I love your relaxed ( laconic?) delivery, and your self effacing humour. Your skills are off the chart and watching you work is an almost zen like experience for me. I am binge watching your channel. Thanks for sharing your skills and personality with us. Edited to add: cowboy chord strummer in Dumfries, Scotland.
David, thanks for watching! Glad my manic personality didn't scare you off, LOL. Appreciate the kind words, I keep trying to learn new tricks and like sharing what's on the bench with anyone willing to hang with me. Binge watching, have some refreshments within reach. Be safe and take care!
I thought I commented on this, but I hadn’t. I’ve mentioned it in other video comments, but I will be attempting my first fret job soon on my Strat and am putting stainless frets in. I’ll be watching your video and others repeatedly to soak up as much knowledge as possible. It’ll be like “measure twice, cut once”, but “watch twice, cut once.” Currently I am fixing the paint issue I had over the weekend. The color and clear had incompatibility issues, so it wrinkled and is gummy just under the surface. I attempted sanding with a palm sander and block, but that clogged the sandpaper moments after I started. I picked up spray Goo Gone graffiti remover which works a whole lot better. I didn’t have any abrasive scrub pads so those are being picked up today. Once done, I’ll refinish in nitro, which I should have done to begin with. I will work on the frets as I work on the paint. Fun fun fun fun!!
Tim, thanks for watching! WOW, you're a busy man. Sorry to hear about the paint/clear issue, I sympathize. Yep, I recall you mentioning stainless frets, and I think you mentioned you've done some fretwork before. You'll be fine, just set aside time so you won't be rushed, or come back to finish the job when time allows. It will all be good! Ugh, I'm thinking about paint issues. I hate paint issues! Wishing you the best, and keep me posted Be safe, and take care
nevanet, thanks for watching and good to hear from you! I hear what you're saying, and that's the feedback I get on projects like this one. Once the owner gets the fresh stainless frets, they love'm. I've also gotten comments like "it feels weird", but that's more to do with going from worn out frets and strings, to a completely new setup, frets, stings and a guitar that is easier to play. Kinda like driving a car with bald tires, then getting new tires... it drives different (weird = better) LOL. Hope you are doing well, be safe and take care!
Good stuff as per the usual. Was thinking about stainless for a bass project in the future. Your video has taken some of the reservations out of that choice for sure. Thank you!
Good to hear from you and thanks for watching! Stainless frets on a bass should be a perfect match, and that is what I have planned for a bass build (this year maybe ???). Personally, the only difference in working with nickel or stainless, it the difference in cutting and nipping the tang. I don't have any issue pressing, leveling, crowning... it's all very similar. Does it take a little longer, IDK, seems very similar to me. Maybe the best way to get good frets is to have the fingerboard as perfect as we can get it. if it's wavy...the frets will follow along. I'm sure you'll have great luck with your stainless project. Be safe and take care!
Good job ole buddy! Beautiful work. I noticed the neck was stamped 15 August 2017. As a retired pipefitter now, I remember that date VERY well. That was the last day I welded. And retired 16 days later. And it was my birthday. 10 hours work @ $50 per hour =$500!!! Yeah right 😮 amazing we don’t get what we’re worth 🤣 Hi Laura ❤️
Hey Mike, good to hear from you and thanks for watching! I work for peanuts and pennies, lol. Interesting, this guitars first day of work, was your last day. This thing had a lot of QC stamps neck and neck pocket. I think they must charge by the stamp, LOL. I'll tell Laura Hi. Hope you are doing well. Take care my friend!
Hey Man, good to hear from you and thanks for watching! How is the bass and guitar practice going?! I'm making no headway on practicing, too many other shiny things catch my eye - boo! Glad you liked the project. Be safe and take care my friend!
@@theNextProject Hey! thank you for the reply. It's going. I'll hit a year next month with both guitar and bass combined. I'm a bit stuck and floundering just noodling pentatonic scales right now, but hopefully breaking through that soon. I look forward to your next video!
Jens, good to hear from you and thanks for watching. Hope all went with with your rushing about too! I'm sure there are perfect rockers out there, I may just be a magnet for crap, but I like to fix crap so I'm the right guy, LOL. Luckily this project was not crap at all. Worn, but nothing to rebuild, just a nice straight-forward project. Take care my friend! John
@@theNextProject I have a complaint. I was asking myself, what was wrong with your video. You didn't really met my legitimate consumer expectations. I asked myself until I read your answer. It is completely wrong that nothing went wrong. A tNP has to be almost ready, then almost completely ruined and then like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the project rises and shines. My fretrocker from Thomann is not 100% straight, but I think it is sufficient. Was the owner of the guitar satisfied with the different fretboard shape?
Jens, my sincere apologies for letting you down. I will gladly refund your cost of admission to this performance. 😉 I was really surprised there wasn't something that went sideways, just the interesting things that are found when we work on a "brand" product. At this point the owner is pleased. I don't think he is aware that the fingerboard was oddly shaped. The factory frets were nicely radiused, so that is what he was feeling. Now the frets and board are actual doing the same thing, so once he gets used to playing this guitar again, I'm sure he'll use it without a thought. Probably the biggest issue he'll have is going from his other guitars to playing a stainless fret guitar. Bending will likely be a bit easier on this git. Hope you are doing well, take care my friend!
Rodolfo, thanks for watching! Yes, give it a try. I've used this method on 6+ fret jobs now. I don't see any downside, other than the file may cut a little slower due to having lubrication. I find that not having to clean the file easily makes up for any difference. Also, I'm wondering if file life will be prolonged too, I hope so. Good luck with your projects, be safe and take care!
Patrick, thanks for watchin! So far, I am surprised and delighted by adding just a drop of oil lightly applied. I've been irritated by the diamond fret files constantly plugging up, and so far adding the oil seems to eliminate that issue. I just wipe the file off with a shop towel, and move on to the next fret. Hope you have a good experience trying this too! Good luck with your projects, be safe and take care!
I'm going to install stainless frets on one of my guitars. love the idea that you shared from someone else to use rapid tap as a lubricant for fret file. I also think this idea is a keeper and I already have it in my shop for other metal projects. Thanks for sharing!!! I'll also have to check my fret rockers on a couple of machinist squares to see if they are true.
Mike, thanks for watching! I've used the small drop of oil (rapid tap) on 3 more fret jobs, I'm thrilled at this point. Just a drop on the fingertip, wiped over the fret, another drop rubbed onto the diamond file. You don't need much, and you'll quickly figure out enough vs. too much. I haven't had to "clean" any of the diamond fret files since I started using the lubricant. I just wipe the file off with a paper shop rag, and go to work. Hated cleaning the diamond files every other fret due to them pluggin' up. Life is good. Good luck with your projects.
Hey man, thanks for watching! Definitely give it a try, just a little drop on the fingertip, slick up the fret, file..wipe off the file and move on to the next. So far, I'm really pleased with this. I rather hated the SM Z-files due to them always plugging up. Actually, I just hate cleaning the files, lol. Good luck, be safe and take care my friend!
Love the whole job & your attention to detail, esp keeping the tuners in the same locations. My variable OCD would probably lead me to making sure the same screws went back into the same holes too, obvs turned backwards until each found its thread, as you advise. Next!
Museums, that is for watching! I may have a little OCD too, at times... I didn't think about the neck screws going into the same holes, but now that you've mentioned it, my brain will be looking for that next time. Turning the screws backwards, to find the threads is such a great and simple thing to do, and would save so many guitar necks from thread damage. I never heard anyone else mentioning it, but it really does work. Works equally well when working on plastic parts that have screws in them. Plastic doesn't like re-threading. Hope all is well for you. Be safe and take care!
… and that’s one reason I’m not such a Strat fan - too many pickguard screws to keep track of. All the best from the UK, and take care yourself and yours too, until the next project!
Maybe if I finish up juggling project guitars, I'll finally decide on an instrument that deserves the stainless treatment. With my light touch, could probably last the rest of my days. There are so many processes I'd be interested in trying, like refrets, that I always have to balance the cost of tooling-up against how many times I'd actually do that task ever again. Sometimes it's more economical to hand it off to a local tech, but I like learning new things too. (also: it looks like you got a "subsribe" typo in your closing titles, make sure you change it if you wind up using the edit project file again!)
Oh man, my middle name should be typo. Thanks for watching and keeping an eye on me. Never know what I'll misspell. I hear ya regarding the interest in trying things, versus the cost of tooling-up. I have gathered a lot of heavy things over the last 30yrs. So I have a great advantage to try new things, as I may have a tool that will do the job. That said, I've wasted a lot of time and money trying new things. I once reupholstered an old, old couch, thought it would be an interesting project. It made me sneeze and itch. The couch was full of horse hair, cotton and other things I could only guess. I did learn a lot, mainly that I'll never do that again. Thanks again for catching the typo. I'll update the original file, and hopefully won't roll the error forward. Be safe and take care!
Those microfiber pads work best when soaked over night. I agreed they are cheap. Nice work man. I've seen many burn through those soft nickel frets. Shame on fender really. It's a lot of money for a neck. It's when the America Fender uses 6 to 8 pieces of wood for the body. Cheers, good to see ya man.
Ah, soak them like wet/dry paper then. Good to know. The fingerboard compound "facet" shape was a surprise. I didn't expect that. I could see a fella like myself doing that in the garage to make a similar neck, but I'd probably sand it out a bit better. Luckily the frets they pressed in at the factory were prepped nicely to hide the fingerboard shape. Now it's all purdy and smooth. Life is good! Thanks for watching and great to hear from you my friend. Take care!
@@theNextProject. Yeah, then they juat glide and don't rub off so less pressure gets the job done. Eventually you fold them, lol yes, that radius didn't surprise me. I've now seen a few rearing down American Stratocasters to repaint and they're finding multiple pieces, like 4 and up. Painted over of course. The fretboard radius being jenky is sad and bad for business. At least thry slotted well, lol, you had to fix that too. 🤣 cheers mate!
Martin, good to hear from you and thanks for watching! Great question and the answer will likely be in the player. This guitar was a "daily driver" a gigging guitar. The factory nickel frets were worn out in 5 years, then the guitar slowly went out of the #1 spot and didn't get played. Now it's ready to get back to work. Stainless frets should last 3x longer or more, result and expectations will vary. For a person with my playing ability, stainless frets will likely be a lifetime thing, installed once and never again while I'm kickin. So, if you are on stage every day/week, stainless will last a long, long time. If you play guitar during TV commercials (like me), you'll only have to change strings. Another upside to stainless, are the positive comments of the guitar being easier to play. A smoother, slicker fretting surface requiring less work to bend and such. Again, this will be the player, but I think they feel great. Hope you are doing well. Be safe and take care my friend!
I hope you have some good ones. I'll have to look at the the Framus/Warwich fret rocker. I don't want to comment on the brand(s) that I have, but the brand name rockers, weren't any better than the cheap stainless ebay/amazon variants. Maybe I just have bad rocker luck. Ha!
Seriously, I am soooo pleased by not having to clean the plugged up grit out of the diamond file. I'll keep trying this process. Oh, a little dab of oil goes a long way, don't need much and I'm sure you'll dial in what you need as you go. Good luck to you!
I like ebony like this. I really don't like all black ebony, as it looks totally boring, you don't see any wood grain. There is a new way of levelling frets, but I think it works better on fretboards with only one radius. Something with maestro, if I remember correctly. The file already has the radius and the crown of the fret, you don't even have to straighten the neck. Yes, it's “fret maestro”. They have YT-videos, just search them. Next Saturday, I'll get my bass back with levelled frets and a new GraphTech nut.
Achim, good to hear from you and thanks for watching! This ebony is pretty nice as you mention. The slight coloration looked good, natural, warm and inviting. One think I notice while refreshing the radius, was that the lighter colored areas of the ebony seemed to have shrank a bit more than the darker areas. I don't know the actual cause, but I wonder if those light colored areas are a bit softer, or differ grain density. Hmm, wood is interesting stuff. Anyway it looks great! The Fret Maestro, yes that looks intersting. I've only seen a couple videos and I like the new approach. I may not understand the process entirely, but I think each radius requires a special file. Maybe I need to rewatch some vids. I've seen the tool(s) listed for sale, there are 11 different radius' inserts to choose from, so I'm thinking a compound raduis neck, I'd need all the radius inserts between X" and XXXX". I need to do more research. Good luck with your bass project, be safe and take care!
@@theNextProject You are right with the ebony, the dark wood is core wood and that's got a higher density, it's harder than the outer wood. Walnut also has darker and harder core wood.
I only have a cheap fret rocker, and it’s clear that it was laser cut. The roughness left behind by the laser makes it unusable as an straightness test device. I don’t know if higher end ones are better. I guess it’s a difficult shape to machine, but laser cut is unusable
Fab, thanks for watching! I have a laser cut rocker too. As you say, they are rough and take a lot to correct. Also have a sheared rocker. I think the all need to be precision machined for accuracy, but most are not. I also use precision steel dowel rod, which works great, and have some various lengths of aluminum and ground flat stock that work well. Many options to use when we look for them. Hope all is well, take care!
Pretty good job overall but I do disagree on a couple of points. Undercutting a fret tang is not a good thing and should be avoided if possible imo, I want as much tang as possible to be in contact with the wood. Another thing is having frets the same radius as the fingerboard not only for stainless frets but for nickel silver aswell. Why introduce unecessary tension into something this error sensitive, gluing the frets in helps but it's a pretty high probability that somewhere down the line either the side of the fret will pop up or the middle. Another thing you didn't mention is "rolling" the fingerboard after you refresh the radius, you don't want to return a guitar to a client with sharp feeling edge on the board (pretty sure you did something, given how meticulous you were overall). If you install the frets perfecrly and do all the prep work precisely you should need very little to zero fret leveling. Also I would avoid blasting the guitar with a heatgun when removing the nut, only a matter of time before you crack some nitro finish, if you abaolutely need some heat to losen the glue, use an old iron to heat up precisely what you need to. Overall though the job done really well but not perfectly
Thanks for watching and the well rounded comment/concern too! I appreciate the time it took to cover all those topics, well done! The fret wire was listed at a 12" rad, the fretboard ranged from 9.5"-14", so the actual difference in contact areas of the wire ranges by only a few thousands over the width of the neck, at some of the frets, less at others. Stainless wire, while more brittle than nickel, will bend rather easily and while perfectly fitted radius wire would be ideal, it would be very difficult to achieve in a timely manner with a fair amount of waste added. If I were to hammer in the frets, perfectly matched radius would go out the window as both nickel and stainless wire easily deform during hammering. Pressing the frets offers a me a more controlled and even starting point. A more even radius before any potential leveling. As you stated, a perfectly prepped board should yield nearly no leveling needed, assuming all fretwire is of 0.0000" tolerance, which isn't likely, This project was close to perfect, but not perfect. It did take minimal leveling with 400grit on the beam. And minimal crowning and dressing too, it all went well. The glue was used more to fill any voids in the fret slot, than to anchor, as that is the primary job of a properly fit tang to slot. The tang undercutting I did nearly matched what was factory on this neck, it didn't have protruding tangs, which is an issue on a lot of production necks. I trimmed the tang back 1/32" on either end, so when pressed in, the tang is just short of the fingerboard edge. I didn't show it, but the remaining fret slot was cleaned of glue, then matching wood dust and CA were added to fill the slot ends. All smooth and nicely presented. The heat gun was only used at the nut for a very short time, the neck was protected to keep heat way from finish and wasn't concentrated enough to impact the glue of the fingerboard either. The factory neck had sufficient round over between frets, and the cleanup radius sanding I did left plenty of eased edge, after the fretwork was done, I did follow up and polish the fingerboard top and sides, this also added to the factory eased edge. The frets were beveled back up to 30°, then rounded, dressed and polished. The edge of the frets are inside the overall width of the fingerboard, and follow the sectional shape, so they really can't be felt by running a hand along the edge of the fingerboard. The frets can be felt if a hand is wrapped around to carry the guitar, but it is a well shaped bump, no sharp edges and no tang at the surface to create future issues that the climate may cause. I'm not arguing any of the points you mentioned, in fact they are all legit concerns. Things that I've worked on and observed over the years. Each fingerboard needs it's own special mix and adjustment in approach. Sometimes I use CA with the frets, sometimes I don't, it really depends on the neck and wood. Overall, I don't see any fret issues happening for this neck, the tang is +/-99% of the neck width, the board is better contoured now than from the factory, better frets are in place now than originally, glue was added and it didn't appear the factory used anything, but maybe. No ski jump heel on the neck, and it played really well before, so no need to over compensate a new dropoff or fallaway at the high frets. I expect the owner to have a few reactions. The feeling of it being different. He has been playing a different #1 guitar for some time, so this guitar will feel different, there are new strings, and having frets that are all in line, all add up to an initial "different". Also the stainless wire will change the feel somewhat, offering an easier surface to play on, that's different too. Again, thank you for your comments and concerns, I greatly appreciate the time you took to do so, and I hope I've offered a better review from my pov in what I was doing. Hard to fully present 10 Hrs of work in a 20 minute video . Hope you are going well, be safe and take care!
Hey Real Chet, good to hear from you and thanks for watching! I don't mind critical comments, and honestly he does have legit concerns, it's all good. I gloss over a lot of information, and bring such comments on myself. Hard to show everything, and then there are the things I just forget to mention. I'm really happy with this project, it took 2x longer than I expected, so in reality it was right on time. At least I know when i think something will take a few hours, it will take a few x 2. I am aware of my estimating handicap, now I need to learn to say "No". Hah, it'll never happen. I hope you are doing well, and good to hear from you again. Be safe and take care, another vid coming out really soon!
I love your relaxed ( laconic?) delivery, and your self effacing humour. Your skills are off the chart and watching you work is an almost zen like experience for me. I am binge watching your channel. Thanks for sharing your skills and personality with us. Edited to add: cowboy chord strummer in Dumfries, Scotland.
David, thanks for watching!
Glad my manic personality didn't scare you off, LOL.
Appreciate the kind words, I keep trying to learn new tricks and like sharing what's on the bench with anyone willing to hang with me.
Binge watching, have some refreshments within reach.
Be safe and take care!
I thought I commented on this, but I hadn’t.
I’ve mentioned it in other video comments, but I will be attempting my first fret job soon on my Strat and am putting stainless frets in. I’ll be watching your video and others repeatedly to soak up as much knowledge as possible. It’ll be like “measure twice, cut once”, but “watch twice, cut once.”
Currently I am fixing the paint issue I had over the weekend. The color and clear had incompatibility issues, so it wrinkled and is gummy just under the surface. I attempted sanding with a palm sander and block, but that clogged the sandpaper moments after I started. I picked up spray Goo Gone graffiti remover which works a whole lot better. I didn’t have any abrasive scrub pads so those are being picked up today.
Once done, I’ll refinish in nitro, which I should have done to begin with.
I will work on the frets as I work on the paint. Fun fun fun fun!!
Tim, thanks for watching!
WOW, you're a busy man. Sorry to hear about the paint/clear issue, I sympathize.
Yep, I recall you mentioning stainless frets, and I think you mentioned you've done some fretwork before.
You'll be fine, just set aside time so you won't be rushed, or come back to finish the job when time allows.
It will all be good!
Ugh, I'm thinking about paint issues. I hate paint issues!
Wishing you the best, and keep me posted
Be safe, and take care
Well done! I have also installed stainless frets on my fender. Absolutely love it.
nevanet, thanks for watching and good to hear from you!
I hear what you're saying, and that's the feedback I get on projects like this one. Once the owner gets the fresh stainless frets, they love'm.
I've also gotten comments like "it feels weird", but that's more to do with going from worn out frets and strings, to a completely new setup, frets, stings and a guitar that is easier to play.
Kinda like driving a car with bald tires, then getting new tires... it drives different (weird = better) LOL.
Hope you are doing well, be safe and take care!
Good stuff as per the usual. Was thinking about stainless for a bass project in the future. Your video has taken some of the reservations out of that choice for sure. Thank you!
Good to hear from you and thanks for watching!
Stainless frets on a bass should be a perfect match, and that is what I have planned for a bass build (this year maybe ???).
Personally, the only difference in working with nickel or stainless, it the difference in cutting and nipping the tang. I don't have any issue pressing, leveling, crowning... it's all very similar.
Does it take a little longer, IDK, seems very similar to me.
Maybe the best way to get good frets is to have the fingerboard as perfect as we can get it. if it's wavy...the frets will follow along.
I'm sure you'll have great luck with your stainless project.
Be safe and take care!
Nice job, very meticulous - just what is needed when working on guitars!
Hey Laura, thanks for watching!
Meticulous, small detail...hurts my eyes, LOL.
Be safe and take care!
Good job ole buddy! Beautiful work. I noticed the neck was stamped 15 August 2017. As a retired pipefitter now, I remember that date VERY well. That was the last day I welded. And retired 16 days later. And it was my birthday. 10 hours work @ $50 per hour =$500!!! Yeah right 😮 amazing we don’t get what we’re worth 🤣 Hi Laura ❤️
Hey Mike, good to hear from you and thanks for watching!
I work for peanuts and pennies, lol.
Interesting, this guitars first day of work, was your last day.
This thing had a lot of QC stamps neck and neck pocket. I think they must charge by the stamp, LOL.
I'll tell Laura Hi. Hope you are doing well.
Take care my friend!
Another great video! Thank you for your time and work you put into them.
Hey Man, good to hear from you and thanks for watching!
How is the bass and guitar practice going?! I'm making no headway on practicing, too many other shiny things catch my eye - boo!
Glad you liked the project.
Be safe and take care my friend!
@@theNextProject Hey! thank you for the reply. It's going. I'll hit a year next month with both guitar and bass combined. I'm a bit stuck and floundering just noodling pentatonic scales right now, but hopefully breaking through that soon.
I look forward to your next video!
Hello John,
I am in a rush. So just a quick 'hello'. Well done like always.
I have to check my fretrocker.
Stay safe
Jens
Jens, good to hear from you and thanks for watching.
Hope all went with with your rushing about too!
I'm sure there are perfect rockers out there, I may just be a magnet for crap, but I like to fix crap so I'm the right guy, LOL.
Luckily this project was not crap at all. Worn, but nothing to rebuild, just a nice straight-forward project.
Take care my friend!
John
@@theNextProject I have a complaint.
I was asking myself, what was wrong with your video. You didn't really met my legitimate consumer expectations. I asked myself until I read your answer. It is completely wrong that nothing went wrong. A tNP has to be almost ready, then almost completely ruined and then like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the project rises and shines.
My fretrocker from Thomann is not 100% straight, but I think it is sufficient.
Was the owner of the guitar satisfied with the different fretboard shape?
Jens, my sincere apologies for letting you down. I will gladly refund your cost of admission to this performance. 😉
I was really surprised there wasn't something that went sideways, just the interesting things that are found when we work on a "brand" product.
At this point the owner is pleased. I don't think he is aware that the fingerboard was oddly shaped. The factory frets were nicely radiused, so that is what he was feeling. Now the frets and board are actual doing the same thing, so once he gets used to playing this guitar again, I'm sure he'll use it without a thought. Probably the biggest issue he'll have is going from his other guitars to playing a stainless fret guitar. Bending will likely be a bit easier on this git.
Hope you are doing well, take care my friend!
13:55 Thank you for this tip! I will try next time.
Rodolfo, thanks for watching!
Yes, give it a try. I've used this method on 6+ fret jobs now. I don't see any downside, other than the file may cut a little slower due to having lubrication. I find that not having to clean the file easily makes up for any difference.
Also, I'm wondering if file life will be prolonged too, I hope so.
Good luck with your projects, be safe and take care!
Gonna try the fret oil--great idea!
Patrick, thanks for watchin!
So far, I am surprised and delighted by adding just a drop of oil lightly applied.
I've been irritated by the diamond fret files constantly plugging up, and so far adding the oil seems to eliminate that issue.
I just wipe the file off with a shop towel, and move on to the next fret.
Hope you have a good experience trying this too!
Good luck with your projects, be safe and take care!
Great stuff as always
Steve, many thanks, and thanks for watching!
Be safe and take care!
I'm going to install stainless frets on one of my guitars. love the idea that you shared from someone else to use rapid tap as a lubricant for fret file. I also think this idea is a keeper and I already have it in my shop for other metal projects. Thanks for sharing!!! I'll also have to check my fret rockers on a couple of machinist squares to see if they are true.
Mike, thanks for watching!
I've used the small drop of oil (rapid tap) on 3 more fret jobs, I'm thrilled at this point.
Just a drop on the fingertip, wiped over the fret, another drop rubbed onto the diamond file. You don't need much, and you'll quickly figure out enough vs. too much.
I haven't had to "clean" any of the diamond fret files since I started using the lubricant.
I just wipe the file off with a paper shop rag, and go to work. Hated cleaning the diamond files every other fret due to them pluggin' up.
Life is good.
Good luck with your projects.
Wow. Really nice job! I am definitly going to try the lubrication trick! Thank you for making these videos. Great stuff😊
Hey man, thanks for watching!
Definitely give it a try, just a little drop on the fingertip, slick up the fret, file..wipe off the file and move on to the next. So far, I'm really pleased with this. I rather hated the SM Z-files due to them always plugging up. Actually, I just hate cleaning the files, lol.
Good luck, be safe and take care my friend!
Love the whole job & your attention to detail, esp keeping the tuners in the same locations. My variable OCD would probably lead me to making sure the same screws went back into the same holes too, obvs turned backwards until each found its thread, as you advise. Next!
Museums, that is for watching!
I may have a little OCD too, at times...
I didn't think about the neck screws going into the same holes, but now that you've mentioned it, my brain will be looking for that next time.
Turning the screws backwards, to find the threads is such a great and simple thing to do, and would save so many guitar necks from thread damage. I never heard anyone else mentioning it, but it really does work.
Works equally well when working on plastic parts that have screws in them. Plastic doesn't like re-threading.
Hope all is well for you. Be safe and take care!
… and that’s one reason I’m not such a Strat fan - too many pickguard screws to keep track of.
All the best from the UK, and take care yourself and yours too, until the next project!
Maybe if I finish up juggling project guitars, I'll finally decide on an instrument that deserves the stainless treatment. With my light touch, could probably last the rest of my days.
There are so many processes I'd be interested in trying, like refrets, that I always have to balance the cost of tooling-up against how many times I'd actually do that task ever again. Sometimes it's more economical to hand it off to a local tech, but I like learning new things too.
(also: it looks like you got a "subsribe" typo in your closing titles, make sure you change it if you wind up using the edit project file again!)
Oh man, my middle name should be typo.
Thanks for watching and keeping an eye on me. Never know what I'll misspell.
I hear ya regarding the interest in trying things, versus the cost of tooling-up. I have gathered a lot of heavy things over the last 30yrs. So I have a great advantage to try new things, as I may have a tool that will do the job. That said, I've wasted a lot of time and money trying new things.
I once reupholstered an old, old couch, thought it would be an interesting project. It made me sneeze and itch. The couch was full of horse hair, cotton and other things I could only guess. I did learn a lot, mainly that I'll never do that again.
Thanks again for catching the typo. I'll update the original file, and hopefully won't roll the error forward.
Be safe and take care!
Those microfiber pads work best when soaked over night. I agreed they are cheap. Nice work man. I've seen many burn through those soft nickel frets. Shame on fender really. It's a lot of money for a neck. It's when the America Fender uses 6 to 8 pieces of wood for the body. Cheers, good to see ya man.
Ah, soak them like wet/dry paper then. Good to know.
The fingerboard compound "facet" shape was a surprise. I didn't expect that. I could see a fella like myself doing that in the garage to make a similar neck, but I'd probably sand it out a bit better. Luckily the frets they pressed in at the factory were prepped nicely to hide the fingerboard shape.
Now it's all purdy and smooth.
Life is good!
Thanks for watching and great to hear from you my friend.
Take care!
@@theNextProject. Yeah, then they juat glide and don't rub off so less pressure gets the job done. Eventually you fold them, lol yes, that radius didn't surprise me. I've now seen a few rearing down American Stratocasters to repaint and they're finding multiple pieces, like 4 and up. Painted over of course. The fretboard radius being jenky is sad and bad for business. At least thry slotted well, lol, you had to fix that too. 🤣 cheers mate!
Beautiful job there John. How much more life can be expected from stainless steel frets?
Martin, good to hear from you and thanks for watching!
Great question and the answer will likely be in the player.
This guitar was a "daily driver" a gigging guitar.
The factory nickel frets were worn out in 5 years, then the guitar slowly went out of the #1 spot and didn't get played. Now it's ready to get back to work.
Stainless frets should last 3x longer or more, result and expectations will vary.
For a person with my playing ability, stainless frets will likely be a lifetime thing, installed once and never again while I'm kickin.
So, if you are on stage every day/week, stainless will last a long, long time. If you play guitar during TV commercials (like me), you'll only have to change strings.
Another upside to stainless, are the positive comments of the guitar being easier to play. A smoother, slicker fretting surface requiring less work to bend and such. Again, this will be the player, but I think they feel great.
Hope you are doing well.
Be safe and take care my friend!
12:00 I've also had bad fret rockers, try this one "fret rocker Framus by Warwick" 👍
Lube Z file is a great idea, I'll try it !
I hope you have some good ones. I'll have to look at the the Framus/Warwich fret rocker.
I don't want to comment on the brand(s) that I have, but the brand name rockers, weren't any better than the cheap stainless ebay/amazon variants. Maybe I just have bad rocker luck. Ha!
Seriously, I am soooo pleased by not having to clean the plugged up grit out of the diamond file. I'll keep trying this process.
Oh, a little dab of oil goes a long way, don't need much and I'm sure you'll dial in what you need as you go.
Good luck to you!
I like ebony like this. I really don't like all black ebony, as it looks totally boring, you don't see any wood grain.
There is a new way of levelling frets, but I think it works better on fretboards with only one radius. Something with maestro, if I remember correctly. The file already has the radius and the crown of the fret, you don't even have to straighten the neck.
Yes, it's “fret maestro”. They have YT-videos, just search them.
Next Saturday, I'll get my bass back with levelled frets and a new GraphTech nut.
Achim, good to hear from you and thanks for watching!
This ebony is pretty nice as you mention. The slight coloration looked good, natural, warm and inviting. One think I notice while refreshing the radius, was that the lighter colored areas of the ebony seemed to have shrank a bit more than the darker areas. I don't know the actual cause, but I wonder if those light colored areas are a bit softer, or differ grain density. Hmm, wood is interesting stuff. Anyway it looks great!
The Fret Maestro, yes that looks intersting. I've only seen a couple videos and I like the new approach. I may not understand the process entirely, but I think each radius requires a special file. Maybe I need to rewatch some vids. I've seen the tool(s) listed for sale, there are 11 different radius' inserts to choose from, so I'm thinking a compound raduis neck, I'd need all the radius inserts between X" and XXXX".
I need to do more research.
Good luck with your bass project, be safe and take care!
@@theNextProject You are right with the ebony, the dark wood is core wood and that's got a higher density, it's harder than the outer wood. Walnut also has darker and harder core wood.
I only have a cheap fret rocker, and it’s clear that it was laser cut. The roughness left behind by the laser makes it unusable as an straightness test device. I don’t know if higher end ones are better. I guess it’s a difficult shape to machine, but laser cut is unusable
Fab, thanks for watching! I have a laser cut rocker too. As you say, they are rough and take a lot to correct. Also have a sheared rocker. I think the all need to be precision machined for accuracy, but most are not.
I also use precision steel dowel rod, which works great, and have some various lengths of aluminum and ground flat stock that work well. Many options to use when we look for them.
Hope all is well, take care!
Pretty good job overall but I do disagree on a couple of points. Undercutting a fret tang is not a good thing and should be avoided if possible imo, I want as much tang as possible to be in contact with the wood. Another thing is having frets the same radius as the fingerboard not only for stainless frets but for nickel silver aswell. Why introduce unecessary tension into something this error sensitive, gluing the frets in helps but it's a pretty high probability that somewhere down the line either the side of the fret will pop up or the middle. Another thing you didn't mention is "rolling" the fingerboard after you refresh the radius, you don't want to return a guitar to a client with sharp feeling edge on the board (pretty sure you did something, given how meticulous you were overall). If you install the frets perfecrly and do all the prep work precisely you should need very little to zero fret leveling. Also I would avoid blasting the guitar with a heatgun when removing the nut, only a matter of time before you crack some nitro finish, if you abaolutely need some heat to losen the glue, use an old iron to heat up precisely what you need to. Overall though the job done really well but not perfectly
Thanks for watching and the well rounded comment/concern too!
I appreciate the time it took to cover all those topics, well done!
The fret wire was listed at a 12" rad, the fretboard ranged from 9.5"-14", so the actual difference in contact areas of the wire ranges by only a few thousands over the width of the neck, at some of the frets, less at others. Stainless wire, while more brittle than nickel, will bend rather easily and while perfectly fitted radius wire would be ideal, it would be very difficult to achieve in a timely manner with a fair amount of waste added. If I were to hammer in the frets, perfectly matched radius would go out the window as both nickel and stainless wire easily deform during hammering. Pressing the frets offers a me a more controlled and even starting point. A more even radius before any potential leveling.
As you stated, a perfectly prepped board should yield nearly no leveling needed, assuming all fretwire is of 0.0000" tolerance, which isn't likely, This project was close to perfect, but not perfect. It did take minimal leveling with 400grit on the beam. And minimal crowning and dressing too, it all went well.
The glue was used more to fill any voids in the fret slot, than to anchor, as that is the primary job of a properly fit tang to slot.
The tang undercutting I did nearly matched what was factory on this neck, it didn't have protruding tangs, which is an issue on a lot of production necks. I trimmed the tang back 1/32" on either end, so when pressed in, the tang is just short of the fingerboard edge. I didn't show it, but the remaining fret slot was cleaned of glue, then matching wood dust and CA were added to fill the slot ends. All smooth and nicely presented.
The heat gun was only used at the nut for a very short time, the neck was protected to keep heat way from finish and wasn't concentrated enough to impact the glue of the fingerboard either.
The factory neck had sufficient round over between frets, and the cleanup radius sanding I did left plenty of eased edge, after the fretwork was done, I did follow up and polish the fingerboard top and sides, this also added to the factory eased edge.
The frets were beveled back up to 30°, then rounded, dressed and polished. The edge of the frets are inside the overall width of the fingerboard, and follow the sectional shape, so they really can't be felt by running a hand along the edge of the fingerboard. The frets can be felt if a hand is wrapped around to carry the guitar, but it is a well shaped bump, no sharp edges and no tang at the surface to create future issues that the climate may cause.
I'm not arguing any of the points you mentioned, in fact they are all legit concerns. Things that I've worked on and observed over the years. Each fingerboard needs it's own special mix and adjustment in approach. Sometimes I use CA with the frets, sometimes I don't, it really depends on the neck and wood.
Overall, I don't see any fret issues happening for this neck, the tang is +/-99% of the neck width, the board is better contoured now than from the factory, better frets are in place now than originally, glue was added and it didn't appear the factory used anything, but maybe. No ski jump heel on the neck, and it played really well before, so no need to over compensate a new dropoff or fallaway at the high frets.
I expect the owner to have a few reactions. The feeling of it being different. He has been playing a different #1 guitar for some time, so this guitar will feel different, there are new strings, and having frets that are all in line, all add up to an initial "different". Also the stainless wire will change the feel somewhat, offering an easier surface to play on, that's different too.
Again, thank you for your comments and concerns, I greatly appreciate the time you took to do so, and I hope I've offered a better review from my pov in what I was doing. Hard to fully present 10 Hrs of work in a 20 minute video .
Hope you are going well, be safe and take care!
@@theNextProjectignore that guy, you did a perfect job, he’s a typical internet keyboard warrior. He should make videos and show us the proper way.
Hey Real Chet, good to hear from you and thanks for watching!
I don't mind critical comments, and honestly he does have legit concerns, it's all good.
I gloss over a lot of information, and bring such comments on myself. Hard to show everything, and then there are the things I just forget to mention.
I'm really happy with this project, it took 2x longer than I expected, so in reality it was right on time. At least I know when i think something will take a few hours, it will take a few x 2.
I am aware of my estimating handicap, now I need to learn to say "No". Hah, it'll never happen.
I hope you are doing well, and good to hear from you again.
Be safe and take care, another vid coming out really soon!