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A scrap piece of unfretted fingerboard has been included
with your kit. Measure out the frets you will actually use on
your fretboard, and use the leftover fretwire to test your skills
on the scrap.
Drill 19 holes in a block of scrap wood to keep the frets in
order as you cut them to length. Using flush-cutting fret nip-
pers, cut the pre-radiused fretwire to length, allowing an
overhang of 1/8" on each side of the fingerboard.
Clamp the fretboard flat to a solid surface. We fretted on a
flat, 1-1/4" thick chunk of marble —a piece of plywood rest-
ing on a cement floor would work well, too. Set the fretwire
on the slot; since it’s curved, only the ends will enter the slot.
With your finger, balance the wire to keep it from tipping and
prying up a chunk of wood as you tap the two ends into the
fret slot with a hammer
(27)
. Once the two fret ends are
embedded in the fret slot, the fret is unlikely to tip as you
hammer it home.
Hammer back and forth across the fretboard in short, sharp
blows. Use the face of the hammer, not an edge, and try not
to hit the fretboard on either side of a fret. The fret tang, with
its diamond-shaped barbs, embeds itself into the finger-
board as the fret straightens end-to-end from the hammer
blows.
Test to see that the frets are seated well by prying on an
overhanging end with your fingernail. Loose frets can be
firmed up with superglue run into one end of the fret slot.
Keep the fretboard tilted at an angle to keep the glue from
getting onto the fretboard. Or, an option is to tape off the
fretboard on each side of a slot and run a bead of Titebond
into the slot before hammering in the fret. If you use
Titebond, let the frets dry overnight before nipping and filing
their ends.
When the frets are firm and the glue is dry, nip them almost
flush with the fingerboard edge. Do not nip right up to the
edge, or the nippers will pull into the fingerboard and possi-
bly unseat a fret end.
Use a smooth mill file to flush the fret ends to the edge of the
fingerboard. Then use the same file, held at an angle, to file
the fret-end bevels
(28)
. Choose a bevel that suits you —
perhaps between 45° and 60°. Stop when the file hits the
wood.
Blunt the top edges of the fingerboard on the bass and tre-
ble sides with a single-edge razor blade
(29)
. Later, when you
glue on the fingerboard using a rubber band clamp, there
will be no sharp edge to break the rubber band.
The fingerboard is now ready to be glued to the neck.
Fretting the fingerboard
27.
Keep the wire from tipping and prying up wood as you tap the
two ends into the fret slot with a hammer.
28.
To bevel the fret ends, use a smooth mill file held at an angle.
29.
Blunt the sharp top edges of the fingerboard on the bass and
treble sides with a single-edge razor blade.
