SETUP
- Thread starter James Freeman
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Jarick
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Has anyone gotten into doing their own setups, to include nut filing (or even creating nuts from blanks) and fret work?
I've been looking at some tools but don't want to drop $5,000 on Stewmac stuff. I've priced out some of the decent things on Amazon but haven't pulled the trigger.
Here's a list of tools I would likely need:
For setups:
I've been looking at some tools but don't want to drop $5,000 on Stewmac stuff. I've priced out some of the decent things on Amazon but haven't pulled the trigger.
Here's a list of tools I would likely need:
For setups:
- Action gauge (or precision ruler)
- Radius gauges
- Feeler gauges
- Straight edge
- Notched straight edge
- Neck support
- Work mat
- Fret polish
- Fret cutter/puller
- Fret slot cleaning tool (hooked razor)
- Fretting hammer
- Fret leveling block (and sandpaper)
- Fret crowning file
- Fret edge file
- Fret rocker
- Nut slotting files
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Looks like you covered everything, @Eagle could definitely give some pointers here.
The only advice I’d give is to not cheap out when it comes to fret tools. I botched two re-frets in a row trying to teach myself how to refret and it was entirely because I cheaped out on the tools and got a bunch of Amazon crap. The crowning tool I got was cheap and I had to push down extremely hard to get it to do anything it just made a mess of the frets. I’m familiar with filing metal, I do it at work regularly for random things, I might as well have taken a cheese grater to the frets.
The cleaning tool I got was also fairly sh*tty, same deal, I had to use way more force and just gouged out areas of the fret slots.
If it needs to be sharp and hard as nails, don’t be cheap about it!
I haven’t ordered nut files yet, but that’s another thing I won’t cheap out on. Looking at Amazon you find they’re often selling jeweler‘s files as nut files. I’ll definitely be getting actual nut files after my cheap tool experiences, they’re a bit pricey and you need specific files for specific strings, but it’ll beat not having to buy a new nut every time I butcher one!
Bruce
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My tolerance for a poorly set up guitar is pretty low. I have dozens of instruments here so learning some basic setup skills was pretty important to me. I’m deadly with a soldering iron though. Put a hole in my iPhone case last attempt but I did manage to fix a short in a Knaggs control cavity.
Bruce
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Most I’ll do for frets is the music nomad sauce and maybe file down a little fret sprout here and there.
Eagle
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No but your being sold a lot of things that you don't need.
Most tools you actually need can be modified from conventional quality tools. a lot of "guitar" tools are poor quality .
things you actually need;
Straight edge
Notched straight edge
Quality steel 6"rule.
Piece of carpet
Automotive wet and dry paper 600~ 1500
T cut.
Quality heavy duty wire cutters
Flush cut wire cutters ground level.
A brass face hammer
A small triangle file with the edges smoothed off.
Fretting saw with depth stop.
Needle files (CK brand)
Old iron wood work plane (levelling block)
This is what you actually need.
Buy your fret wire radiused and learn the old school methods .
Fret rockers are mostly misleading if you don't know how to interpret them .
Radius gauges and feeler gauges are not very useful either.
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Eagle
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Watch this.
This is old school but I would mask off things when you are new to this.
Stew Mac tools mostly save time but you can go very wrong with fret crowning files that stop you seeing exactly what you are doing.
If you understand the process you will know what tools you don't need. Watch the video.
Oh and I am a full time tech for over thirty years.
This is old school but I would mask off things when you are new to this.
Stew Mac tools mostly save time but you can go very wrong with fret crowning files that stop you seeing exactly what you are doing.
If you understand the process you will know what tools you don't need. Watch the video.
Oh and I am a full time tech for over thirty years.
Jarick
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Awesome, was hoping you'd chime in!
What do you like for brands? Are there certain tools where you want to get higher quality vs ones you can go a little cheap?
I LOVE that video! I watched it a couple times when it first came out and plan to watch again.
I may have to pick up a cheaper guitar to practice on at some point. Maybe that will be a 2023 project.
Eagle
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You need quality files and cutters the rest not so.
CK (made in Japan) good for files and Knippex (made in Germany ) for cutters. You will need to modify them though so you may want to get some cheap Chinese ones first time around and expect them not to last long .
Jarick
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So you're saying to really learn, you want to start with a good triangle file (with rounded edges) and learn to shape the crown by hand? Rather than using a purpose built crowning file? I could see that, getting really good with the manual style.
Eagle
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The result are better and you only need one file instead of one for every fret size. You also have more control when you have got used to it.
I have done it for years, I learned off of Dan Erlewine books for the most part. My advice would be to learn to do everything from nut work to fret levels and crowns yourself, but save refretting for the future or just pay someone for that. Once you get good at it, do some setups and fret level and crown jobs for friends or others to pay for the tools.
If you want to progress to refrets, you can tool up for that later. You can’t do that job effectively until you can do the rest anyway, so focus on the rest. As eagle says, you don’t need a lot of the specialty tools. Here’s what I’ve found I like the most.
Buy it:
- Dan Erlewine books - his big guitar repair book and his make your guitar play great books are essential reading. Buy them and read them before you buy any tools. You’ll probably have a sense pretty quickly of which jobs you’re up to and which ones you should probably avoid, then tool up accordingly.
- double sided Diamond crowning file from stew mac. It’s expensive, but it works incredibly well and is easy to use and has two sides that make it work for any fret size. I can do it manually with a triangle file that has safe edges, but this thing is definitely worth the money to make the job easier. You can’t ruin anythinng with it if you hit the fret with permanent marker first, hold the file perpendicular, and just pay attention. You want an even razor thin line down the entire length of the fret that is untouched. This is easiest to achieve with a good crowning file. It’s much easier to screw up with the triangle file honestly.
- Stew mac fret end dressing file, yes you can make your own, but just buy the tool that is made proper and ready to go. If your plan is to make all your own tools, you may spend way more time making tools than actually doing the work that you need to get done. All of that time is time that could have been spent playing guitar or doing something else more fun.
- A good 6” rule, I like the starrett one I was given as a gift. It’s one of my most used tools in guitar work and lots of other stuff too.
- Nut files, I’ve tried diy alternatives, buy the files.
DIY tools:
- notched straightedge
https://www.dickblick.com/products/...-2K5RAfzYPzN2vIWE8bsVCzeC8x9spLQaAq86EALw_wcB
Take one of those of the appropriate length, make sure the acrylic is true and then dremel out the notches.
Leveling beam - get a good level from a hardware store and put the self adhesive sandpaper stewmac sells in a roll. Get one nearly the full length of the fretboard or slightly longer.
Fret pullers and flush cutters - if you really want to mess with this these can be made easy enough.
D
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Eagle
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Diagnosis of an issue correctly is actually a huge factor and not as straightforward as it seems. Identifying issues on poorly performing necks that appear to have perfectly level frets is interesting to say the least. It is also the thing that makes up that final few percent in a high end guitar, or the elusive facet that accidentally makes the mid priced guitar play perfectly.
