How hard is fretwork, really?

[AprioriMark]

I have a project bass (32" Stu Hamm Mexican) that needs to be refretted.  I've done all the rest of the restoration myself (swapped the crap active electronics for Basslines passives, refinished the neck, bought a router to include the third pickup like the American model).  I would like to try refretting it myself as I have some 6150 wire sitting around.

Is this something outside the skillset of someone who's not amazingly mechanically inclined?  What can I easily screw up?  I intend to buy books and read up, but I don't even want to bother if this is a real art that requires years to master.

-Mark

 

[Watershed]

It's not that bad.
Some people are just not at all mechanically inclined, though.

The easiest part to screw up is getting the old frets out without chipping the fingerboard.
For this use a soldering iron to heat up the fret (melts the glue beneath) then with a proper fret puller, start at one side of the fret and work your way across.
You are going to want one of these:
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_supplies/Pullers,_nippers,_sizing/Fret_Puller.html

What is the fingerboard made of?
Rosewood likes to split, and maple has paint all over it.
A bound fingerboard complicates things.

 

[-CB-]

Here's some more to keep in mind...

You've got 21 or 22 chances to mess up bad, but you can also correct 'em!

There will be some tooling investment.  Hot hide glue in the slots... frets pressed with a caul and held until the glue sets.  Fret radius is a big deal, especially on tighter radii.  Doing the fret ends is maybe the most persnickety part, as you'll really see if you've made some different than others.

Having fretwire laying abuot... isn't good enough.  You have to match the tang on the fret to the slot.  Tangs come in variable thicknesses and variable depths.  You'll need to be as thick as, and no deeper than the originals.  You're gonna have to meaure in .001's of an inch.

Its not terrible.  I know guys who have done their own without ever having ever done guitar work.  They just went at it! 

 

[AprioriMark]

Great to hear, and thanks a lot!  I've asked my luthier if I can watch him do some refrets, and he doesn't seem opposed to the idea.

-Mark

 

[-CB-]

ok another thought...

any tools you get wont be worth "nothing" when you're finished with them

you can also buy the fretting tools - see how it goes - then decide to get say... leveling tools and dressing tools

~~

more things to think about - lets say the board is ok, but the frets are either worn, or not to your liking... as long as you dont have cleanup on the board to contend with, you wont have to reslot, just clean up the slots with thin tool (that you can make), so the important thing is tight frets, fully seated, which is where the glue and caul(s) come into play.