Time to Refret, Oh Boy...

[woodeye]

Yep, I've got one of those; a 2008 Fly Mojo on which the frets have begun to fall off - I've been gluing them on as needed, but I have generally been able to catch them before a critical moment. Last week, however, I lost two in the middle of successive sets on a Friday night gig. As you might imagine, a dimly-lit bar table is not a scenario most conducive to a nice, clean glue job, especially when given 15 minutes to perform the activity.

Soooooo, I'd like to do a full refret. ideally, I'd pull all the frets, clean up the fingerboard nicely, glue them all back on, and level and finish them. Sadly, it doesn't look like the project to develop a fret jig has been completed, so I'm looking for some ideas on how best to accomplish this.

The first option I'm thinking of is to, fret by fret, use my second Fly to create a masking tape spacer/mask to transfer to the neck I'm gluing the frets onto, progressively starting with the nut-first fret and moving up the neck. I'm a little worried that if the mask I create for any given fret is off by any small amount, I screw up the scale of the successive frets.

Has anyone out there tried something similar, or have a different suggestion? I suppose I could do one fret at a time, but the idea of starting with a nice clean fingerboard really appeals to me, for whatever reason. I am open to any ideas anyone might have. Thanks for listening!

[vjmanzo]

Hey @woodeye; sorry to hear of that issue—definitely not a lost cause.

Have you seen this post from Ken? I definitely would not do the “purge” approach to removing all the frets, even though that does seem right somewhat intuitively. Frets lift individually in different ways and they can each be re-seated; the major PITA is if you lose them, which fortunately is not the case here.

That link has links to other guides including a USM video—if you’re feeling like this is over your head, I would like to recommend Patrick Cummings of www.iGuitarworkshop.com — I have no affiliation, but I can vouch for his work. He’s a talented craftsman and knows what to do with Flys. Maybe ship your guitar to him and play your other Fly while it’s out?

Again, the real “whatdowedonow?” is if you lose a fret, so I think you’re in good shape. We can also help as best as we can—I know some of our members have done the ol’ fret clamp before

[mmmguitar]

My two cents: This is difficult to evaluate without the guitar in front of me, but it’s overkill to remove all the frets from any guitar unless you’re replacing all the frets or replacing/radiusing the fingerboard. If you go through with it, I second the vote to do one fret at a time - With a Fly, accidentally swapping the locations of any two temporarily removed frets could quickly turn this into a nightmare.

For what it’s worth, my approach would be to remove the strings, adjust the truss until a notched straight edge told me the neck was straight, give the neck a day or two to settle so I could ensure it’s adjusted straight without string tension, then go over the frets with a light, a fret rocker, and a thin blade to judge which ones show symptoms of lifting. I’d wick thin CA glue under those frets, then clamp them in place one at a time (I have a handheld fret press/clamp with radiused cauls, but simpler tools could do the job). I wouldn’t bother scraping or trying to clean the surfaces unless the fret had completely fallen off and/or there was visible debris or gunk (being mindful of the placement beads each fret is supposed to have). Once all the problem or suspect frets were glued, I would use the fret rocker to see if any frets were now out-of-level, go back through with the light and blade to double-check, then level/crown/polish the entire fretboard, if needed (leveling slowly with nothing courser than 400 or even 600 grit, if I can get away with it).

The undertaking of removing, cleaning, and regluing each fret may give you peace of mind. But I liken it to pulling out all your teeth to make sure the brush doesn’t miss a spot, rather than treating individual cavities as they develop. In any case, please update us with whatever you commit to.

[Fly Rod]

Welcome to the Forum woodeye

If you haven't watched this video, Please Do So
It sure helped me with the loose fret I dealt with
Made me feel more confident about the task at hand

1st https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ3VOvkrhzs

You might also watch the Crimson Guitar Videos Too

2nd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMD39WKOuKo

3rd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TZAXIzihmM

JFYI The 1st Video is a Pro @ Parker Glue on Frets

The 2nd & 3rd video the guy @ Crimson Guitars is learning as He's Going

I would listen to what mmmguitar said about one fret at a time & that's also what the guy in the 1st video recommends also
Notice that the Pro just pops them off with a scalpel blade & the CG guy uses heat from a soldering iron

GOOD LUCK & Take your time

HEY MY 100th POST YEAH!!

[woodeye]

Thanks, all, for you input! I should have mentioned that I was familiar with most, if not all, of the videos you've shared, but the comments on doing them one at a time vs. all at once has hit home. I've had limited success with gluing down half-lifted frets, though I'll grant that most if the time I've been under duress when doing it! With that said, I'm popping them off completely when they start to lift - now that I have a backup guitar for the gig, that is. In a controlled environment, I have had much more success, allowing me to clean and set them properly.

I do still feel the need to the entire neck, as I suspect I still have plenty of frets that are planning on sabotaging me in the future. I think doing them all will help make an easier job of leveling them once I'm finished.

I appreciate all your thoughts, I'll let you know how it turns out, once I'm finished!

[Fly Rod]

I figured as much being you have done several frets already..

@ 23:14 in this video it shows the bare fretboard before the frets where applied
Note the small notches each fret fits into/onto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVQ0eLSNHXM

Good Luck & Let Us Know How it Goes for you..
Gary

[vjmanzo]

+1 what Gary said: good luck, woodeye!

[Big Swifty]

Yeah wow, there's an undertaking!

Fair enough though, i'd go with one at a time too.

I don't recall which video it is, but one of them mentions tapping the frets with like the back of a small spanner or something(?) ... something metallic with a bit of weight, and doing a listening test, frets that have lifted have a duff/dull thud sound whereas ones with good bond are a lot more clicky/soild sounding..
Soz..not a very good description but may help determine which ones are going to pop off etc, might save some work.

Good luck, and keep as posted!

B.S.