Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello All,

I was hoping to get some thoughts on pulling and replacing frets on a finished neck, bound fretboard. How do you guys do it without damaging anything.......there always seems to be the threat of tiny bits of the fretboard that want to come up with the frets, is there anything other than heating the wire that helps?

Thanks,
GG

_________________
Gwaltney Guitars

"Pulling" the frets correctly is done by wedging them up with a flush cutting nipper. These are hard to find and you may need to grind a semi-flush nipper. Push down against the board slightly as you squeeze so that potential chips are held down.

_________________
Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

I asked a similar question recently and here are a few pointers that have seemed to help me.

1) Tighten the truss rod to give the neck a little back bow..this helps open the fret slots a little. Do not over do it....

2) Heat the fret with a soldering iron while squeezing a special set of end nippers ground flat under the fret. Stew Mac sells the nippers but they can also be purchased and then the top ground flat on a belt sander or grinding wheel.

3) Slowly work the fret nippers from one end to the other while heating the fret. DO NOT pull the fret at any point.

4) One person mentioned about putting a piece of tape on the fingerboard on each side of the fret to keep any chips from getting lost. The chips will get stuck to the tape and can be glued in later. I haven't tried this but it seems like a good idea.

I hope this helps.

_________________
Brad
Avon, OH

First I use an X-Acto knife and carfully score the fretboard under the fret. CARFULLY! UNDER THE FRET!Sorry to yell, but you if you slip you make a lot more work for yourself. Since the board is bound you can stop about 1/16" from the binding. Next heat the fret with a soldering iron in case they were glued in. Then use fret pulling pliers, but don't pull with them. Just squeeze them starting at one end of each fret and working your way across the board to the other side. You want the pliers flat against the fret board so if a chip starts the jaws hold it down as they pull the wire up. Once the fret is lifted all the way across the board, then you can use the pliers to pull the fret the rest of the way out.

Probably not of concern here though something relevant in some cases. I've seen a picture of someone who over heated the frets during removal on a plastic bound board and ended up melting the binding along the slots. Something to keep in mind when working with frets on plastic bound boards.

I know, but it stuck out in my mind because it was something I'd be likely to do, though I'd probably not bother fixing it and just make it my own unique feature called, "Scalloped Binding" or maybe "Bound Scallops", jk.

jason

An Erlewine tip if the frets are recalcitrant: Dampen (not wet!) the fret board with a moist paper towel before using the soldering iron. Just a tad bit of moisture in the fret slot will aid the removal. The tape idea seems good as some boards are more prone than others to the chip-out. Go slow and easy and don't "pull" them -- as Howard mentioned its an "easy as she goes there" wedge movement. Good luck and have some CA on hand to replace the chips that do pop out.

_________________
Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Thanks guys....pretty much what I do, though there are some good tips as well, I appreciate your help!!

GG

_________________
Gwaltney Guitars

Greg,
I just toured the Elderly Instrument repair shop last week, and one of the repair guys mentioned they place a drop of solder on the fretwire and spread it out. The solder helps to evenly distribute the heat and makes the fret easier to take out. Another option that I've seen work awesome is these custom pullers by Scott Baxendale. http://www.coloradoluthiers.org/ go to this link, and click on Tips and Tricks, and the last one on the page is the fret pullers by Scott. They require some work to drill a hole where the fret exits, and does require some grinding. But the result is that the fret is never pulled up, but rather pushed up while pushing down on the fretboard. Scott doesn't even heat the frets, and he never chips boards. Best of luck!

_________________
Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Tracy--

Cool link and a very slick tool! I'll be making one of these this weekend.

Thanks!

_________________
Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

even to this day i find gritting my teeth as hard as humanly possible until the sparks shoot out my mouth essential.

Warm the far end of the fret with the iron until you see the oil boil, dont be afraid to really grip it, and ease it up, lever the rest of it out gently but firmly.
If you get chips lifting, have a scalpel and water thin CA ready to put it back in before it completely comes out. Deal with the overspill of the glue in the fret slot later.

dan erlewine fret dvds are very good if you want it demo'd clearly

_________________
www.theguitarrepairworkshop.com

_________________
"It's a Tone Faerie thing"
"Da goal is to sharpen ur wit as well as ye Sgian Dubh"
"Sippin Loch Dhu @Black lake" ,Kirby O...

Thanks Tracy, those pliers look great, I'm going to grind a set up today.

GG

_________________
Gwaltney Guitars

I must say those flush cutters that Frank Ford made were great! I've read through most of that entire site many times and didn't recall seeing those. Really a cool idea I think. To me you would have less trouble clipping fret ends as you don't need to hold the dikes as you would normal flush cutters, where you have to have it parallel to the frets, instead you can have it perpendicular where you are less likely to accidentally bend the fret nub in a bad way and mess up its seating. I'm explaining this poorly, but either way it looked like a good idea and one to try. Plus I have so many pairs of sharp dikes from my days spent on the deep sea fishing boats. The other link was a great one as well and gives me another use for all those dikes I have around. Very helpful thread here. Jason