Fret Work for Guitars & Other Instruments

We provide different specialized repairs & services for stringed instruments & guitars at our workshop on the east side of Tucson, Arizona. We perform repairs, services and installations to both electric guitars and acoustic guitars. Our most popular sevices include fret dressing, pickup installations & guitar setups. This page shows some of the specialized fretwork services.

Fret Dressing & Fret Levelling

Almost half of the guitars we service with a comprehensive guitar setup also need work on the frets. Without this kind of work many guitars cannot be setup by even the best of guitar techs to play with peak performance.

What kinds of fret problems are there?

String Buzz, fretting out & poor intonation are just a few of the problems caused by frets that are in poor condition or improperly installed. Frets can cause these problems as a result of uneven heights, flat spots due to wear or general wear in positions where strings are frequently fretted.

Guitars don't have to be old to need fret levelling!

It's very common for new guitars to have low action string buzz caused by uneven frets. Factory setups on lower cost guitars are often only good enough to ensure a playable guitar with high action - This is a prime example of paying for what you get. Having said that, a low cost guitar can be made to play with the action and feel of guitar costing much more, especially if a fret level or touch-up is performed in conjunction with a guitar setup.

About the "Players Complete" Guitar Setup

We perform fret dressing and levelling so often to improve a guitars' setup that we developed a setup service that includes fret high spot levelling and dressing. You end up with a great playing guitar that the best of setups cannot usually come close to. Many players call to tell us how amazed they are with their guitar after this inclusive setup service. The Players Complete Guitar Setup is a great deal for guitars that require levelling & crowing of a number of frets & complete fret polish. The service includes comprehensive setup as detailed on our basic services page.

Stringed Instrument Re-Frets

6-string, 12-string, 4,5,6 electric bass Guitars

When frets are seriously worn, personal preference dictates or for other problems, we perform complete re-frets for 6-string, 12-string guitars and basses. We remove all of the existing frets, clean-up, re-level the fingerboard & replace with the fret size of your choice. We also perform partial refrets starting at a single fret.

It is also common for clients to want to change the frets on their instrument - especially if they are unhappy with the feel and playability of the fingerboard & fretting. Here, one of our clients was very unhappy with the small, frets supplied as standard on his new Gretsch 6120 Nashville & asked us to replace with larger sub-jumbo fretting. Refretting a new instrument is a delicate process, we take every precaution to make sure a new instrument leaves us in the same new condition it arrived at our shop.

Mandolin & Other Instrument Refrets

The smaller frets on Mandolins and other acoustic instruments can easily wear on frequently played instruments. Playability of a mandolin can be seriously affected by excessive fretwear. Although it is a more delicate operation, Mandolin refrets are less costly than guitars.

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