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How to make sharp fret ends smooth with fret dressing file
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- čas přidán 3. 09. 2019
- Low humidity can cause fret sprout. This is when sharp fret ends stick out past your fingerboard and make your guitar uncomfortable to play. This is an easy fix with a fret end file. Virtually anyone can do this repair (no experience required). In about an hour, you’ll have your guitar silky smooth and comfortable to play.
Download our FREE guide on How to Deal with Sharp Fret Ends here: www.stewmac.com/item/i-ts0337
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Dan is a national treasure.
Not a original comment
Appologies, I'll try to be more creative next time I feel the need to show some love and respect to someone.
Error : a UNIVERSAL treasure ! ;)
@@henrystuart7736 and this matters because??
Evan Hinshaw The best fret end dress video I've seen, and I have watched about 30. Dan is great!
Dan is everyone's guitar grandpa. What a wealth of knowledge.
🎶👍👍
To put it perspective he could also be someone’s baby grandson
wheres Stewart then??
I've never met Dan, but after reading his stuff in print & viewing his films since the seventies, he seems like an old friend.
One very simple fix if your frets are not terrible but only slightly catchy is to run a patch of stiff suede leather over the ends. Like in the old days where leather strops were used to sharpen razors leather does a good job of removing burrs. And it goes about the task gently. There is no chance of damage to the fingerboard like you might incur with a file. After about 10 to 20 minutes of persistence you will get a much smoother playing neck. I have done this on many of my import guitars and have gotten good results.
Wow! I tried burnishing my feet edges as you suggested and it helped quite a bit. I would hesitate with a sealed maple neck though. I'd be worried about rubbing off the finish.
Are you running the strap along the length of the fretboard or up and down in smaller sections?
@@eljefe209music I did some of both, but I think that smaller sections is more effective. Burnishing is about the effect heat has on metal. So it will be more effective if you generate the heat more effectively. Smaller sections will probably be more effective for this (though you can switch around).
The leather strap was to straighten the blade before and after use. Recently learned that.
Where might I buy one of those straps?
I used my girlfriends electric nail buffer to polish my frets 😂 Worked like a charm. Had all these different tips in the kit (smooth, file, buff, shine) I just used them in order they said to do on the kit. Used some mother’s rim polish from the garage. Now my frets are like glass! And I gotta buy my woman a new “tip set” for here buffer 😂 she wasn’t too happy.
Mother's makes a polish that is supposed to remove scratches, I can't remember the name.
It works great on the finish and I have been known to polish frets with it as well.
Nice of your mother to let you use her rim polish
I would never be tired of seeing your videos .. You are the best .. Super technique, every time. Thanks ...
Oh I enjoy this so much.
The video isn't artificially made longer than it needs to be, and he has such a warm and welcoming attitude
I'm back, I only watched up to 0:47 and thought that rubbing a wood dowel on them was how to fix it, now typing with bloody fingers, go ahead Dan..
I really enjoy watching videos with Dan. He is a man who is truly skilled in his profession. I am a guitar luthier myself - and have learned so much from him!
the craftsmanship of this man is unvaluable
Invaluable, bro?
Bought that dressing file kit...did exactly what you said and boom! Smooth and polished frets, sweet bends, and no more shredded fingers. THANK YOU!!
Dan... I hope you know what a blessing you are and what amazing knowledge you share!
Watching these videos is like meditation, quite unlike actually doing guitar repairs which can be quite challenging
Dan has a great technique for guitar enhancement and a great speaking voice to explain what he's doing.
This was an exceedingly helpful video! I was able to use some of these tips in filing down the fret edges on a fairly new guitar that I recently purchased. Thanks so much!
I love this tool. At first I was a little put off by the idea of spending almost $20 bucks for a tiny file, but now I know I couldn't live without it.
With my guitars (and friends and families'), I found that if the fret ends are horrible then this tool and technique makes a definite improvement and produces a professional look and feel to your frets.
On guitars that I thought were fine, I used just the rounded edge and Wow what difference it makes when you didn't even realize needed that small touch to go from a 9 to a 10 rating feel. Highly recommend.
I love your videos. I always feel a little more confident and capable when maintaining my guitars. Thank you for giving me even more to love about guitar.
I come here once a year. Bought the whole kit, it was very affordable. God bless Dan for sharing this vital knowledge with us in such a succinct, pleasant manner.
Hello Dan. I've used the 400 grit rubber sanding block..from Stew Mac. I scrub it on the side of the neck edge to dress down the fret ends. It does double duty . It makes the fret ends flush with the sides of the neck and that little give on the deromitory of the rubber removes the residual edge off the sides of the frets also. I kind of pitch the block at a 45 degree angle not to intrude into the neck too much. This is what worked for me. You vids are great sir !
Dan is the Best. I could watch his videos - all day. Always interesting and informative. I have learned so-much from him. Purchased 2 of his Best Books. I do all my own maintenance & repairs now... Thanks to Mr. Dan. Happy Holidays from NYC
Just The Best level of instruction... I’m so grateful for a master luthier talking straight but with so much passion.... you’ve restored My passion to taking care of my guitar.... I’ll always watch this channel 👍
Thank you for the helpful tips Dan. I bought the Stew Mac fret file a while back and it’s been helpful to tame frets ends on a few guitars and even a brand new Gibson Les Paul. It’s already paid for itself in the money I saved by doing the work myself. Please keep making videos Dan, your knowledge is indispensable.
Thank you very much for such helpful videos! I believe your team helps to save guitars all over the world😍
After watching this I purchased the file and a load of other tools including a micromesh pad set, it takes me 2 to 3 hours on a new guitar, but when I am done the fret ends are butter smooth and I have the satisfaction of doing it myself. I finish with a Dremel and cotton polishing wheel to get the frets super slick and shiny. Thanks, Dan!
Thank you for this video. Your instructions were clear and easy to follow and helped me when I received a guitar with razor sharp fret ends.
My new PRS SE Swamp Ash Special had bad fret ends, but was otherwise oerfect. This could have been due to the extremely warm weather where I'm staying. Other PRSs I've encountered have arrived in perfect shape.
Since I'm spending a few months in Mexico, and the place I bought it from is 5 hours away, returning it to get this repaired would have been prohibitively expensive, so I followed your instructions.
I ordered a fret file, residue free tape, and grit pads from Amazon. I followed the steps in your video and ended up with frets as smooth as butter.
I used this kit to do the frets on my Firebird today. Can confirm, it works. Can't stop feeling my frets now.
Thanks to Stew I set up my new guitar better than ever. Had high fret issues and followed his fret filing video . I even removed a fret cause when tapping it down to make sure it was set it came up a bit. The fret ends were actually high and I straitened it out in a toolmakers vise still keeping the radius . I have all those files and stuff. I lowered the action to about 1.3 mm from 2mm + at fret 22. It buzzed bad under 2mm before.May even go lower.👍
Fantastic content. I kept wondering why my fretting hand would be sore after playing. I’m going to give this a shot
His voice makes me confident I can do this work on my guitar myself. I was surprised in this video he is working on the same Ibañez Gio I have!
Thanks ordered the kit and it worked great, frets are nice and smooth! Thank you again!
Awesome, glad to hear it! Keep up the good work. 👍
I purchased your fret dressing file and it worked perfectly for the job. Thanks!
You are the best lutier in the whole wide world
Over here do not worry about humidity, what worry us is always the dollar conversion. Hope Stewmax goes global. Great to see Mr. Erlewine again. Thumbs up.
One minute in and already subscribed. I can tell this guy knows his stuff and is going to be a lot of fun to watch and learn from. Too many people nowadays are just doing the work, explaining nothing and using "cinematography" and bad music to compensate for lack of commentary, ie: knowledge
😇🙏
@@Harp_and_Guitar_Moving_Forward the funny thing is that in the three-plus weeks since making that comment, I've purchased several Stew Mac tools and leveled / dressed my first fretboard!
I mean, my gut told me that he knew his stuff the moment I saw him, what I didn't know was that he is a world-renowned luthier with THE top-shelf manufacturer of tools and accessories related to stringed instruments
‘Tis the season again for fret dressing ❄️. Great video since i happen to have a new guitar that just started to reveal very sharp frets after i have been running the heat in the house for the last week or so. Humidity dropped to below 30% and wreaking. Good thing i purchased this StewMac kit last year, really comes in handy now and this video shows me exactly the proper way to use it. Thanks StewMac!!! 👍
So what's gonna happen when you don't run the furnace no more and humidity goes back to normal. And if your home heating system does not have an in-build humidifier, why did n't you get a portable one and put it in the room you store your guitar? Dan's video is great but sometime you do not have to file/dress the fret ends just increase/correct the humidity in your house.
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Seriously? Think about this.
I can always count on Dan with giving a great lesson...just bought a Strat with frets that are sprouted--this will fix it!
It's nice to see a video saying "This is how you do it" rather than "Take it to a professional". You KNOW we are going to try, so you might as well tell us how to do it properly :)
I've got two necks needing that exact treatment, great to see how to deal with it from a man of his calibre, many thanks.
Very nice 👍 and that's how it's done ! Thank you for showing how really easy it is to file and polish .
Yes! I keep about 25 guitars and work on peoples guitars so I keep 3 humidifiers and a digital gauge in my space. Thank you! I was not using the sharp side to get the little burrs, I will go practice on one that needs some work. I've been doing a lot of hemispherical "ball end" frets per customer request. Thanks for those tips!
South eastern Arizona here. The dew point is in the single digits most of the time. My StewMac fret dressing file and micro mesh pads will be here tomorrow.
It arrived today! Super fast shipping, Fantastic tool, Thank you!
The levelling file is great, and even better when you can change the bevel angle
I could listen to this beautiful man talk all day. Just subscribed and hit the bell!
Thanks for your support and welcome! 🎸
Dan , your so easy to listen to and understandable . My new Nylon String Acoustic suddenly started cutting my fingers , and you had the answer . Thanks , and I really like your videos , especially when you have a Friend in the shop . THANKS !
I freaking love Dan Erlewine. He has such a soothing voice and I want to listen
Never heard of this guy, ,but he i s the "": Real Deal "" ,no ego, just a cool old guy!!!
This is is relaxing, kinda like if Bob Ross was a luthier.
Thanks, Dan! I was surprised you didn't put tape on the fretboard itself. Maybe I don't have the same experience and steady hand as you, so I'll probably tape the whole thing up. 😁 And whaddaya know, turns out I already had all of these Stew Mac tools lying around 😆
I have had that file for a couple of years and just needed to use it. Worked really well! Thank you!!!
I needed this video and this file. I have a cigarbox that was given to me by a friend that needs this badly and a couple of guitars that need it in much less extreme measures.
Man! I bought a 7-string about a year ago and suddenly after having it a few weeks the frets got sharp. So I filed them down as best I could with some diamond files my dad has, and it's playable now. Then maybe 3 months ago I bought a nylon string classical Cordoba. Was great when I got it, then all of a sudden the sharp fret phenomenon happened to it. Now I know it's because my guitar stand is too close to a heat vent (not directly in front, but close enough obviously). I wish I would have watched this video sooner. We used to get Stewmac catalogs back when my dad very actively worked on guitars, and Dan Erlewine was revered in my house as the guitar tech master. Well, off to Stewmac's site to buy that fret kit!
You guys have esp. I was just filing my frets yesterday, today this
Pops up!
I need to get me that kit you have.
Thanks Stu!
This guy and the video is so helpful just saved me money on a problem i had no idea how to fix
my inspiration for working on guitar servicing, thank you very helpful
Just wanted to say thanks for the video, I have three newer epiphones and after dressing the frets on one of them I don’t even like playing the other two so I’ll be doing those shortly. God Bless!!
Your videos are the best Dan! I wish you had many more...
Dan Erlewine is a SUPER talented guy AND a super NICE guy. He is as nice as he sounds; i once had a question and sent him an email. He answered it and was as kind and honest as can be . .
I was wondering why I had tiny cuts on my left index finger... It took a few days to figure out it was the fret ends on my cheap nylon string guitar, which I don't normally play, but have been playing quite a bit for a few days.
Just bought a set of StewMac tools. With shipping and import duties, it was almost as much as the guitar (it's a cheap guitar). Hope you get a European dealer (e.g. Thomann) at some point, it would bring down the prices over here. :)
Dan is the Man..... The Master at work.
Automotive painter's masking tape is also low-tack so it's a good substitute if you don't have the specific tape mentioned in this vid. Personally, I like to use thick duck tape over the low-tack tape as a buffer between the file and neck. Just for that extra bit of protection.
Now to get a fret dressing file so I can clean up mine. I have small files but they're not made for this so they tend to mar the fretboard unintentionally.
Isn't "Low tack" tape just old school cheap paper masking tape?
@@1978garfield no, he goes over it in the video.
Old school cheap masking tape can leave a lot of residue
High expertise passed on in an enjoyable and pleasant manner..
Always great free tips from Stew-Mac. Thank you - this will help with a Strat I'm rebuilding on my guitar channel.
we must protect this man at all costs
This video just got you a sale. Thanks so much!
Dan is the Bob Ross of guitar repair.
I’ve had some days during the winter where I’ve gone home from my shop with dry, cracked, cut up fingers from this. Just EVERYONE who comes in...fret sprout, fret sprout, (cracked top...), fret sprout. The weather in the northeast is absolutely brutal on guitars. For example, it’s 85 and humid right now.....in 6 months, it’ll probably be 15 degrees and dry as a bone. Guitar techs....the northeast is where it’s at. There’s a LOT of work for us here hahah
I recently purchased a guitar where the fret edge could cut a Redwood tree down! Need to take it to my local guitar shop.
Les Paul kit neck... here I come, Baby! Comin' to guitcha!! Nice an' smoooooth! Thanx Dan E.
Great to see Dan again! I have some of these files.they do the job very well.not at all expensive and well worth the price.
When you start working on guitars there's a lot of people that will tell you this will work or that will work but what works best is what gives you the most confidence to do the job. sometimes buying an expensive tool is gonna give you more confidence to do the job right, after that you'll realize how easy it is and then you can make your own tools are improvise.
You could alternately get a cheap guitar to experiment on.
I really appreciate this. I picked up a cheap no name bass off craigslist years ago. $60! With big fender bass amp. The only thing I found wrong with it after playing it a number of times, was that after my sessions, the inside of my fingers felt raw and looked chewed up. The fret ends as you show in your video are hanging a little which makes it rough playing. Was about to sell it thinking metal wasn't fixable. Until I figured id look it up n see. Tbh I actually thought it was the neck. But anyway, thx! This seems like a simple fix. Given mines only 6.5 lbs, it'd be a waste to get rid of it. Lol. Doubt I could find lighter for cheaper.
I bought a new Harley Benton 12 string...its good but it has sharp edge frets. God knows why they do not finish it smooth before selling.
Nice video
Thanks for the great instruction videos. It's very informative, and helpful. I'm learning how to be a decent tech for my own guitars.
I use 1/2 a wrung out sponge in the case to humidify the guitar and fretboards that are humidified swell a bit and the fret ends get 'smaller' . So the simple solution is to use a cheap 3-corner file to remove sharp fret ends an THEN humidify the guitar. You have corrected a dry fretboard and then humidified it to further minimize the 'fret ends being sharp' , see?
You're like the Bob Ross of guitar stuff.
I used a sanding sponge , a medium , worked an finished with fine and a yellow sponge with green scotchbrite to fo the neck , worked fine
I just learned a lifetime of information!
This man’s a freteranarian!
Beautiful person ❤️ ❤️ thank you for all you share and do
Mr Norman I’ve learned much from you love the videos
That was a great video. Great teacher. Thank you!
Love the Sunburst Neck cradle!
The most durrable guitar I have is my RG2228 (emg 808 edition). I have had it in the sun a little bit from busking, in bashed a little lightly from the long and wide neck being too close to a desk or something else... and it still has decent intonation. I do clean frets every string change session I do for all my guitars though with actual guitar cleaning oil that daddario uses plus I just use a cloth which does not damage frets like sand paper might if you go to hard accidentally. I found that some guitars have easier to clean fretboards than others like my flamenco guitar's neck was pretty easy to get dirt out off. Man what a beast of a guitar. Ibanez has some pretty durrable guitars even with the thinner necks. I do prefer bolt on necks because they are easier to fix if they get super mangled for some reason plus tone difference of a neck through neck on the same guitar that has a neck through version is pretty much unnoticeable. My bolt on neck is designed for pretty comgy access to higher frets even and who looks at the back of guitars on a stage anyways and I don't mind the bolt look from the backs of guitars anyways.
04/28/2-23: I got new Eart T-380 guitar. It is very nice for only $400.00. However, I do have one complaint. The stainless steel fret wires are set back a little from the edge of the fretboard and they are a bullet shape with a very high polished round end. This looks good, but the bullet ends are too high and my first finger (right handed) just bounces alone them and it actually is painful. The neck does not have rolled edges, so I took a small jewelers file and rounded off the wood a little to get a nice rounded fret board edge. Well, that helped a little, but that bumpy bullet fret end is annoying. So, I am thinking of gently file down the bullet ends to angle down (beveled like most guitars have). What do yo think? This might be a good show for you to do, per I am sure other people have the same problem.
I might use painter's tape as I'm not skilled with this. Also, I would consider a file less aggressive (even though that one isn't) in an effort to not make a mistake on my old collector guitar. I will buy tools from StewMac. That name makes me hungry :) Thank you.
I had no clue about the tape wrinkling the finish possibility!
Where I live, the RH is usually around 5%. We've had thunder showers the last couple days and my room is still only 20% with the window open. The walls just suck up the moisture. Most of the repairs I do are from people not humidifying their guitars. In the winter when it's in the single digits or teens, there's little absolute moisture in the air and when you heat it up inside, the RH plummets.
I like yellow Frog tape for low tack masking tape.
Hi. Where do you live that has that kind of humidity (5% outdoors)? The Sahara desert has an average of about 20% humidity. I know indoors it can drop to 10% in colder locations with a heater on.
@@ronj9448 Eastern Sierra Nevada at 8,000' elevation. After I dry off after a shower, my towel is dry in like 15 minutes. I've used all kinds of hygrometers to cross reference & it's usually between low single digits & around 20% if not storming.
@@midi510 Thanks
Oh thank god. I’m m suffering from sliding bar chords, I’m desperate! lol thank you!!!!
Same issue. I never had that problem with my other guitars but this LP Jr has some rough frets!
Great tutorial! Thank you.
I hate stewmac prices just as much as the next guy but damn this fret file is looking worth it
Excellent video.!. If I get started now I should get it done in a year or two :-)
I know there's a much quicker way to do this but man does it look so relaxing to do them all one by one 😄
what’s the quicker way?
Nice job Dan and good tip
Idk why im here, i quit the guitar 4 years ago because it was too much for me. All the care and maintance, all the things you needed to do to keep your instrument in good condition, man it was too much. I play drums now🥁 but still i like watching these videos.
For the record, fret sprout can happen even in perfectly humid conditions.
Yes, that's true. Some frets can't be trusted when they're in a darkened case.
A master and his craft
Love my fret dressing file. Worth every penny.
I did it this week with Göldo rubber. It took very long time indeed.
Thank you Master 😀👍
The best! Love your videos.
They are relaxing