I was recently asked whether it’s necessary to do anything with the guitar nut during a fret level or refret. Great question. Let’s find out…
Read More
Zero frets are all well and good but what happens when you need to level or refret a guitar with one? How do you handle a zero fret during fret-work?
Read More
I’ve often hammered home the idea that players need to understand that a guitar needs to the setup for their style to prevent fret buzz. ‘As low as it can go’ isn’t as simple as it sounds and the player plays a massive part in whether a guitar buzzes.
But sometimes the guitar is to blame. And I should talk about that too…
Read More
Answering questions about the clever fix made to address limitations around replacing the zero fret on Brian May’s famous Red Special guitar. Great thinking…
Read More
This article kicks off with a doctor joke. Immediately comes back with a fret-buzz joke, and then discussed player psychology and guitar repair.
It's got everything…
Read More
So, we're rounding out our discussions on frets. We've covered a lot and it makes sense to finish off with a quick and dirty round-up of some of the relevant properties of frets.
Read on for more…
Read More
Gibson has installed binding with small 'nibs' at each of the fret-ends for years. This doesn't really serve any functional purpose but is mainly aesthetic. Nothing wrong with that but, when it comes time for a refret, it poses a bit of a problem.
Check it out…
Read More
When a fingerboard has binding along its edge, there are some considerations that have to be taken during a refret. Because the fret slot-ends aren't accessible preparing the slots and the frets themselves is a little different. Doing it right is the difference between a great refret and a potential disaster.
Check it out…
Read More
Replacing only a couple of the most worn frets on your guitar can sound like a fantastic solution to get fret wear sorted and save some cash to boot. And sometimes it is.
However, here's what you should know about a partial refret…
Read More
When can you get away with a fret level and when do you need to go all out and refret an instrument? There's a time and a place for both jobs. Read on to get a feeling for when you might need to pull the trigger on a full refret…
Read More
There are times that I will advise a player AGAINST having their guitar setup. There are times when every repairer/tech should do this.
Find out why…
Read More
After the last article on fret wear, I was surprised to get some responses refuting my statement that a zero fret would (all things being equal) wear more quickly than other frets.
It seems that Brian May is partly to blame for this. Well, not quite. Check it out…
Read More