Can't believe this is here on youtube for nothing. I would've spent thirty or forty bucks for a VHS of this not all that many years ago. You guys are the best.
YT is an incredible resource! We've always been about sharing knowledge within the luthier community, and YT is the perfect platform for that. Thanks for the positive feedback!
It's great. I wish there could be more of that kind of content. Dan's book is great but video's are much easier to learn from. I wish you guys could release more materials like that, so a beginner could learn all those things and maybe do it for a living.
I've never seen a better presentation of technical material on any subject. It's very difficult to cover a topic thoroughly without becoming confusing or getting bogged down in detail, but this video has done that very well.
@excavatoree we really appreciate that sentiment! It's a challenge to figure out what to include and what details are too "in the weeds." It's comments like this that make the task worth it to us!
These videos are the primary reason I’ll be buying from stewmac. I can’t express enough how grateful I am for you all passing on this knowledge for free!
The information in this video is outstanding, like going to luthier school! The production team nailed it! The camera angles provided perfect clarity for anyone wanting to improve their fretwork skills! Bravo!
The Stewmac Fret tang Nibbler *is worth every penny!* I've done some single fret replacements here and there and even without binding, I found I needed to trim the tangs shorter. Once you trim the tangs, it's a fairly easy process and doing a full neck won't be intimidating, but trimming the tangs the way I did with a Dremel and cut off disc was daunting. I had to curve my wire by hand but my attempts without tang trimming and using a small rubber mallet to press them flush, they were tailing away from the board at both edges. *After I trimmed, a small amount of wood glue and various tactics installing them in flush produced professional results even though I was whamming them with a rubber mallet! lol*
I have been doing this type of work for a long time and I still pick up tips and tricks from stewmac videos. I watch the videos and buy the books. Some may say “don’t you know the stuff?” And it’s like yeah, but we don’t want to get a vaccine against education and we may forget a little step and a refresher never hurts.
Gene, great teaching here again. Many thanks to you and Dan. It's been about sixty years of maintaining, repairing, modifying, building, etc. for me and Dan's old book and the Guitar Player articles are well used over and over. And now I'm learning more from this electronic video thingy in my hand. Way to go guys! It really has been wonderful.
Amazing video! StewMac should do a certification program; would love to know if a potential Luthier is trained in this stuff - especially when outside of the USA! I've had two bad experiences with different luthiers in Australia; which has led me to taking on much of this work myself.
As a private aviation mechanic by trade, I watch a lot of specific training videos to stay current and learn about new advancements. This video is amazing! It’s rare to have such a comprehensive and concise tutorial in one video, and all for FREE!!🤯 Thank you Stew Mac! This video answered so many questions I had before starting my own fretwork projects. That trick to use wooden clamps to hold the guitar in almost playing position to check the neck gaps was so simple but genius! I’m also in Ohio (C-bus), do you ever offer workshop classes at StewMac in Athens? Sorry to go on and on, but I’m just so impressed!
I'm decently comfortable with basic guitar setups but a total noob when it comes to fretwork. I have an Epiphone Sheraton that had a dead note that I realized was from a high fret. After watching many Stew Mac videos, I decided to try fixing it on my own. I know that Stew Mac tools are on the high end in cost but my reasoning was that I would be spending the same amount on having my local shop do the work as I would buying the Fret Kisser and the compact Z-file. They really took the guesswork out with these tool designs and made it so that if you take your time and go little by little, you'll get the job done correctly. The guitar plays great now, and I have these tools for life, ready to take on any other fret leveling that I may need in the future. Stew Mac tools really end up paying for themselves rather quickly.
Man. As a young player I just dealt with these issues as they arose. Now I’m 30, been playing my whole life nearly, and these are such simple fixes. Thank you guys at Stew Mac for making this vid. Seriously, now I could be a mature player and care for my guitar like I need. lol. 😊
You’re still a pretty young player at 30 LOL I’m 53 and been playing 40 years and I’m pretty young compared to many viewers here. Plenty of guys I know been playing 50 years or more! Sorry to point that out but I’m OLD LOL!
@ I get it! Yes I am still young and learning. Even if it’s not the same lower profile learning as when I was 10. Glad to hear from another LIFE LONG player! Cheers!
Great video. Your fret puller will draw heat away from the hot fret. Heating the puller jaws for just a few seconds with a propane/MAPP/MAPP-PRP torch will help keep the puller from cooling the fret.
This is absolutely amazing. I have an old Korean Squier Stratocaster, it was my first guitar, and my favorite one to pick up. I now know how to address any fret issues it has. Id asked a local shop what it would cost to have the work done by their luthier, and was told "that guitar isn't worth putting that kind of money and time into, just replace it". Well its worth it to me, it plays great, feels great, and that guitar and I have history. Thank you for this video!
Excellent presentation, well organized into the different levels of what someone NEEDS to know... In other words, how to NOT destroy your frets accidentally while trying to fix a minor problem! Exactly what I was looking for, right before fixing a high fret myself on my acoustic guitar! Now I even know exactly how much I should take off, in an extreme case. And I also know to check that the fret is solidly attached, BEFORE removing ANY material. Thank you! 👍👍👍
This is gold. I have been working on guitars for a bit over 5 years and playing for over 18, there are many videos but none is as comprehensive as this. Great work Stewmac!
Absolutely fantastic video. I have done a couple of my own fret level, crown and polish jobs but I'm still a learning newbie building my confidence. This video is reference quality! Thanks.
@GerryBlue thank you for the positive feedback! You're right, it is a complex topic. We tried our best to simplify it and make it approachable to anyone interesting in tackling it on their own.
Awesome video! Thank you so much! My only question is how to properly widen the frets. This was my biggest issue during my first refret. My Gibson had very narrow fret slots compared to the StewMac frets (0.6mm wide). I used a Japanese saw, but this was not an ideal tool. I bought 0.6 mm dremel bits and want to try them out.
Great question! It's usually preferable to reduce the size of the tang and preserve the slot. We have the Fret Barber that is meant to "shave" down the sides of the tang for a better fit. There are also "refret saws" meant to work between binding to open up the slot width if you'd prefer. Links below. Thanks! www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/tools-by-job/tools-for-fretting/pullers-nippers-sizing/fret-barber/ www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/types-of-tools/saws/refret-saw/
Subscribed!! I’ve watched this at least 3 times start to finish and ordered a bunch of these tools from the website. It’s amazing to have such a great resource to learn from. Thank you Stewmac.
That's a lot of tools shown. But, to your credit you show why they are needed and how to use them (and frankly, anyone attempting to do guitar repair should probably have all the necessary tools anyway or else take the job to a pro). Thank you!
As an amateur luthier this amount of detail is invaluable. 👊 I’ve got an idea for a completely different approach to and fret and neck assembly. I need to brainstorm with someone who has more experience iron out kinks or see if it’s even possible.
It's interesting that you recommend cutting fret ends from the top and bottom, I was taught to do it from the sides - gonna have to try it your way and see which yields better results!
Perfect timing, as I am diving deeper into “level 2” fretwork with the goal to do a “level 3” partial refret on my Martin later this year. (Thankfully I have a cheap broken guitar to practice on first!)
Fantastic video. Any plans to do a video on refretting an acoustic or classical? I'd love to see the approach when dealing with the fretboard extension to the soundhole.
I used to waste time hand polishing frets like that. Going through 8 different grits across 22 frets. 176 frets polished. By hand. Won't do it again. Today, I used a 4 inch buffing/polishing wheel on my cordless drill along with blue stick polish from Dialux. I tested it and I can polish with that directly after crowning with a Z-file. Nothing else after crowning. it'll take out all the scratches and polish the frets to a mirror finish with maybe 5 mins of polishing with the drill, polishing wheel, and light blue Dialux polish. I'll take that ALL DAY over an hour or more by hand.
Thanks, Gene. This is an absolute wealth of information. Quick question: why not just use a radius block and sandpaper to do your fret level or fingerboard level? Wouldn’t that be quicker than flat leveling first? Thanks!
Can't believe this is here on youtube for nothing. I would've spent thirty or forty bucks for a VHS of this not all that many years ago. You guys are the best.
YT is an incredible resource! We've always been about sharing knowledge within the luthier community, and YT is the perfect platform for that. Thanks for the positive feedback!
It's great. I wish there could be more of that kind of content. Dan's book is great but video's are much easier to learn from. I wish you guys could release more materials like that, so a beginner could learn all those things and maybe do it for a living.
@@walerybien8193 We are working on it...stay tuned!
Sweeey
Stew Mac is the best!
I've never seen a better presentation of technical material on any subject. It's very difficult to cover a topic thoroughly without becoming confusing or getting bogged down in detail, but this video has done that very well.
@excavatoree we really appreciate that sentiment! It's a challenge to figure out what to include and what details are too "in the weeds." It's comments like this that make the task worth it to us!
Fantastic! The CGI's were a nice touch.
These videos are the primary reason I’ll be buying from stewmac. I can’t express enough how grateful I am for you all passing on this knowledge for free!
Really appreciate that @algio3041 We hope these videos can be of service to the community we love!
A whole book on fretting in a video less than an hour long! Wow!
We asked ourselves "what would a crash course on fretwork look like?" and this is what we came up with. Thanks for checking it out! More to come!
Hands down one of the best videos within the genre.
Also probably the best presented content I've seen in a while.
Thanks so much! We appreciate that feedback. Good fretwork is so critical, we wanted to get this one right 🎬🎸🤘
The information in this video is outstanding, like going to luthier school! The production team nailed it! The camera angles provided perfect clarity for anyone wanting to improve their fretwork skills! Bravo!
The Stewmac Fret tang Nibbler *is worth every penny!* I've done some single fret replacements here and there and even without binding, I found I needed to trim the tangs shorter.
Once you trim the tangs, it's a fairly easy process and doing a full neck won't be intimidating, but trimming the tangs the way I did with a Dremel and cut off disc was daunting. I had to curve my wire by hand but my attempts without tang trimming and using a small rubber mallet to press them flush, they were tailing away from the board at both edges.
*After I trimmed, a small amount of wood glue and various tactics installing them in flush produced professional results even though I was whamming them with a rubber mallet! lol*
I have been doing this type of work for a long time and I still pick up tips and tricks from stewmac videos.
I watch the videos and buy the books. Some may say “don’t you know the stuff?” And it’s like yeah, but we don’t want to get a vaccine against education and we may forget a little step and a refresher never hurts.
We never stop learning! Thanks for watching!
Gene, great teaching here again. Many thanks to you and Dan.
It's been about sixty years of maintaining, repairing, modifying, building, etc. for me and Dan's old book and the Guitar Player articles are well used over and over. And now I'm learning more from this electronic video thingy in my hand. Way to go guys! It really has been wonderful.
We were all lucky to have Dan’s books starting out, mine are well worn and dog eared that’s for sure! Thank you for the kind words!
Amazing video!
StewMac should do a certification program; would love to know if a potential Luthier is trained in this stuff - especially when outside of the USA!
I've had two bad experiences with different luthiers in Australia; which has led me to taking on much of this work myself.
As a private aviation mechanic by trade, I watch a lot of specific training videos to stay current and learn about new advancements. This video is amazing! It’s rare to have such a comprehensive and concise tutorial in one video, and all for FREE!!🤯
Thank you Stew Mac! This video answered so many questions I had before starting my own fretwork projects. That trick to use wooden clamps to hold the guitar in almost playing position to check the neck gaps was so simple but genius! I’m also in Ohio (C-bus), do you ever offer workshop classes at StewMac in Athens? Sorry to go on and on, but I’m just so impressed!
This guy is a natural teacher. Amazing amount of info in this vid. Thanks!!
I'm decently comfortable with basic guitar setups but a total noob when it comes to fretwork. I have an Epiphone Sheraton that had a dead note that I realized was from a high fret. After watching many Stew Mac videos, I decided to try fixing it on my own. I know that Stew Mac tools are on the high end in cost but my reasoning was that I would be spending the same amount on having my local shop do the work as I would buying the Fret Kisser and the compact Z-file. They really took the guesswork out with these tool designs and made it so that if you take your time and go little by little, you'll get the job done correctly. The guitar plays great now, and I have these tools for life, ready to take on any other fret leveling that I may need in the future. Stew Mac tools really end up paying for themselves rather quickly.
More of these please!
Having seen hundreds of videos on this topic, this is the best!! Congratulations and thanks for sharing!!
Awesome...thank you for watching!
Really great info from a real pro! This is going to be VERY helpful going forward. Thank you!
Great to hear it will be of use to you! Thanks for the feedback.
One of the best fret videos I've ever seen.
53:25 Shoutout to the video editor for this 25 seconds of editing gold! lol 👍Nicely done!
Thanks for noticing! 😎🤘🎬
Man. As a young player I just dealt with these issues as they arose. Now I’m 30, been playing my whole life nearly, and these are such simple fixes. Thank you guys at Stew Mac for making this vid. Seriously, now I could be a mature player and care for my guitar like I need. lol. 😊
That's awesome, we believe you really do become a better player when you know how to maintain your own rig! Thanks so much for the comment 🙂
You’re still a pretty young player at 30 LOL
I’m 53 and been playing 40 years and I’m pretty young compared to many viewers here. Plenty of guys I know been playing 50 years or more!
Sorry to point that out but I’m OLD LOL!
@ I get it! Yes I am still young and learning. Even if it’s not the same lower profile learning as when I was 10. Glad to hear from another LIFE LONG player! Cheers!
@@BeardnScars
Right on, what a great hobby we have and the resources available here and Elsewhere unbelievably great and helpful on many Levels!
Great video. Your fret puller will draw heat away from the hot fret. Heating the puller jaws for just a few seconds with a propane/MAPP/MAPP-PRP torch will help keep the puller from cooling the fret.
This is absolutely amazing. I have an old Korean Squier Stratocaster, it was my first guitar, and my favorite one to pick up. I now know how to address any fret issues it has. Id asked a local shop what it would cost to have the work done by their luthier, and was told "that guitar isn't worth putting that kind of money and time into, just replace it". Well its worth it to me, it plays great, feels great, and that guitar and I have history. Thank you for this video!
Awesome...That's a perfect guitar to learn fret work on and exactly what this method is intended for! Good luck!
Outstanding ! Probably the best tutorial I've watched on UA-cam, and I've watched a ton !!
Wow, thanks so much, we love to hear that!
Dang!! So much information in a clear and easy to understand way!! Thank you so much!
Glad to hear it, and thanks so much for watching!
Great video! Thanks StewMac. Looking forward to a whole series. It reminds me of a PBS show about woodworking.
Excellent presentation, well organized into the different levels of what someone NEEDS to know... In other words, how to NOT destroy your frets accidentally while trying to fix a minor problem!
Exactly what I was looking for, right before fixing a high fret myself on my acoustic guitar!
Now I even know exactly how much I should take off, in an extreme case.
And I also know to check that the fret is solidly attached, BEFORE removing ANY material.
Thank you!
👍👍👍
This is gold. I have been working on guitars for a bit over 5 years and playing for over 18, there are many videos but none is as comprehensive as this. Great work Stewmac!
This is the best instructional/informational video I've ever seen. Thank you
Thank you for watching...glad you found it helpful!
Martin fan. Excited to see where this falls a year from now and beyond... thank you sir.
Excellent video, guys! Really well made production, excellent explanations and helpful demonstrations. I'll be referring to this in future, too!
Thanks so much, we're glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the feedback.
Just when I thought I knew it all. Fantastic learning experience from a Master.
Thank you Gene for this incredible video. I love your work and I have learned a lot from all your videos.
You guys are the best!
@SuriSanJose thanks so much! We're so glad they've been helpful to you.
Absolutely fantastic video. I have done a couple of my own fret level, crown and polish jobs but I'm still a learning newbie building my confidence. This video is reference quality! Thanks.
This is what we love to hear...Thanks for watching!
stewmac videos always hit it out the park! Nice one Gene! 👌🏻
Thanks a bunch 👍
THANK you Gene what a brilliant video ! So well scripted and shot - info was brilliantly organized ❤🔟👌🏻👍👍
Awesome, thanks so much for watching! We appreciate the comment!
One of your best, if not the best video, and for one of the hardest topics, thanks!!
@GerryBlue thank you for the positive feedback! You're right, it is a complex topic. We tried our best to simplify it and make it approachable to anyone interesting in tackling it on their own.
Finally. Thanks StewMac
Awesome video! Thank you so much!
My only question is how to properly widen the frets. This was my biggest issue during my first refret. My Gibson had very narrow fret slots compared to the StewMac frets (0.6mm wide). I used a Japanese saw, but this was not an ideal tool. I bought 0.6 mm dremel bits and want to try them out.
Great question! It's usually preferable to reduce the size of the tang and preserve the slot. We have the Fret Barber that is meant to "shave" down the sides of the tang for a better fit. There are also "refret saws" meant to work between binding to open up the slot width if you'd prefer. Links below. Thanks!
www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/tools-by-job/tools-for-fretting/pullers-nippers-sizing/fret-barber/
www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/types-of-tools/saws/refret-saw/
What a righteous video! Great information well-presented. Nice!
Thanks for the feedback! Appreciate that!
Subscribed!! I’ve watched this at least 3 times start to finish and ordered a bunch of these tools from the website. It’s amazing to have such a great resource to learn from. Thank you Stewmac.
Truly the best fret video I’ve ever seen! Thank you!
Wow, thanks! We appreciate that.
Thank you! Supperb video. Stewmac Team is the best!
Thank you so much for the positive comment! 🤗
Incredible video. Very detailed, and close up. Really showed off your great skill. Thanks.
Thank you very much!
I agree this is the best video still on the internet for all the fret and neck coverage. I'm saving this to my playlist for future work.
Thank You!!!
Thanks. You see it done all time on all the guitar building vids, but this my man,shows you how it really done.
Greatest video. Great detail content and close-ups are so helpful! Thanks a thousand
So glad it was helpful to ya - cheers!
This is without a doubt the BEST info I’ve seen on these topics! Thank you!🔥
Thank you so much!
This is pure gold!
These videos always give me more business. Thanks StewMac!
Well this was extremely educational. Thank you very much StewMac.
That's a lot of tools shown. But, to your credit you show why they are needed and how to use them (and frankly, anyone attempting to do guitar repair should probably have all the necessary tools anyway or else take the job to a pro). Thank you!
watched all of it, beautiful work
Thank you, glad it held your attention! 🤗
37:56 Wow, that's a cool tip, really clever, never thought of that, a smart way to fix your guitar with only two clamps! thanks!
Great video!
Super awesome demonstration Eugene! Just loved it, you just put together 30+ video content for learning fretwork for newbies like me! Thank you!
Thank you!
Thanks a bunch, glad you enjoyed it!
As an amateur luthier this amount of detail is invaluable. 👊 I’ve got an idea for a completely different approach to and fret and neck assembly. I need to brainstorm with someone who has more experience iron out kinks or see if it’s even possible.
Fantastic and informative.
Great learning videos. Thanks for all the time and effort put in here.
awesome video! thanks for sharing
This guy's the fret master
awesome vid, thank you for all the tips and tricks!
Thank you for watching!
Excellent video and answered all of my questions on fretwork!
Wow! What a great video.
great video, really appreciate it
That's some sick animation.
Thanks! It definitely helps show the specifics!
Very thorough 👍👍
Thank you for watching!
Beautiful work and a great and essential video. Thank you StewMac & Gene for sharing.
Thank you!!!
Wow! Thank you! It`s very useful!
Awesome, glad it was helpful!
This is incredibly fantastically amazingly awesome❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
This is superb! The level of detail and tips is the best I've seen and I went to a guitar making course at a local college!
Excellent again. the anamation on this one is next level. Your channel is a life saver
Thank you! The concepts of fretwork are often so small and subtle, we thought some animation might help a bunch.
Great video
Love this video!
@EricMerrow thanks a bunch!
It's interesting that you recommend cutting fret ends from the top and bottom, I was taught to do it from the sides - gonna have to try it your way and see which yields better results!
A Nobel Prize for this man, please.
😅There should be a Nobel Prize for lutherie! Thanks for watching!
Great video great educator
This is a great video. Thanks for the info and advice. Really useful.
Great animation!
the annimation was second to none.
프렛워크는 이 영상이 마스터네요. 역시 스튜맥!
Wonderful video, Thank you!
Wow fancy graphics y'all!
✨😎🎸
Perfect timing, as I am diving deeper into “level 2” fretwork with the goal to do a “level 3” partial refret on my Martin later this year. (Thankfully I have a cheap broken guitar to practice on first!)
Awesome...good luck with it!
Brilliant! Thanks
That's high quality 😮
Great job .. Thanks .. 🙂👍🥂.
Wonderful content, thankyou for this!🎸🌟
Thank you for watching!
that was damn fantastic!
Fantastic video, thanks a lot!
Thank You!!!
Bob Ross of Luthiers.. great stuff!
Great stuff! I've done level 1 and 2, just need to dive in and do a re-fret sometime! My Yamaha may not agree haha
Killer! You can totally do it, especially if you've nailed levels 1 & 2. Your Yamaha will thank you! 😎
Fantastic video. Any plans to do a video on refretting an acoustic or classical? I'd love to see the approach when dealing with the fretboard extension to the soundhole.
Yes! We have more fretting videos in the works.
This is great! Thanks!
love his video. as good as Dan's
I used to waste time hand polishing frets like that. Going through 8 different grits across 22 frets. 176 frets polished. By hand. Won't do it again.
Today, I used a 4 inch buffing/polishing wheel on my cordless drill along with blue stick polish from Dialux. I tested it and I can polish with that directly after crowning with a Z-file. Nothing else after crowning.
it'll take out all the scratches and polish the frets to a mirror finish with maybe 5 mins of polishing with the drill, polishing wheel, and light blue Dialux polish. I'll take that ALL DAY over an hour or more by hand.
Thanks, Gene. This is an absolute wealth of information. Quick question: why not just use a radius block and sandpaper to do your fret level or fingerboard level? Wouldn’t that be quicker than flat leveling first? Thanks!
Excellent video, though I would've loved the topic of fall away to be included.
We'll cover that subject in more detailed future videos. Thanks!
I never knew that you could use micro mesh. Good thing too because I thought mine were needing replacement
Yep! Keeping them clean will extend the life drastically. Thanks for watching!
Well done
Thank you!
good video so how much is a basic polish and how much would a deluxe be nowadays thanks
Thank you!!!!