Official Luthiers Forum!

Not sure if a tutorial is been posted here before, or of how much use it is
to most here, but since I had one in I took some bad photos with a bad
camera today. Till the forum software change happens I'll only be able to
attach one or two photos per post, so bear with me for a few minutes.

As many know, up until the around 1980 (if memory serves correctly)
Fender was still pulling their frets in from the side. They can be pulled out
straight up like others, but of course are much more prone to chipping.
Yadda Yadda, I'm sure you can find plenty of writing about it elsewhere,
but here's a few photos of how to pull them out sideways.

This is on a 67 Tele, original owner, and very professionally and heavily
played for the better part of the last 40 years.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

I start with a small bit in my Foredom to grind a small notch in the bass
end of the fret. It's a good idea to place a metal guard right next to the
fret, just in case the bit decides to go for a walk (a lesson I only had to
learn once, long ago).



Here's the first notch, cut at a shallow angle with a nice flat end.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Then I tap quite firmly on the end, using a punch on which I ground the tip
flat and crudely turned down to the same size as the cutting bit. A sharp
punch or scratch awl make work as well, but fret metal is soft, and I like to
have as broad a surface as reasonable spread the pressure as I drive it out.



Here is about as far as I'll drive it. They start out a bit tight, but once they
start moving they will slide right along. Perhaps 40 years of green grunge
helps lubricate.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

David's got it right there...

I saw the rig that they used for the sideways fret installation, and it was simple and slick, but you have to understand that at that time Fender did not think of necks as worthy of refretting.   Leo's idea was that it was cheaper to replace the whole neck than refret it.

You can really tear those fingerboards up trying to pull the frets straight up and out, even with heat.

Here is the fret leaving the treble side. Though they often come out quite
clean, you do have to watch for chips pulling loose and take care as pulling
it out.



Then I grab with my nippers/pullers, and gently begin sliding the fret out.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

When pulling the fret, try to remember that the barbs have essentially cut a
channel in the sides of the slots that they like to stay in. Keep the fret wire
pulling along it's radius if that makes sense, rather than pulling in a
direction that will lift the bead away from the board.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

For about the last 1/4" or so, I like to set the pullers aside and draw the last
bit out by hand. Most of the bad chips that happen will fly off in that last
spring of the wire exiting if you are hasty pulling it out. It's not terribly
delicate, but it helps to be slow and careful there. This one had a few small
chips, all of which were easily fixed with a dab of low viscosity CA as soon as
I get the fret out.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Of course, if it's been refretted, they went in through the top and will have to
come out the same way now. Notice the difference in tang between the 4th
and 5th frets as a dead giveaway of a partial refret.



So here it's back to my dirty old solder gun and pullers as normal.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

The first four slots are pretty chewed up, and probably suffered a good deal
of damage during that partial refret. At the time that refret was done
however, few people would have known or cared to have known about the
side pulled fret method. All in all it's in good shape, but the first four will
take a bit of crimping and coaxing to keep in place. As to the rest of the
slots, these are a dream to refret because it's almost as though you are
fretting a virgin board.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

David,
   I recently refretted three Strats for a close friend....a '61 and a pair of '62s.
I've done hindreds of these side removal refrets and have had to follow the
refretting efforts of guy who started to pull them out vertically from the
slots.

   It really makes a mess of the surface whe they start pulling them up and
out.

   Great turorial and a good thing for any aspiring tech to understand.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

David, I use an "American Beauty" resistance soldering station and apply electrodes to the frets near each end to heat the fret directly by pumping low voltage high amperage current through it.   The entire fret heats up evenly, and there's little chance of slipping and burning any spots on the fingerboard.   The heat seems to soften the fingerboard wood, too, and so I rarely get any chipping.   On a particularly old and dry 'board, I may use some lemon oil to prep the board for fret removal.

I know there's not many repair folk here, but if you do take on an old Fender
neck to refret this is certainly something to remember.

Thanks Rick, I've seen photos of the old machine, but not in person or in
action. I understand that though it was a simple machine, it took someone
with a bit of skill and training to operate it well. When demand and
production reached a certain point they just needed a more error-proof
method, so things like employee turnover wouldn't slow things down.
I'm sure you know a great deal more about it than me, but that's the story as
I heard it.

Great idea though really, as the rarity of a loose fret end on an old Fender
should well testify to.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

I'll have to check out that American Beauty system Rick. It sound great. I've
always just used an old Weller solder gun dedicated for frets. I cut a half-
round notch in the tip to ride on the fret, and have become kind of
automated in dropping the tip in to my pullers, which guides it on the the
fret as I draw it back. This one won't ever slip with the notch cut in it, but I
do have to sat I grow tired or replacing bent tips and notching out new ones.

Do you heat the frets on a sideways removal job? I don't know why, perhaps
because there is typically not any glue, but I've always done these cold.
Chipping problems have always been very minor, but I suppose they could
be less with heat to perhaps soften the wood..

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Just stick a couple nails in your old soldering gun. I've been doing this for years; works like a charm. File a tiny notch into each nail so they stay put on the fret.

Great photos David, its funny the first guitar related job I ever did make my older P-bass into a fretless back in 82' or 83' I was about 14 years old and I had no tools so I hammered them out sideways only because I did not even imagine another way frets were put in at that time.
They came out pretty well if I remember. The only problem was it was a maple neck and made the worst fretless bass of all time
Mario I love those 2 nails you use. I may try that later today.
Thanks again David,
Best, Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

So when you refret, do you put the new frets in from the top?

Is there a good way to tell for sure if the frets have been pushed in from the side? I've got a mid-80's '57 Reissue Strat which I think was made at the Fullerton custom shop, and some of the frets are pretty worn. I know it was supposed to be built to '57 specs, but I don't know if they went as far as pushing in the frets from the side.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

Yes, I always put them in from the top. And your mid-80's Strat will have
standard top installed frets. Maybe someone here knows more precisely, but
I believe this method was dropped around 1980 or '81. The custom shop
never would have used this method, or any reissue. The terms "custom
shop" and "vintage specs" I believe are both used very loosely in our
trade anyway.

Mario, I like that. Very cool idea, makes perfect sense.

Still, I need to replace at least one soldering station (for actually soldering)
and just found that American Beauty is headquartered and manufactured
about 45 miles from me. The prices certainly seem reasonable, so I'll have to
check them out.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

The nail trick in the Weller works great, too. I just got all high tech when I found the resistance soldering station at a surplus store for fifteen bucks...

BTW, when I was down at the Corona Fender factory about a year and a half ago, they were pressing frets in on an arbor press...with about 1/2" to 3/4 " of excess fret on either side of the fingerboard all the way up. I estimated the fret wire waste at about 18" to 20" per neck times about 500 instruments a day... They are throwing out at least one employee's wages worth of fret wire a day...

Got to hand it to ya (taking notes), you guys are ingenious.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Great stuff!!

[QUOTE=joe white] Great stuff!![/QUOTE]

What he said.

Like Mario used to say, or may still say, "This is why I hang around the boards. Every two or three weeks something I'll use comes along."

What Grumpy said.



Side Pushing Frets, who'd a thunk it.

Nails in a soldering iron, too easy. Hey Frank, did you see this one?

Cya, guitars are calling....

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com