I'd guess the box is around 7x13 - I can measure it when I get home tonight if you're curious about the specifics. I had a lot of fun with doing just the frets for the blues scale on that other guitar too - but my daughter wasn't so crazy about it. I ended up putting the rest of the frets back in for her a few weeks later. :)
Frets can be tricky in the beginning, but once you get some experience with them they aren't so bad at all. I've done frets on about 5 or 6 guitars so far and it gets easier every time.
To start I'd recommend watching a couple "how to" videos to get your bearings with the process, and then using the Stewart-MacDonald online fret calculator and get a tape measure or ruler that has metric markings. It's much easier to get the right dimensions counting millimeters than trying to figure out how .624 translates to fractions of an inch. Get one of the cheap 9-12 dollar saws that myself or Dr. byte are recommending in the "Special Tools, bought or handmade" group and modifying it to have a depth stop with some scrap wood. I have been very happy using the medium width fret wire from CB gitty. Also in that Special Tools discussion are a couple different ideas on fret presses - mostly made from scraps around the shop. Yes, a plastic face hammer can work - but a plastic face hammer hitting a wood block over the fret is easier, and hooking that block up in your drill press is even easier than that. My first couple fret jobs I would cut the piece to length and file it smooth before pounding it into the fretboard. After about 5 guitars I finally made a fretting file jig and bought the fancy stew-mac fret cutter - they do make things a little faster and easier, but you can get good results with the simple methods too. Let me know if you have any other questions about it - I'm happy to help!
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Thanks guys!
Frets can be tricky in the beginning, but once you get some experience with them they aren't so bad at all. I've done frets on about 5 or 6 guitars so far and it gets easier every time.
To start I'd recommend watching a couple "how to" videos to get your bearings with the process, and then using the Stewart-MacDonald online fret calculator and get a tape measure or ruler that has metric markings. It's much easier to get the right dimensions counting millimeters than trying to figure out how .624 translates to fractions of an inch. Get one of the cheap 9-12 dollar saws that myself or Dr. byte are recommending in the "Special Tools, bought or handmade" group and modifying it to have a depth stop with some scrap wood. I have been very happy using the medium width fret wire from CB gitty. Also in that Special Tools discussion are a couple different ideas on fret presses - mostly made from scraps around the shop. Yes, a plastic face hammer can work - but a plastic face hammer hitting a wood block over the fret is easier, and hooking that block up in your drill press is even easier than that. My first couple fret jobs I would cut the piece to length and file it smooth before pounding it into the fretboard. After about 5 guitars I finally made a fretting file jig and bought the fancy stew-mac fret cutter - they do make things a little faster and easier, but you can get good results with the simple methods too. Let me know if you have any other questions about it - I'm happy to help!
is it hard to do frets