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Private member DiscussionFinish Repair

Finish repair from mystery solvents

A customer brought this Gibson songwriter deluxe in, it’s approximately 20 years old to his recollection. It needs a few things done including fret work and a bridge re glue. At some point the guitar was lent out to a friend who dropped it then tried to fix the finish themselves. It looks like they used some kind of cleaner or something that didn’t get along with the lacquer at all. I’ll attach pictures but it’s kinda hard to get a pic…

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Ian Davlin
I agree with this. Just Novus probably wasn't going to be enough. It kind of looks like someone accidentally used alcohol instead of naptha. It's a very subtle boo boo. Use some 2000 grit sanding pape…
Private member DiscussionGeneral

Fret Crown File Marks

Hi Everyone, What do you feel is the best way to remove the file marks from the frets after leveling and crowning with a fret crowning file? I'm happy with the shape and overall feel of the frets after crowning so this is an aesthetic issue more than anything. These are the files I'm using. The centered versions of 150 & 300-grit: https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/types-of-tools/files/stewmac-compact-z-file-…

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Private member
I have found that if I don't hit the frets with 320 paper, I am likely to see some scratches when all is said and done. 320, 400, 600, steel wool, and then whatever further polishing you want to do (h…
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Builds

Stainless Steel Fret Wire

Hi, does anyone have experience with Stainless steel fret wire on acoustic guitars or more specific on classical guitars? Up to now I only used the traditional Nickel/Silver fret wire but recognised that after a few months they start to get mat or tarnish despite polishing them. I wonder if that is because of the origin (Producing Company) of the fret wire or due to the alloy? During my search for fret wire that is not Sintoms and also av…

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I just re-fretted an original Taylor for a customer in Stainless and the customer was over the moon with the results and can’t get over how well it plays now. Really depends on the player I think. I j…
Private member DiscussionElectric Repair

One Low Fret: Replace the fret vs. re-level the entire board

There's a video on YouTube from Chris @ Highline Guitars who wants about "proper use of a fret rocker": One thing that surprised me in the video was his suggestion that "your best option to deal with a single low fret is to re-level the entire board." I commented "Why don't you just replace/crown the low fret instead of taking the time to re-level/crown the entire board?" His claim that "it tak…

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Ian Davlin
I didn't watch the whole thing, but the idea of people accendentally going after low frets because of the fret rocker has been something I've been on about for a while. In gereral, when I level a boar…
Private member DiscussionGeneral

Fretwork Processes...

Hey everyone, I could use some advice as far as the fretting process is concerned. I’ve been doing guitar repair since around 2008, I opened my business doing guitar repair in September of 2021, and I’ve always felt that fretwork has been the most challenging part of this job. I’m getting to the point now where I finally feel like I’m getting the hang of it, but I’m not where I want to be yet. I should mention that I use the Erlewine…

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Private member
Hi David, I'll throw my two cents in here. Rather than go through my thoughts on the entire fret level and crowning process, I'll toss some of my observations in. Firstly, if you haven't watched it, I…