Acoustic Steel-String Guitar Fret Installation
Which is better - installing frets before or after installing neck?

Dave Skowron - 02:44pm Sep 16, 1998
Hopefully someday to become a full-blown amateur luthier.

Installing the frets before installing the neck would cause the portion of the fingerboard which extends beyond the neck to warp due to the wedging action of the fret tangs. It seems to me that this would make installation of the neck rather difficult. Installing the frets after the neck is installed would make more sense but then you have to deal with banging frets in on top of the soundboard. What do the pro's say?

DS

My preference is to install the frets before I attach the neck. If your fret slots are cut to the right width (a few thou smaller than the fretwire tang), distortion of the fretboard is negligible. If you don't have the right size saw consider investing in a Blitz saw which has different width blades (Stew-Mac or LMI).

I also press the frets in rather than hammer. I use a homemade caul consisting of a piece of hard maple with a steel bar epoxied to the face and threaded rod (or dowel) glued into the other side. I chuck that into my UNPLUGGED drill press and press in the frets. And arbor press would be even better if you have one. If you've already shaped the neck you'll need some kind of caul for the underside. Done properly, pressed frets take less effort to level

Pardon the novice question, but what about hammering frets would make them more difficult to level? I've never tried fretting before - but I am curious.

I tried hammering the frets in but found it gave me poor results. What happens when you hammer the frets in is the fingerboard becomes more and more wedged backwards, creating a back bow in the previously flat board. I've been using epoxy and a wider slot instead of hammering and it works great. No back bow, no poorly seated frets, no hammering over the soundboard, and they are easily removed with a hot iron. There is a description of this fretting technique on Paul Jacobson's web page. A hacksaw blade will give you a kerf that's just narrow enough to press them in with finger pressure. Use 5min epoxy and clean up with lacquer thinner.

It's difficult to hammer frets in evenly, usually you get high spots that require a lot of filing down. Hammering down the high spots often causes the fret wire to pop up elsewhere. I think press fretting gives you much cleaner results, but a lot of people still use the brute force method. If you do try hammering don't use one with a steel head, you can put some dents into your frets that are next to impossible to remove. A brass-headed jeweller's chasing hammer is best, although you can sometimes find brass hammers at an auto repair shop.

I'd suggest reading Dan Erlewine's "Repair Guide" who has detailed descriptions of various methods of doing fretwork. Personally I wouldn't worry about backbow. Even with banjos, which have fairly low string tension, the neck comes out with approximately the right curve.

In our shop we make approximately 150 necks per month. All the frets are pressed in. The fret slots are cut quite accurately on CNC machine using a circular saw attachment. Gulab

I have no doubt that the press in method can been done well but for someone without a press the epoxy is more fool proof. I've hammered frets in after cutting slots with a circular saw at the recommended .o23" kerf and they never set very well. I was able to improve results when I learned to go over all the cuts with a triangle file, this helps prevent tear-out when removing frets and also lets the frets sit down better. Using the epoxy method with wider slots I am able to make a fingerboard that needs only leveling with 600 grit. Classical guitars are very likely to buzz on the six string in the first few frets if there is the slightest back bow. If you have too much back bow, levelling will work but the fret job doesn't look very good.

This is an archived file from the Musical Instrument Makers Forum
Index of Archived Files
MIMF Home