Fret Repair. Anybody ever tried this?

[Hbom]

I found this on another forum, anybody ever try it? Or seen or heard similar fixes?

"Ok, I have been dying to try this so I'd go head and try fixing one fret and see how it comes out. I like the results and it wasn't hard at all, I just followed the instructions in the second video I posted on the What to do about divots thread... Here are some pics of the results. Now I have no idea how long this will last, time will tell. I'll keep you posted."

Before:

Getting prepadred to fix the fret in the middle, it had the worst divots:

Silver solder applied:



finished result ( not bad for my first one...)

Finished, took me like two hours to do the whole job, including going to the hardware store for supplies... I only did the first 8 frets though. Thats all that needed it.

            

[Dave Scepter]

21 minutes ago, Hbom said:

            

Great job Doug!.. I've been meaning to try this myself~ ... To shape the frets, did you use a fret file or?

[Ting Ho Dung]

39 minutes ago, Hbom said:

I found this on another forum, anybody ever try it? Or seen or heard similar fixes?

"Ok, I have been dying to try this so I'd go head and try fixing one fret and see how it comes out. I like the results and it wasn't hard at all, I just followed the instructions in the second video I posted on the What to do about divots thread... 

And where is this fabled thread?

[Dave Scepter]

10 minutes ago, Ting Ho Dung said:

And where is this fabled thread?

 

[DaveL]

wow, that looks nice...   but with solder being pretty soft, am wondering

how it holds...    

 

    

[Hbom]

54 minutes ago, Dave Scepter said:

Great job Doug!.. I've been meaning to try this myself~ ... To shape the frets, did you use a fret file or?

I havn't tried it yet Dave. Just found it yesterday on the Gibson forum and thought it interesting enough to bring here and kick around.

35 minutes ago, Ting Ho Dung said:

And where is this fabled thread?

Here's the original thread

http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/134555-daves-fret-fix-no-more-dirty-divots/page__p__1820912__fromsearch__1#entry1820912

and the video is this one I think;

25 minutes ago, Dave Scepter said:

 

This one looks good too.

17 minutes ago, DaveL said:

wow, that looks nice...   but with solder being pretty soft, am wondering

how it holds...    

 

    

That's why I'm asking here Dave. They make it sound pretty simple. But will it last? I'm guessing the best bet would be to use Silver Solder, but then I wonder if that much heat would loosen the fret or melt finish around it.

So I brought it to you guys for opinions and advise.

[hamerhead]

Seems like a bad idea. Solder is soft. I can't imagine it lasting more than 5 minutes. Might be a good *DICK MOVE* for selling ('like new frets!'), and I've never tried it so I don't know, but it seems not good somehow. Maybe I'm just paranoid.

I'd like to hear Jay's or Jeff's or Greg's take on it.

 

ETA the dick move part.

[murkat]

33 minutes ago, hamerhead said:

I'd like to hear Jay's  take on it.

Well, then, I will do so.

I have done this before.

A. For a "in a pinch" situation, it can work out (I have a gig tonight, blah blah blah)

B. For a string dent in the upper register, it can work out. (and it does).

1. It is only temporary.

2. too much heat will result in catastrophic fail on many accounts.

a. fret(s)  un seated

b. fret(s) warped

c. fretboard damage

d. more other things as well can happen

The procedure is not for the novice I assure you. You can really fuck things up.

But, yes, I can and has been done... for extreme situations.

Not a fix all, just avoidance of what really needs to be addressed, rectified.

 

[Hbom]

 

8 minutes ago, murkat said:

Well, then, I will do so.

Not a fix all, just avoidance of what really needs to be addressed, rectified.

 

Thanks Jay. That was pretty much what I thought. Always grateful for your knowledge.

[Armitage]

True silver solder isn't that soft... it also has (if my memory is correct) cadmium in it and you really need a well ventilated area to work in... but as murkat says it'd be only temporary. It's the kind of thing I can see a dick do before selling a guitar on eBay.

[murkat]

37 minutes ago, Armitage said:

It's the kind of thing I can see a dick do before selling a guitar on eBay.

exactly

[hamerhead]

Definitely a seller dick move. I should probably clarify that in my previous post.

 

 

ETA: clarified.

[Jeff R]

Never tried it and won't, basically for all the reasons Jay said. Way too much can potentially go bad wrong around and under the patch point. And even if you sail the task with flying colors results, it's just a Band-Aid on a wound that requires stitches. A two-hour investment ... for a two-hour "fix."

[cynic]

I guess it could work in a pinch as Jay says, but seriously...who lets their frets get that bad, and if they are that bad, who chooses that guitar to bring to the gig?

[Jeff R]

12 minutes ago, cynic said:

I guess it could work in a pinch as Jay says, but seriously...who lets their frets get that bad, and if they are that bad, who chooses that guitar to bring to the gig?

I've had solo acoustic gig cowboy-chord capo addicts (like the photos in the OP) that had frets 1-4 practically worn to the tang graduating to totally virgin frets - no wear whatsoever - from frets 7 or 8 up. They didn't come to me until the money chord frets are just muffed and flubbing out, and if you aren't bending, getting to muffed and flubbed can sometimes take a while. But talk about a breeze of a partial re-fret. I did this capo junkie's Taylor 12-string earlier this year, using a match to Taylor's factory wire, and I didn't have to even level to match the new ones to the old ones, the latter were that unmolested. Here's the after shot - I think the new-to-old frets seam was around fret 9 but I can't recall for sure.

Granted, it's a specific scenario but a partial refret in this case took ... you guessed it ... about two hours. It costs money, sure, but not so much that you have to resort to solder patches!

[velorush]

I've watched Dan Erlewine heat frets with a soldering iron to remove them. Seems pretty risky.

[Jeff R]

Not as risky as pulling frets without an iron. You're practically asking for chips and splinters if you don't apply that heat.

[Steve Haynie]

As a teenager I stupidly thought I could play with a spoon like Tommy Redd of Nantucket, and I hit the end of the fretboard which created a perfect impression of a string into a fret.  A repairman took care of that for me within a day or so.  Tommy Redd would no longer have an aspiring spoon picker waiting in the wings to take his place. 

So, like murkat mentioned, someone could have to do an emergency repair in a pinch if their guitar neck got hit by something a couple of hours before a gig when no repair guy is available to replace a fret.  It is the most hypothetical situation, but somewhere out there someone probably had to improvise on the spot and pull out the soldering gun that some club owner or sound man had to supply.  And, YES there really are people who bring only one guitar to a gig. 

[velorush]

On 12/23/2016 at 7:50 AM, Jeff R said:

Not as risky as pulling frets without an iron. You're practically asking for chips and splinters if you don't apply that heat.

I didn't express myself very well. 

What I meant was, Mr. Erlewine does similar to the suggested method to remove frets (as you agree) - it really seems risky heating and loosening all of that up when the intent is not to remove the frets - and that risk would be taken regardless of the solder representing any lasting repair. 

[murkat]

On 12/22/2016 at 9:43 PM, cynic said:

who lets their frets get that bad

Plenty actually.

If the fret wear is "even" across the board, it can be still playable to the individual who imprinted it.

A long time friend and client, Chris,  http://www.mudbonemusic.net/home

When He comes thru town, His beloved LP classic en tow, I always point out the lack of fret wire on it.

He nods, He knows. He keeps putting it off, but, it still works, playable when needed.

It still needs new fret wire, but the Wooky gets by the way it is.

[kizanski]

On 12/22/2016 at 3:26 PM, Armitage said:

True silver solder isn't that soft...

It's the kind of thing I can see a dick do before selling a guitar on eBay.

No, it isn't soft, but requires a lot more heat.  Done a lot of soldering with silver in my plumbing days. Soldering with silver rod is approaching brazing or welding heat.  Definitely not the direction you want to go on your fretboard. You'd need to use softer solder (with a good deal of lead in it), and that's definitely not going to stand up to any playing.  

As you said, purely a seller dick move.  

[MCChris]

17 minutes ago, kizanski said:

As you said, purely a seller dick move.  

Yep. Unquestionably one of the stupidest things I've ever seen.

[Hbom]

To summarize:

I posted this because I was curious how you guys would respond to it. It seemed questionable. But the comments on the original thread seemed to point to everyone thinking it was a good idea. Here it didn't float at all.

OP= Out or 24 replies-19 were favorable, 2 negative, 3 off topic.

This post= Out of 19 replies- 1 was positive, 12 were negative, 5 off topic.

What have I learned? Not a lot. I have known for a long time that I don't know much but that hanging here I get to rub keyboards with some of you who do.

Thanks.

 

[it's me HHB]

As to wear you guys should see my guitsrs close up. Old folks home lol

[kizanski]

On 1/1/2017 at 5:52 PM, Hbom said:

OP= Out or 24 replies-19 were favorable, 2 negative, 3 off topic.

This post= Out of 19 replies- 1 was positive, 12 were negative, 5 off topic.

What have I learned? Not a lot. I have known for a long time that I don't know much but that hanging here I get to rub keyboards with some of you who do.

You learned more than you may have thought. Line 2 tells you all you need to know.

[cmatthes]

I would also consider the source of the comments.  I'm not saying that there are other forums where people don't actually play or repair guitars (for a living or otherwise), but I'll take the real-world experience of the people I know here over 90% of the other internet gear forums I breeze through.