Refretting an acoustic guitar
- Thread starter dcl0sc
- Start date
gabbiadini1
Winger
Yes. Do you have much experience generally? It’s not something you can really just jump into. You also need quite a few specialist tools. There’s a great book that Stewart McDonald sell which would be very useful to you. Also if you refret you often will have to adjust the nut too, requiring more tools!
Fret Work Step-By-Step - StewMac
New tools, techniques, and color photos! The updated 2nd edition of the world's most popular fretting instruction manual.
That’s the book I mentioned..
Last edited:
ajthemackem
Striker
Fuck that. I wouldn't even touch the truss rod myself. 
But aye, it's not just replacing them. You need to dress and crown the bastards too.
But aye, it's not just replacing them. You need to dress and crown the bastards too.
Last edited:
tunstall birdman
Striker
Guitar Man
Midfield
If this is your first time you should not be doing it on a expensive or sentimental guitar , i would buy a cheap knackered acoustic and practice on that .
As said on other threads you need a lot of tools ,files ,fret clamps etc so you could spend £150 on these and if a refret is £200 and its just a one off is it really worth the hassle,time ?
And even then you could fk it up and end up taking it to a guitar tech and paying the £200 on top.
Feline guitars supply pre radiused frets so if you get the right radius they will snip and send you them ,around £25 which makes life a lot easier and depending on the fit if they are a nice tap in you may not need a fret clamp.
also a fret stone to level them all when set and a good quality set of fret files could knock you back £90 , yes you can get a set on e bay for £15 but they will be rubbish and will make life harder.
Also you will need a new nut as the original one will be too low with the new frets installed so you will have to fit in that and cut the slots to the right depth.
As said on other threads you need a lot of tools ,files ,fret clamps etc so you could spend £150 on these and if a refret is £200 and its just a one off is it really worth the hassle,time ?
And even then you could fk it up and end up taking it to a guitar tech and paying the £200 on top.
Feline guitars supply pre radiused frets so if you get the right radius they will snip and send you them ,around £25 which makes life a lot easier and depending on the fit if they are a nice tap in you may not need a fret clamp.
also a fret stone to level them all when set and a good quality set of fret files could knock you back £90 , yes you can get a set on e bay for £15 but they will be rubbish and will make life harder.
Also you will need a new nut as the original one will be too low with the new frets installed so you will have to fit in that and cut the slots to the right depth.
gabbiadini1
Winger
Yea it’s a lot more involved than people realise! The thing is, if you’re gonna do it just once, it’s gonna cost you £100’s to get the tools needed. Better off taking it to someone who has the tools and the experience.Fuck that. I wouldn't even touch the truss rod myself.
But aye, it's not just replacing them. You need to dress and crown the bastards too.
At least nut files are cheap
dcl0sc
Striker
I'm trying to improve the condition of my first guitar (A Hohner Delta 44J) to give to my eldest son.
He wants to learn and I did buy him a cheap guitar from Amazon, but it's shite.
My guitar sounds lovely when in good working condition, but about 6/7 of the frets are worn so the E and B strings won't play low down the neck, unless I have the action really high. This is the reason I stopped using and spent some money on a Faith Venus Eclipse.
I like to do things myself, so treating it as a bit of a home project.
Bought a new nut and bridge anyhow, as the old nut has split and the bridge is not in good condition.
Yea it’s a lot more involved than people realise! The thing is, if you’re gonna do it just once, it’s gonna cost you £100’s to get the tools needed. Better off taking it to someone who has the tools and the experience.
At least nut files are cheap
Agreed, but if I can learn how to repair guitars (not just refretting) I'm thinking about buying guitars that need loads of repairs (on the cheap), fixing them and selling on for a small profit. So the expense would be fine with me.
Just as a bit of a hobby/pocket money earner.
Might as well do something around guitars which I enjoy playing.
Last edited:
Guitar Man
Midfield
If the guitar is fretting out it may just need a tweak of the trussrod , if you need a quality cheap beginners acoustic with nice action and tone you can pick up a
Vintage V300 acoustic s/h for around £100 to save all the hassle.
It won best acoustic under £500 a few years ago in Guitar & Bass magazine awards.
gabbiadini1
Winger
Do you have straight edge, nut files, crowning files, fret clamps etc etc already? If not, DO NOT scrimp on them. I would get from stew Mac, personally, but you’re looking at a big outlay. I made the mistake of trying to buy cheaper tools when I started out. Just ended up having to rebuy everything
Refrets, I've had a few
gabbiadini1
Winger
Great idea mate. Just be prepared for some frustrating times ahead! Any help I can give, drop me a message whenever.
Have you set up the guitar already? Definitely set it up fully first (again not easy if you’ve never done). After that if it’s still not right I’d recommend redressing the frets first. A full refret is a pretty big job to try without having done quite a bit of work on guitars first. Definitely not trying to put you off. Just giving you a heads up after years and years
Last edited:
chriswallace85
Striker
Not a job I'd even think about doing myself. I'd even be apprehensive about getting someone to do it in case they didn't get it right on one of me good guitars.
Shandy drinker
Striker
No fret
Is there a c fret
Is there a c fret
chriswallace85
Striker
Why's that then? Just wear?Yes. Do you have much experience generally? It’s not something you can really just jump into. You also need quite a few specialist tools. There’s a great book that Stewart McDonald sell which would be very useful to you. Also if you refret you often will have to adjust the nut too, requiring more tools!
Fret Work Step-By-Step - StewMac
New tools, techniques, and color photos! The updated 2nd edition of the world's most popular fretting instruction manual.www.stewmac.com
That’s the book I mentioned..
JAZZMANB
Striker
i think the home luthier scene is quite busy in this area ,some clever people doing it and they push for work so i dont think there's much out there for more
gabbiadini1
Winger
As you’re putting new frets on you’ll most likely find you need to adjust the nut. The new frets may not be exactly the same height so you will need to compensate, either filing the nut slots to lower string height or fill them to raise..
Basically when you refret you are in essence starting from scratch. So you need to do every step in the process otherwise you’ll be forever chasing your tail. Again only learnt from multiple mistakes when starting out!
Last edited:
chriswallace85
Striker
See, I reckon I'd be proper pissed off with new frets being any higher/lower than they should be. Which brings me back to my comment about being apprehensive over which pro I'd take a guitar to for a refret.
I noticed a few frets on my Les Paul are looking a little worn, and I'd hate for any backstreet bandit luthier to balls that guitar up.
Last edited:
