Gluing frets on an existing neck - Yea, Nea, Maybea?

[Sarnodude]

From the folks at StewMac :..an interesting read.

How to use glue for guitar frets - StewMac

Erick Coleman at StewMac shows all the different gluing options and techniques you should use for installing guitar frets.

www.stewmac.com

 

[henderman]

if you are superglue certified you can fix a fret easy peasy, bound neck or not.

when i did fret jobs i used superglue ala prs style where i drizzled it in from the side dots face of the board until it ran out the bottom on unbound necks.

i have also made several invisible fret slot repairs by filling in wonky slots with superglue and fine rosewood or ebony sawdust and then recutting the slot.

 

[Wound_Up]

I totally get your point, and that's why I think frets should always be pressed in. When I see someone bashing in frets with a mallet, it makes me shudder, doubly so it it's a lovely old acoustic guitar. Why harden the metal like that? And why put all these unnecessary stresses on the instrument?

Harden the metal? You're not work hardening nickel silver frets by hitting them 3 or 4 times with a soft face dead blow hammer that's softer than the material being hit. If it wasn't softer, it would leave dents in the frets.

Whatever the case, you aren't work hardening frets doing that. Using a soft face hammer the proper way puts no more stress on the instrument than pressing them in does.

 

[simoncroft]

Harden the metal? You're not work hardening nickel silver frets by hitting them 3 or 4 times with a soft face dead blow hammer that's softer than the material being hit. If it wasn't softer, it would leave dents in the frets.

Whatever the case, you aren't work hardening frets doing that. Using a soft face hammer the proper way puts no more stress on the instrument than pressing them in does.

You're right. I used to work a lot with nickel silver making French horn bells, and it takes a fair bit of work with a pegging hammer before it needs to be softened again. I used to go into London guitar repair shops in the 1980s and see guys putting in frets with a small hammer, or the sort of hard-faced mallet that's more suited beating dents out of cars. That always seemed a bad approach to me, especially as there are less aggressive ways of achieving the same objective.

 

[telepraise]

I have used CA glue to hold down frets that have become springy. The thin stuff wicks in very nicely but wicks to places you're not expecting. You need to be ready for clean up quickly with lacquer thinner.

I've never seen the point of filling new slots with glue when fretting. If the slots are cut correctly, glue is unnecessary. Perhaps on old slots that have been refretted so many times they don't hold the barbs well anymore.

If you glue, you have to be ready to cleanup or scrape. Scraping is fast but leaves a different sheen than a board that's been sanded to 500 or 1000.

One thing for certain is that glue in the slots makes a lot more work for the person that refrets the guitar down the road (especially on bound boards), even if it's just fish glue.

 

[StratUp]

So is gluing generally just done at the fret end... and it wicks where it will? Not along the length of the fret?

 

[charlie chitlin]

Harden the metal? You're not work hardening nickel silver frets by hitting them 3 or 4 times with a soft face dead blow hammer that's softer than the material being hit. If it wasn't softer, it would leave dents in the frets.

Whatever the case, you aren't work hardening frets doing that. Using a soft face hammer the proper way puts no more stress on the instrument than pressing them in does.

I have tried to work harden frets.
I thought they would be nice and slick and stay that way longer, if burnished.
It didn't work.

 

[charlie chitlin]

So is gluing generally just done at the fret end... and it wicks where it will? Not along the length of the fret?

I have wicked it under instead of pulling the fret.
It seems that some do this as standard practice, which is new to me.
Folks who use CA on every fret used to all run it in the slot before installing the fret.

 

[Colnago1]

I would use Tite Bond. The best for wood to wood, but not so much for metal or anything other than wood.

Why would you use Tite Bond for gluing in frets if it doesnt glue metal to wood? I'm confused.

 

[NobodyReally]

Best super glue I ever used is Jet. My dad has used it since I was a little punk to build his flying model airplanes. He switched to Jet after using Hot Stuff for years before. I recently started using Jet for my general repair jobs around the house, including guitar work. It's a bit pricey but it's strong and gets in EVERYWHERE.

 

[Caddy]

Why would you use Tite Bond for gluing in frets if it doesnt glue metal to wood? I'm confused.

Sorry, meant to say I wouldn’t use Tite Bond.