I don’t mean to be a prick. But honestly you should remove this video. Just about everything your trying to teach is wrong. Not to mention polishing frets once you saw all the deep string wear into the frets. You need to measure if you can get by with a leveling, then crown then fret ends, then POLISH your frets. I’m sure maybe since you posted thugs you’ve learned more. Once again I’m not trying to be mean.
If you do that, you run the risk of not seating the neck back exactly the way it was in there. Yes it can happen even if you use the same screws with the same four holes. If that guitar neck is off by just a 32nd of an inch, it won't play or sound the same
You don't have a clue what you're doing. If you're gonna take steel wool to the frets, do it right. Run it the length of the frets, not the length of the board. The whole idea of steel wool is that it will take to the shape of the fret, and you won't be left with corrosion at all. But no, you THEN take a file to get the rest...then sandpaper. This is a video of someone guessing and trying, not a tutorial.
Steel wool - perfect way do ruin pickups. Magnet - another perfect way to ruin pickups. Do someting good to youtube community and remove this misleading video.
Yeah I thought the same thing also , lol I'm a 52 years guitar tech from the county of Pemba I will be visiting the USA after we celebrate the holidays to come up the city in your country called Atlanta I have a question for you do you know where a pub is in the city where an older gentleman can socially with some nice ladies and have a wonderful time.
I like that you got everything squeaky clean and put a fine polish on the frets without resorting to all the specialized guitar cleaning and conditioning products.
I’ve got to be honest, with string grooves that deep in the frets, I would have done a full fret level and recrown. The damage is too deep. But you certainly made it much better from the work that you did.
😅😢😢 11:00
Excellent job. Years ago I had a purple fishbelly Japanese Strat which a friend of a friend said he'd dress the frets for me. He forgot the jeans technique for reducing the stickiness of the tape and he pulled half the varnish of a beautiful maple neck.
Apart from the steel wool, I think the viewer should consider the title of the video as accurate. He did polish the frets. The title did not say " How to level, file, crown and polish frets"
Great stuff. Very detailed and clearly explained. I would Add 1 thing: cut a plastic bag, and tape-it Over your Pickups and "any open guitar cavity" to Ensure No Steel-wool shavings: touch your electrical components or enter your guitar. I am a bit of a Fanatic when I do guitar work. oNe LovE from NYC
The way I see it is this guy is still learning what he is doing. Is was a bit premature for him to launch out and make a instructional video about this topic at his level of experience and knowledge on the subject.
What's wrong with using a fret eraser, provided
a re-fret isn't😊 really necessary? Works for me!
Much better safer ways to do this than steel wool. Search ‘fret polishing + Stewmac’ or ‘fret polishing + Music Nomad’ And I wouldn’t use regular beige masking tape .. get the low tack or extra low tack tape from Stewmac, I’ve had regular masking tape leave sticky residue, and you can get by with just 2 pieces of tape .. you just keep moving the 2 pieces up the neck as you polish each fret .. saves time and money in the long run.
Save yourselves TIME & Money . I bought a $8 dollar Finger Nail shaping and Polishing Kit for Women . It came with a charged & rechargeable hand held wireless Dremel . I chose the right attachment which the instructions it told me what to use , I used fret guards and some Polish and was done 24 frets SILKY SMOOTH and polished frets !!! My frets never get as bad as these in the Video but if you wanna save time and money Amazon is your best friend for Fret Polishing . ENJOY !!
Great detail in how to mask the entire neck!
You can also find BRONZE WOOL that is non magnetic in case you miss steel wool particles that find their way to the pickups.
excellent technique I have used Flitz polish that i use for gunsmith purposes and is amazing .
The amount of fret wear on this guitar where the strings have dug “micro-trenches” into the frets appears pretty deep. A complete re-fret would solve a lot of problems. Trying to smooth & polish the frets would be like putting band-aids on a cancer sore.
Very well explained and nice job.First time watching.
I was wondering what year is that Tele and is it yours?
All the best.
Phil
Jersey Shore Area
Can’t remember what year that was, sorry. It was a guitar I was working on for a friend.
@@fixthethings I was just curious. Again, nice video on fret polishing....Thanks.
Phil
I'm no luthier. Even i can see that guitar is crying for new frets!
Fret erasers work just fine for me!
Hmmm, now I don't know, but if you sanded in the other direction i.e. along the length of each fret from the beginning, wouldn't you need less steps?
I use a magnet to hold the steel wool. It picks up most of the steel dust.
You should never put a magnet near your guitar if you can avoid it. If it gets too close to the pickups, they're done
I wouldve filed the frets too,kinda half ass lol,just bought the new fret Guru dagger 2.0, play like a pro now!
Excellent video, FixTheThings!
It would be really great to see more videos like this!
Perhaps some refretting, dressing, etc. videos.
An easy way to clean up the sides of the frets would be to use a polishing compound like Autosol.
Or Brasso, like you also mentioned.
I've used that for years, and it works great!
It even brings out a great mirror-like shine as well :-)
Have a great one
Cheers!
Superb!
I have leveled about a dozen of my necks and just feel the whole "polishing" of frets is somewhat overblown. Level with a beam using 320, re-crown with a tri-corner file. So now a small spot in the center needs fine sanding with 800 grit about 10 strokes inline with the fret...done. Feels good / plays good...next.
I might hang mine upside down when I do the steel wool. let gravity help keep the fine shavings downward away from the pick ups - but then mag elec is likely more powerful force on the shavings ....
Great video, thanks man. I would add to 8:40, taht it is better to do this at start before covering fretboard itself. If will guard your neck wood and will work better for removing it all in one time. Also, for frets like this, crowning or fret change would be needed actually. Still good starting guide for polishing itself.
Love a nice clean fret board !Great Channel 👍
Little extra tipp ... Try avoiding steel wool on electric guitars (with acoustics its fine) ... coz the particles will get attracted by the Pickups and that can destroy them ... I would go for something like the rough side of a kitchen sponge and maybe some polishing comound, Or even the (often blue) rough side of a eraser. Same effect but saver for your pickups
Good tip :)
that's why it's always a good idea to cover the pickups. that's the reason why he did.
@@WannaBeatle-Paul_McMichael all this talk about not using steel wool coz it will damage the pickups, i think the safest method if someone's gonna use steel wool on their fretwires is to just detach the neck entirely if they have a bolt-on neck. for set necks, i've seen a vid where this dude put a painters tape on the pickup, then after using steel wool he put another painters tape on the pickups to trap the shavings that got attracted to the magnets so it gets trapped and dont go anywhere
@@RyuujiChannel you're absolutely correct. I don't always take the neck off (but, I do take my clothes off haha) when using steel wool to polish the frets. but, I will tape up the pickups.
but, sometimes instead of steel wool, I'll use a metal polish and a cloth to do it. or other times I'll use a Scotch Brite pad (a very fine one) or similar. doing it that way is a lot easier and doesn't create a mess.
brand new scotch brite works just as well
For me, I remove the neck from the bass to prevent finish damage to the body or pickups.
Right. Strings are already off. Takes anothe 30-60 seconds for the neck and alot easier to work around
is more easier to clean the frets each time that you change the strings to prevent that disaster.
Fretboards are only certain sizes, like jumbo or medium; even a classical guitar, which can have really wide fretboard like 53mm, the fret spacing is uniform - it's amazing that guitar luthiers don't have a set of one-piece covers to throw on the whole neck, to save all the masking tape work?
Not the whole neck, but they do have fingerboard guards that you can put one the frets
Very informative. Thanks man
Don't use alcohol on nitro finishes, it will turn into a soupy, hazy mess, use naptha. Check Stew-Mac's site on how to do this properly.
mrjohnp555 if it’s a modern fender it’s very likely poly.
What's exactly the difference between polish and czech frets?
Amazing work man! Thanks for this it helped me out
This was a minimal fix. Yes, the first 3 frets really need to be replaced. This is a task left for a trained tech as the fingerboard could be damaged (slots).
I was told to only sand lengthwise in line with the fret not sideways.
Excellent! Thanks!
para dar brilho em trastes eu uso lixas 800, 1200, 1500, 2000. Recomendo polir um por um ao inves de usar o bloco. não está errado, porem, polir traste por traste o acabamento fica melhor.
Those 'were' the nastiest frets I have ever seen... daaamn
This is really helpful. But I've heard it's very dangerous to use steel wool on a guitar.
I agree, I tried it on my dirt cheap chinese-made unplayable guitars for experiment purposes and I'm glad I did. Now, I just use 10,000 GRIT sanding paper. 1 stone 2 birds, if you will. it cleans the frets and and fingerboard. most fingerboard are finished with 4000 grit sanding so it should be good.
Great video thanks a lot 👍
I replace the frets when they're like this.
Some re crowning might be nice here at least. Well, in the case, that smaller height is not a problem for a player. Also, everybody, even biggest pros are doing the stuff a little differently, that is why it could be considered art too. SOmeone love fret files, others triangle. Some use dremel to polish, some manual way and so on. :)
Rough job. Wrong tools. Steel wool?
Alcohol wipes on the finish? Not recommended!
on polypaint, which most instruments are painted with. its no problem at all
I have a rosewood, is that ok ?
@@SultanBenjamin no
I wonder if coca cola would have the same effect
very usefull video, thanks
Thanks :) Great video!
Steel wool, bad idea. Brasso is nice to get a nice shine.
Are these frets from poland?
I just bought a bunch of Harley Benton guitars from Thomann, some have that "sandpapery" feel on the frets (unpolished I guess); should I use steel wool on them or just "wear them in"? Harley Benton are great guitars, btw, even though they may need some work done :)
Don't ever use steel wool on your guitar! It gets attracted by your Pickups and may kill them eventually. Just use a polishing compound and a cloth or fret rubber from Thomann.
How did you polish the frets? I have the same problem with my new HB
All you need duraglit
Steel wool worked well for me, be careful with pickups and wrap up wooden parts of fretboard
All you need is duraglit
How do you get a guitar to rust like that? xP Impressive :p
PutinWithAnimals , Fender custom shop relicing
@@thomasberinati3380 paid 1k for that
Nice technique brah
Why bot recrown the top few frets to get rid of the corrosion marks?
A lady in a lake handed me a guitar once.
What kind of steel wool do you have over there? In Sweden we have "Svinto", it is very easy to use and nice on your hands :) But maybe it's not the same.
Kör INTE med Svinto! Finns 0000 stålull att köpa.
Great! If only those frets didn't have divots tho. Five stars
Hi! I just wanted to ask, is it okay to have a slighty flat frets?
Thanks, learned a lot. Subscribed. Thanks for the restringing video too.
Question, how often do you recommend cleaning your guitar this way? Recently I've been doing it every 2 months, I use the steel wool lightly but I still worry that my frets will wear out fast
Simply look at the guitar. The guitar tells you what it needs. If it looks nice no need to clean it.
This guitar was rusty. Normally lemon oil is enough for cleaning, without sandpaper or steel wool.
Shows you not to believe everything on UA-cam lol...
Breeze Smith , Make sure you watch 100 videos so can learn 99 things not to do : )
Ok that being said
Why should anybody believe you ?
Do you have an answer for that ? Not that I'm gonna believe you
So what do you have to say about that ?
Fret dressing first, Bud!!
How to avoid the problems of steel wool? Don´t use it.
nothing seems to beat Dremel and rubbing compound.
Mask off the fingerboards correctly then just use Duraglit. Shiny and clean frets but minimal metal removed.
Not a clue
He better had ordered a refret lol
can mineral oil be used on maple fretboard?
Yes. I've done it and it's fine.
Hey bud, why did you not just rub the steel wool along the length of the fret instead across the fret? Rubbing the steel wool along the length would have removed tarnishing on sides of frets. It also leaves any fine scratches travelling in the direction of string bends. I finish my frets with a polishing wheel on a dremel tool which honestly smashes the amateur finish you are left with after your attempt. I find it really hard to believe that your are a guitar tech. Who have you toured with?
Becareful, german might get into that fretboard
Don't take this guys advice unless you want to ruin your guitar...
just dont get steel wool particles in your pick ups i would avoid steel wool
Maybe not.
Try some brasso a small swatch of cloth to apply the metal polish.
A heavy card template to protect the fingerboard with a cut slit for the fret to sit.
Easily home made with scissors, experiment.
and a soft lint free cloth to remove the brasso residue and to polish to a shine.
And last but not leased a little bit of elbow-grease and a good wanking motion.
Oh ! and maybe some light elastic gloves to protect your dainty little fingers from the nasty ol' metal polish (Brasso).
Do alternate frets top to bottom this will allow polish to dry and not smear the fingerboard ( ie, fret 1 then fret 3) thus allowing polish to cut the fret. yeah.....
shouldn't take but a few minutes to apply
when polish is dry.. think of the frets as tiny little penises, give them a good wank to get them to shine.
P.S.
WIRE WOOL are you mad!!!!!!"?
bye bye pickups. steel wool the best way to fuck up your pickups. Try'd and tested by the world renowned.
Young idiots club.🙄😏😣🥱
Don't waste your masking tape it can be done with just using fret protector
You sound like nukenorway
I'm still waiting for the Benny Hill theme :/
Your guitar needs refretting, J.S
Sand paper and alcohol?!?!?! People, do not listen to this guy, he has no clue what he's doing!!
I use toothpaste, works great
great video.... Bestine seems impossible to find.... Would MEK substitute ok????
Never use wire wool on a guitar, stray pieces will get in your pick ups and destroy them.
Not true. Magnets can effect pickups, but not plain steel wool. Yes, it can get messy, but that’s why you should cover the pickups with something like tape to avoid the pickups grabbing the steel wool.
600,000?!?
Those frets will never play right with flat tops. Those need recrowned and then polished. I'm 100% sure they are also in need of leveling. Yeah, they need a complete level job, crown and polish. Sorry man, I had to say it. Thanks for the tips though.
heretic that removes all the mojo
Never use steel wool
Uhmmm Nope!
This is how you do not polish your frets
Easier way is to unbolt neck, buy one for $50.00!
I don’t mean to be a prick. But honestly you should remove this video. Just about everything your trying to teach is wrong. Not to mention polishing frets once you saw all the deep string wear into the frets. You need to measure if you can get by with a leveling, then crown then fret ends, then POLISH your frets. I’m sure maybe since you posted thugs you’ve learned more. Once again I’m not trying to be mean.
Why not remove the neck … 4 screws and 2 minute job
If you do that, you run the risk of not seating the neck back exactly the way it was in there. Yes it can happen even if you use the same screws with the same four holes. If that guitar neck is off by just a 32nd of an inch, it won't play or sound the same
OMG this is the worst advice...EVER !
You don't have a clue what you're doing. If you're gonna take steel wool to the frets, do it right. Run it the length of the frets, not the length of the board. The whole idea of steel wool is that it will take to the shape of the fret, and you won't be left with corrosion at all. But no, you THEN take a file to get the rest...then sandpaper. This is a video of someone guessing and trying, not a tutorial.
Steel wool - perfect way do ruin pickups. Magnet - another perfect way to ruin pickups. Do someting good to youtube community and remove this misleading video.
Never use steel wool on your guitar. Never Never Never. Just about everything in this video is wrong.
Yeah I thought the same thing also , lol
I'm a 52 years guitar tech from the county of Pemba
I will be visiting the USA after we celebrate the holidays to come up the city in your country called Atlanta
I have a question for you do you know where a pub is in the city where an older gentleman can socially with some nice ladies and have a wonderful time.