Refret 

The condition of your frets is critical to the play ability of your guitar. If you are looking for a buzz and choke free set up, with good intonation and plenty of sustain they may need some attention. 
Often a fret level will solve most problems but if there is not enough fret height to level, they may need replacing.  
​We keep a good selection of fretwire in stock, from narrow vintage wire to super jumbo. 

There are many reasons you may wish to have a re fret carried out on your guitar but most commonly it's because of -

• Wear or deep grooves indented in the frets. 
• Uneven frets and not enough fret height left to perform a fret level.
• Low, flat frets lacking in sustain and intonation. 
• An uneven or twisted neck
• A neck with a rising tongue causing notes to buzz or choke out. 
• A neck with too much bow (relief) which the truss rod is unable to remove. 
• To change to a different fret size

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As with all our fretwork we use the Erlewine neck jig for the most accurate results.

How we do it -

The guitar is strapped into the jig, which is then rotated into the playing position.

Using the truss rod, the neck is made as straight as possible.

With the neck straightened, the dials on the jig are set to zero and the guitar is returned back to the working position.

​The strings are now removed and using a small jack and the neck supports, the neck is carefully maneuvered until the gauges read zero again.

The jig is now simulating the string tension to an accuracy of 0.01mm and the neck is in the exact position it would be when you are playing it. 

The frets are heated and carefully removed.

The fretboard is leveled using precision aluminium beams which are level from one end to the other and have the correct radius to match the fretboard. This will remove any high/low spots or any twist in the wood.  

On a maple neck with a finish this may need to be removed and re sprayed with lacquer once the refret is complete. Or if  the neck is straight it may be possible to keep the existing finish intact.

Once the sanding of the fretboard is complete, every fret slot is cleaned of debris so the new frets can be seated perfectly. When removing frets you can often get small chips, especially in a brittle wood such as ebony. These are filled and sanded down before moving on to the next stage. 

The new fret wire is selected, cut to length and bent to the correct radius. If the guitar has binding the tang is notched so the fret can sit down flush. 

The new frets are pressed into place, this provides solid, even pressure. 

With all the frets in place the excess is removed with a pair of cutters and then filed flush to the fingerboard. A 30 degree angle is added to the fret ends and a small fret dressing file is used to remove any sharp fret ends. 

As the fretboard has already been leveled under string tension and the frets firmly pressed in, they should be very level. But once the refret is complete the guitar is returned to the neck jig and the frets are leveled to ensure the frets are 100% level from one end of the neck to the other.