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Thread: Buy the tools for a re-fret and do it myself or....

  1. #1
    Member Joe3334's Avatar
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    Aug 2017
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    Buy the tools for a re-fret and do it myself or....

    I'd really like some stainless steel Jescar frets on my superstrat neck that came with the 'SSH-1' kit but I'm on the fence as to whether or not I should buy the tools required and do the re-fret myself or pay a local 'luthier' $450 (excluding cost of frets and setup) to do the job.

    If i were to purchase the tools required I'd buy them from either Stewmac, Crimson guitars, or ALS (Australian Luthier Supplies).

    My only experience with messing around with frets was when I polished the frets on my Ibanez using Autosol metal polish and a dremel.

    Joe
    Last edited by Joe3334; 13-03-2018 at 07:20 PM.

  2. #2
    GAStronomist Simon Barden's Avatar
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    Oct 2016
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    Stainless steel frets are a real PITA to get smooth and polish. I had them on a Warmoth parts guitar I bought from eBay but they weren't very level. It took me about an hour a fret to get rid of the cross-wise scratches I put in the frets when I levelled them. On standard frets it takes about an hour to do all of them! That stuff really is hard. So that's why any luthier is going to charge you a lot of money to fit them - and they won't enjoy doing it!

    Personally my experience with Crimson guitars was one of very slow and poor service. Took ages (six weeks after several emails from me and being told by them they were about to be dispatched) for supposedly 'in stock' items (they've now removed the stock status descriptions from their web pages) to be built and dispatched (one bass straight edge and a 7.5" radius block). They appear to have taken on a new person to deal with orders and keep customers informed. But as an alternative have a look at https://tonetechluthiersupplies.co.uk/ where I got a lot of my tools from. I don't know if they ship to Australia, but they certainly do to Europe, so I don't see why not.

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