Fretting question

[nnickusa]

I'm moving on nicely with the new one, and just finished the basic work on the fretboard. i bound and radiused this one off the guitar....

Here's my question: What difference does it make if the finger board is fretted before gluing it onto the guitar?

Mine is a dovetail joint again, and it seems to me that it'd be easier to fret it while it's off. I've searched around the net and find that most bulders seem to fret after the neck is attached, but there is a 20-30% incidence of the freting being done first...any advocates of this approach?

[Kim]

Fretting the board off the guitar works for me Nick.

I find it easier to be more even handed pressing them in and if the underside of the board and surface of the neck have been properly prepared and the board then clamped with an accurate caul, then there will be little, if anything to do in regard to levelling once the board has been glued on. One tip is to run a scrapper down the centre of the neck surface to create a 'slight' concave along the truss rod fillet. This gives excess glue, (I use epoxy) somewhere to go. Same deal with the gluing caul, it is slotted to match the scale using a standard tablesaw blade so it clears the frets and if the fretboard has a 12" radius, my caul will be made with substantially more radius to give clearance down the centre with only the outer edges bought back to the matching 12" radius for about 8 or 10mm a side. The idea is to have all the clamping pressure applied to outer edges of the fretboard to ensure the glue line is as fine as possible.

A while back I done a mini tute on making a fretboard gluing caul in the following topic, it may be helpful.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1369&p=17308

Cheers

Kim

[nnickusa]

Perfect. Thanks Kim.

I'll go that route on this one.

[Trevor Gore]

I fret off the guitar. The main tricks are keeping all the flats flat (back of board, top of neck) keeping the fretboard crown accurate and carefully pressing in the frets, checking that they are level (fret rocker) as you go. Then using a big castellated caul (mine is sort of like Kim's, but 40mm deep) when gluing up. I can't remember the last time I had to dress frets, but it takes a while to get a really accurate and fairly quick process. The bolt-on, bolt off double tenon neck joint is part of the process.

[nnickusa]

Thanks Trev,

I'm sort of winging it on this part, but Robbie O'Brie's tute will help alot. Absent the specified fret tang nibbler(maybe one day soon, as I just sold a guitar), I'll get the grinder out and see what I can do with my old sidecutters

[kiwigeo]

I fret on the guitar...bashing in frets in the upper registers is a perfect way to break the guitar in. Most of my guitars are being played by the bass player in a full on lesbian wild-girl rock band so they have to be fairly sturdy.

[Nick]

Thanks Trev,

I'm sort of winging it on this part, but Robbie O'Brie's tute will help alot. Absent the specified fret tang nibbler(maybe one day soon, as I just sold a guitar), I'll get the grinder out and see what I can do with my old sidecutters

You can always use a file to file away the tang end Nick, that's what I did for years before purchasing the fret tang nibbler. Just grip the fret in a vice (upside down) & file away the binding width plus a smidge.
I pretty much do what Kim & Trevor do & fret off the guitar & press the frets in, as Trevor says, if you start off with a nice flat board then there's bugger all, if any, leveling to do after pressing them in. A drill press & caul (get a metal shop to fabricate one or use a nice bit of aussie hardwood...Jarrah? if you are only intending to do one or two but Stewmac do a nice set of brass ones if you intend keeping up with this addictive hobby) are all you need to make a fret press. I also use the Fret Barber and just shave the barbs so there's the slightest of interferance in the slot (enough to hold them in and no more), that way I reduce the amount of back bow in the fret board after fitting the frets, but this step is not a necessity at this stage of your habit .

[Allen]

The fret tang nibbler doesn't work on uke size frets, so I now just nip that little bit of tang off with my end cutters. They are ground flat so get nice and close. Two quick snips and off it comes. Rarely needs to be cleaned up with a file.

I press frets in with an 1 ton arbour press. Backed up with a granite slab. Gets them seated really nice and once board is glued on to the neck it's pretty rare that any dressing is required.

[jeffhigh]

On the EVO frets I prefer to use, the material is hard and brittle enough that just one snip under the fret with the ground flush end nippers snaps off the tang too.

[nnickusa]

Done, and much easier than fretting while the board is on the guitar. Now for the truss rod, and then I'll glue up the board, and leave it for the day....