Fretless to fret

Hi Snowwalker,

If the "fret markers" are sawed into the wood (as it sounds that they are), you need to be concerned about how wide these "slots" are. If they are too wide, then they might not hold the fret wire. Medium size fret wire is typically 0.023" wide and the slot cut by the fret saw should be 0.022" wide so the little tangs in the fret wire can catch the wood and hold the fret wire in place. Fret saws tend to be expensive, so what I usually use is a standard coping saw which has a thin blade which works fairly well for fretting a fretboard.

If the fret slots in your neck are too wide, then you might consider gluing the fret wire in (works best if slots are only slightly to wide) or you can try using cut nails as frets. Just buy a bunch of thin long nails, cut off the head and points (a jig might be worth building to keep nail lengths fairly consistent). You may have to cut or file the current fret slots so they are wide enough to hold the cut nails. Then use 2-part epoxy glue to glue them in, trying to work as cleanly as possible. Be sure to clamp another board to the top of the fretboard to apply pressure to the cut nail frets being glued in (but use a strip of plastic bag to keep this board from being glued on).

Also, working on a completed instrument makes fretting a bit harder to do. Be sure to rig up some kind of clamping system that supports the box, neck and head assembly and keeps everything rock steady when you get ready to cut fret slots.

Another easy option is to use electrician's tie-wraps as frets. Use the thinnest ones you can find. May need to replace the nut (or add a fret 0) with a thicker tie-wrap so the open string notes sound like the fretted notes. If you have a steel nut, the open notes tend to ring out pretty loud, but the fretted notes are dampened somewhat by the nylon (plastic) tie wraps. To solve this, the nut, or fret 0 should also be made of the same material.

Hope this helps.

-Rand.

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Rand Moore July 14, 2011 at 6:17pm

Hi Snowwalker,

If the "fret markers" are sawed into the wood (as it sounds that they are), you need to be concerned about how wide these "slots" are. If they are too wide, then they might not hold the fret wire. Medium size fret wire is typically 0.023" wide and the slot cut by the fret saw should be 0.022" wide so the little tangs in the fret wire can catch the wood and hold the fret wire in place. Fret saws tend to be expensive, so what I usually use is a standard coping saw which has a thin blade which works fairly well for fretting a fretboard.

If the fret slots in your neck are too wide, then you might consider gluing the fret wire in (works best if slots are only slightly to wide) or you can try using cut nails as frets. Just buy a bunch of thin long nails, cut off the head and points (a jig might be worth building to keep nail lengths fairly consistent). You may have to cut or file the current fret slots so they are wide enough to hold the cut nails. Then use 2-part epoxy glue to glue them in, trying to work as cleanly as possible. Be sure to clamp another board to the top of the fretboard to apply pressure to the cut nail frets being glued in (but use a strip of plastic bag to keep this board from being glued on).

Also, working on a completed instrument makes fretting a bit harder to do. Be sure to rig up some kind of clamping system that supports the box, neck and head assembly and keeps everything rock steady when you get ready to cut fret slots.

Another easy option is to use electrician's tie-wraps as frets. Use the thinnest ones you can find. May need to replace the nut (or add a fret 0) with a thicker tie-wrap so the open string notes sound like the fretted notes. If you have a steel nut, the open notes tend to ring out pretty loud, but the fretted notes are dampened somewhat by the nylon (plastic) tie wraps. To solve this, the nut, or fret 0 should also be made of the same material.

Hope this helps.

-Rand.

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