ot who works on guitars here??????

[Ansil]

who works on guitars here.. like woodworking..  radiusing the fretboard and freting a preslotted guitar.   thats all i lack and i dont' want to take it back to the jackalope that screwed me out of my axe for 3years.

[petemoore]

I use a radiused sanding block to make a relief, then a copy of it...then use that to clamp the frets in....you could use your radiused sanding block but the frets put dents in it if you use it for clamping/glueing frets in.
  I hope you're starting with prebent frets..of the right radius...I made a perfect fret bender ...three dowels in a piece of plywood....grab ethe fret with cutters, and pull it through the perfectly placed rods keeping it perfectly square...I like them just 'overbent' then that helps keep the ends down.
  get everything ready get your fret so it'll go in just far enough [like a nail you've started now you don't have to hold it anymore] lay a line of super glue gel down the slot, and get the thing in there before the glue dries...put something like wax paper betwen the radiused clamping block and the fret/board so glue dont get all on your block...or not...I tape a paint stick to the back of the neck to prevent clamp marks there.
  You could get a fret presser, makes it easier but I've got a couple railer necks I built from sctratch.
  I do two frets per clamping, centering the clamp between them and not having previously installed frets touching the clamped block...email me

[Ansil]

yepp ive done five guitar refrets  and each one turned out great.. trouble is i dont' have a home or access to any of the tools. and i was wantin someone to do it for me and i coudl pay them or fix something.. you know bardering.  as i am kinda strapped for cash now.

[petemoore]

To do a neck and frets right, you need to keep a keen eye on what it's doing, compensate using the truss rod, allow two weeks or more for settling...THEN put the keen eye on it, monitering for any changes, then re-adjust as necessary...
 I took mine in once to have a "PRO' do it...he sighted the neck for about 1 second, so oh, twisted the truss rod about a quarter turn and said done.
 The book to get IMO is by Dan Erlewine. EZ to follow, low or high tech methods are dexcribed concisely and thoroughly.
  Half of it {IMO} is getting to KNOW your neck. No pro can just sight it and tell what's going on.
 You gotta feel your frets [know where buzzes are about to be] eye your neck, etc etc...doing your own setups [and luthiering] is the way to go for someone llike me.
 Not all 'pros' are created equal. I had a refretting done on a Les Paul by Virgil Lay, a noted top local luthier, and it WAS perfect!!!
 I would say study your reads and contmeplate all the parameters to where you feel you are 'one with the wood'...then proceed on a peese of junk, for starters...

[Ansil]

pete man.. i dont' want to do it myself.. i apprecitate the effort but i dont' have patience man.  i hate fret work. hell i would assume sell this 1600dollar door stop as to put another ounce of my bloodsweat and tears in it.

i spent three long years waiting patiently and beign the nice guy waiting and getting bent over the counter and gettin screwed.  i dont' even want the guiatr if you want to know th truth.
the only reason i keep it is i have so much time invested in it.. and if it was ever finsihed, it would blow peoples minds.

[Mike Burgundy]

Well, I won't be of any help if you dan't want to do it yourself, what with me living in the Netherlands and all, but still:
For everyone interested in working on/maintaining/modding/repairing/building guitars and/or basses, buy the Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine. Best book I've ever found, and even if it's a repair book, you can build one by it as well. Wealth of knowledge.

[petemoore]

He used to writ e for guitar player mag.
 He's like real good at explaining things the way I like them explained and when it clicks...you become one with the wood, metal and other materials synergistic dicotomy that becomes an amazing guitar.
 I'ts hard for me to find someone I can trust to do it for me, so I started doing it myself.
 The Strat's setup for what I call 'sleek', with pretty low action, the Les Paul's setup for 'chunk' action a little higher, a good bit higher on the bass side.
 The difference in before and after [on a guitar that really needed a fretjob] is like riding a different horse.
 All of a sudden it's way easier to play and tune, notes chime true, chords sound refined again etc etc
 I say DIY if you can or shop around for whoever you let loose with luthier tools on your Axe...it's that 'extra' hour of attention that makes for a superb paint or fretjob, most workers dread that hour...caveat emptor

[Mike Burgundy]

most workers dread that hour

Most DIY-ers as well. It's the moment of truth, the difference between adequate and brilliant (or a humungous c*ck-up)