While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

[75lespaul]

Hello everyone. Like I did when I couldn't afford to pay to have my cars fixed anymore, I want to learn to do my own guitar work. I don't plan on doing any refretting just yet but I do want to do it. I want to do a fret leveling and polishing on a few guitars; will this kit really do the job or do you need a fret leveling board and/or other items as well for a top notch job?

This is the Essential Fretting Tool Kit from Stewart Macdonald, and there is a video you can play of Dan Erlewine. He says he can do a refret with this kit even in a backyard. Now does he mean that HE can do it since he's a pro, or anyone can do it? He makes it look so easy too. Since I'm so green when it comes to this stuff, I don't know who to trust as far as who is selling what. Thanks guys. Thank you already to Beandip and Theodie because I know you two will offer some great advice.

http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/product/5345

 

[Jessie Sammler]

Re: While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

That's a good question, and I'm eager to find out the answer. Dan is the man, but I don't know what I'm doing. I plan on wearing out the crowns on lots of frets, and it's going to be expensive if I can't level and dress them myself.

 

[75lespaul]

Re: While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

That's a good question, and I'm eager to find out the answer. Dan is the man, but I don't know what I'm doing. I plan on wearing out the crowns on lots of frets, and it's going to be expensive if I can't level and dress them myself.

Exactly. I'm broke, but while I still have a little bit left over from a personal loan, I want to see if this kit will do the trick and save me a lot of tech work.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

That is not what you want for fret leveling/crowning.

Using Stewmac links because I am on the laptop (and lazy), here are some suggestions.

Something dead flat to level with.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_supplies/Leveling/Fret_Fingerboard_Levelers.html

Something to check the straightness of the neck (I made my own)

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_supplies/Leveling/Notched_Straight_Edge.html

Radius blocks are cheap and a nice thing

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_supplies/Leveling/Fretboard_Radius-sanding_Blocks.html

Files... now files are a personal thing, and what one person likes may not work for another.

You can buy a triangle file anywhere, but you will want to knock off the edges.

Or you can go expensive and buy Stew Mac.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_supplies/Shaping_and_crowning/Double-edge_Fret_File.html

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Frettin...mond_Fret_Files/Offset_Diamond_Fret_File.html

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_supplies/Shaping_and_crowning/3-Corner_Fret_Dressing_Files.html

There are many many tutorials on fret leveling and crowning, and the more you watch the better. From there it is just learn by doing.

Next thing you know you will be making nuts and refretting necks.

 

[jmh151]

Re: While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

I think I found the Xmas present to myself

 

[aleclee]

Re: While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

A few months ago, beandip did a thread about DIY fretwork. You might want to check it out.

 

[Uk Ant]

Re: While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

Many of the bits you need that are in the kit can be found cheaper in your local hardware store, especially over this side of the pond.
When I did a re-fret on my Kramer I didn't use as many tools as are in the kit and I ended up with a guitar that is better than it was before but could be better.
If you read Dan Erlewine's book it gives you a better idea of what tools you need for assorted jobs including different tools you can use for the same job, such as re-fretting.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

What you really need is the knowledge, experience, skill, patience, artistry, talent and meticulous nature to use those tools precisely. Some of us have those qualities but most of us don't.

 

[beandip]

Re: While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

The new Deadblow Fretting Hammer that they're saying is amazing, can be purchased through Rio Grande (not the pickup company, the tool company) for about 23 bucks cheaper.

As for learning to do a refret, many of the things in that kit are needed, but do they need to be THOSE things? Keep in mind, back in the 60's and 70's when this stuff started booming and the pros we have today were breaking new ground, they were using tools from the hardware store and modifying them specifically for their use.

Look at the "JAWS" thing from Stew Mac. It's a modified set of Vise Grips. And if someone had the time and tooling equipment, it could easily be made at home.

I suppose if you'd really like to do your own fretwork, and would like to do it as cheaply as possible, you can do what I posted in my DIY Fretwork on the cheap thread, or you can gather the tools for sale through Stew Mac from other sources with better prices.

The two things they do offer that are amazing for fretwork, and I absolutely recommend from that kit is the leveling file with the handle, it has the smoothest cut of any file I've come across. And the fret end file. That little guys just cool. The rest of that stuff, you could save 40 bucks or more.

 

[beandip]

Re: While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

BTW: You don't need radius blocks to keep the radius on your frets. A lot of folks think that there's no way you can radius frets with a flat file, you have to use a block. As long as you're careful, take your time, and follow the radius of the neck, you can use the leveling file and don't have to tape 150 grit paper to some blocks so you can do a good job.

 

[DazH]

Re: While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

relating to the "jaws" mentioned previously.
http://home.asparagine.net/ant/blog/?p=223

Also, the tuner bushing press tool is made out of a welding clamp too.

 

[75lespaul]

Re: While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

The new Deadblow Fretting Hammer that they're saying is amazing, can be purchased through Rio Grande (not the pickup company, the tool company) for about 23 bucks cheaper.

As for learning to do a refret, many of the things in that kit are needed, but do they need to be THOSE things? Keep in mind, back in the 60's and 70's when this stuff started booming and the pros we have today were breaking new ground, they were using tools from the hardware store and modifying them specifically for their use.

Look at the "JAWS" thing from Stew Mac. It's a modified set of Vise Grips. And if someone had the time and tooling equipment, it could easily be made at home.

I suppose if you'd really like to do your own fretwork, and would like to do it as cheaply as possible, you can do what I posted in my DIY Fretwork on the cheap thread, or you can gather the tools for sale through Stew Mac from other sources with better prices.

The two things they do offer that are amazing for fretwork, and I absolutely recommend from that kit is the leveling file with the handle, it has the smoothest cut of any file I've come across. And the fret end file. That little guys just cool. The rest of that stuff, you could save 40 bucks or more.

I take it this is the thread? Great, great stuff.

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=168216

I found this online last night before I posted and it has pics as well. Do you agree with this one too or what would you do differently?

http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=6092

And lastly, on youtube there is a tech who posted a twenty something part lesson on refretting a Fender neck. In one of the vids (I think seventeen, eighteen or nineteen) he demonstrates what you had said about crowning using sandpaper and your fingers by kind of "wiping" the frets with the sandpaper up and down the neck. I never would have thought of that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tka_BQ_tl1U&feature=related

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

So you guys are going to spend 40 or 50 hours (not to mention time wasted with trial and error, etc.) copying Dan's and Don's designs and making your own tools (which probably will be sloppy and not quite right when you're done) out of vice grips and welding clamps and whatever else?

Let's see, my time is worth at least $30 to $50. an hour. That would add up to $1200 to $2500.

Hmmm...doesn't seem like much of a savings. I think I'd just bite the bullet, give credit where credit is due, and buy most of the tools.

 

[beandip]

Re: While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

So you guys are going to spend 40 or 50 hours (not to mention time wasted with trial and error, etc.) copying Dan's and Don's designs and making your own tools (which probably will be sloppy and not quite right when you're done) out of vice grips and welding clamps and whatever else?

Let's see, my time is worth at least $30 to $50. an hour. That would add up to $1200 to $2500.

Hmmm...doesn't seem like much of a savings. I think I'd just bite the bullet, give credit where credit is due, and buy most of the tools.

No, not at all, I only used the Jaws tool as an example that these tools came from somewhere.

Dan Erlewine, Don MacRostie, Frank Ford and TJ Thompson are all amazing artists in their own right, and I'll give credit where it's due.

But what I won't do is pay a 25% upcharge on the same exact tool that's in the Stew Mac catalog because they let me know that it could be used for something in Lutherie. Such as the deadblow fretting hammer filled with buckshot. It originally had a steel nose and is in Rio Grand for shaping brass bowls, plates, and that sort of crap. But guess what, it also comes with an interchangable brass nose for softer metals.

What hilarous is spend some time on Frank Ford's website (frets.com) and go through his traveling tool box. You won't see any tools that were purchased through LMII or Stew Mac. They're hand made. His fretting hammer is a ball peen purchased years ago. Straight edges came from a milling house. We as luthiers, have very rarely created a tool specifically for our own use. They're always modified tools meant for a different purpose. I personally, intend on carrying out that tradition.

If someone else was ballsy and smart enough to step out and make tools from scratch so that he could have the right one for the job, then so am I.

 

[beandip]

Re: While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

I would like to add that the Essential Fretting Tool Kit is meant for the home DIY guy to purchase and get professional results with little experience in the fretting field.

 

[beandip]

Re: While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

I found this online last night before I posted and it has pics as well. Do you agree with this one too or what would you do differently?

http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=6092

I would've used a 3 corner file to crown the frets instead of a crowing file, and I'm not sure why he decided to use 400 grit and wipe the frets after crowning them, and then call it a day.

Personally, I polish my frets up all the way to 12,000. 400, and I could see a lot of problems arising.

That, and I don't like that his leveler was extremely wide for a first timer. It's a good way to completely ruin your radius.

 

[75lespaul]

Re: While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

I would've used a 3 corner file to crown the frets instead of a crowing file, and I'm not sure why he decided to use 400 grit and wipe the frets after crowning them, and then call it a day.

Personally, I polish my frets up all the way to 12,000. 400, and I could see a lot of problems arising.

That, and I don't like that his leveler was extremely wide for a first timer. It's a good way to completely ruin your radius.

I was surely wondering about how to deal with the radius. That wide board was making me wonder.

 

[Uk Ant]

Re: While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

But what I won't do is pay a 25% upcharge on the same exact tool that's in the Stew Mac catalog because they let me know that it could be used for something in Lutherie.

I'm with you on this one.
I didn't have the money to get a fret hammer (or any hammer suitable for hitting softer metals without denting) so I used a normal claw hammer and a bit of wood to take the blow.
The end cutters I used for pulling the frets cost me about £5 and ten minutes with a file to get a suitable flat end.

Now I'm sure Dan Mac's stuff is top notch, and it's not the must expensive gear you can get for Lutherie or other forms of wood work but for many of the tools you'd need there are much cheaper alternatives, although I would like a fret rocker

 

[beandip]

Re: While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

I'm with you on this one.
I didn't have the money to get a fret hammer (or any hammer suitable for hitting softer metals without denting) so I used a normal claw hammer and a bit of wood to take the blow.
The end cutters I used for pulling the frets cost me about £5 and ten minutes with a file to get a suitable flat end.

Now I'm sure Dan Mac's stuff is top notch, and it's not the must expensive gear you can get for Lutherie or other forms of wood work but for many of the tools you'd need there are much cheaper alternatives, although I would like a fret rocker

You want a fret rocker? Make one. It'd doesn't have to be hard steel. All you need are 3 very straight edges of different lengths.

I made mine out of a peice of pickguard material, using a fine toothed jewelers saw and finishing up with a bit of sandpaper. I even left a screw hole in it so I can hang it above the workbench.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: While this kit from Stew Mac is Dan Erlewine endorsed, is it all you really need?

The big difference between an experienced guitar repairer such as Dan Erlewine and many of the potential purchasers of the kit can be summed up in one word.

Touch.