# Need Luthier for Neck Refretting !!



## bluesbird (Oct 30, 2007)

Please refer me to luthier who could carry on this task for a decent price.


----------



## mcgriff420 (Sep 30, 2008)

+1 I need one too, preferably Alberta or western Canada


----------



## Lab123 (May 27, 2007)

neno said:


> Please refer me to luthier who could carry on this task for a decent price.


Just curious....What do you consider a decent price?????


----------



## timberline (Nov 22, 2008)

Price should be a secondary consideration for work of that nature. A badly done refret can write off your fingerboard and/or neck, so choose your tech wisely. Very few these days carry the range of fretwire which is required to do first class work on a wide variety of instruments. 
Each time a board is refretted, the size of the fret tang used needs to be increased slightly in order to compensate for the compression of the wood in the slots caused by the previous fretting. Unless your tech has a full range of tang sizes in stock he's likely to pull some hairball epoxy fret job and seriously reduce the stiffness of your board and neck. Such jobs have gained popularity over the past 20 years because few techs want to take the time to learn how to do proper compression fretwork any more, and because the epoxy option has been promoted by guys like Don Teeter in his repair books and by Erlewine in Stew Mac publications. Not a good idea.

KH
Timberline Guitars


----------



## Lab123 (May 27, 2007)

Most people don't understand whats involved with a re fret job...You get statements like." I could do it myself but I don't want to screw it up" or " its not a big job just pull out the frets and push in new frets".....So when you quote them a price of 3-4 hundred bucks they look at you like you have totally lost your mind.....I try and stay away from as much repair work as I can other than my own....When people are looking for a decent price they are not looking at paying top dollar for top work...Larry


----------



## cougar2 (Mar 10, 2007)

timberline said:


> Price should be a secondary consideration for work of that nature. A badly done refret can write off your fingerboard and/or neck, so choose your tech wisely. Very few these days carry the range of fretwire which is required to do first class work on a wide variety of instruments.
> Each time a board is refretted, the size of the fret tang used needs to be increased slightly in order to compensate for the compression of the wood in the slots caused by the previous fretting. Unless your tech has a full range of tang sizes in stock he's likely to pull some hairball epoxy fret job and seriously reduce the stiffness of your board and neck. Such jobs have gained popularity over the past 20 years because few techs want to take the time to learn how to do proper compression fretwork any more, and because the epoxy option has been promoted by guys like Don Teeter in his repair books and by Erlewine in Stew Mac publications. Not a good idea.
> 
> KH
> Timberline Guitars


It is not always the case to go bigger with the fret tang, it all depends on what the old frets had and how many times the job has been done. I have been doing fret work for 21 years now as a Luthier and have very happy customers. You will be looking at paying at least $250.00 for a full fret job from a good Luthier.


----------



## Lab123 (May 27, 2007)

Larger tang sizes will give you a larger back bow. Clean out the fret slot...Add a small amount of wood glue to the fret tang, the fret will go in easier and the glue will harden into the wood and give the barbs something to bite into...Be sure to do a good finger board leveling job before you install the new frets...Larry


----------



## cougar2 (Mar 10, 2007)

You are both right on when you say that you need larger tangs for fret compresion and for more back bow if there is no truss rod. Sorry if I missed it, but I didn't see anyone asking for more than a fret job.
Dennis


----------



## Lab123 (May 27, 2007)

Dennis....Sorry if I didn't make myself clear on my post...I am against putting in larger tanged frets unless the fret slot are also enlarged......If larger sized tangs are forced into the original slots...Then you are going to have some serious back bow problems....A little glue in the slot helps swell the wood a little and give the barbs some meat to bit into....I use a .023 kerf and a .023 Tang....level the fret board ,a little adjustment with the truss rod and the frets hardly need to be touched...Compression fretting without a truss rod is a different story......Larry:smile:


----------



## cougar2 (Mar 10, 2007)

Lab123 said:


> Dennis....Sorry if I didn't make myself clear on my post...I am against putting in larger tanged frets unless the fret slot are also enlarged......If larger sized tangs are forced into the original slots...Then you are going to have some serious back bow problems....A little glue in the slot helps swell the wood a little and give the barbs some meat to bit into....I use a .023 kerf and a .023 Tang....level the fret board ,a little adjustment with the truss rod and the frets hardly need to be touched...Compression fretting without a truss rod is a different story......Larry:smile:


Larry,
Ive got ya now, totaly miss understood.:smile:


----------

