Filing Fret Ends With Binding

[Len R]

One of my archtops has sharp fret ends that cause some discomfort. It is not fret sprout, as the guitar has been well humidified for a long time. I've done some research but everything I have found involves filing frets that have no binding material on the ends. I don't mind filing metal, but I'm concerned about damaging the beautiful binding along the neck, which covers every fret end. Advice and suggestions welcome!

Thanks,

Len

[deacon Mark]

Tape the fingerboard well between the frets. Then depending on what you need you can simply run some fine grade emery cloth at a 90 degree angle against the frets using the heel of your had to apply light pressure. This I learned from Bill Barker and it cleans up the fret nicely without really do any digging in to anything. Then run various grades of scotchpads after this to buff even smoother. This is what I do when I cam doing a fret dressing as I get toward the final end. It takes a bit of experience to know that you can lean your cloth as you move toward the fret ends to get them all hit with the emery cloth and after. This assumes you do not need any dressing of the frets just smoothing out the ends of the fret. Not using a file and not filing directly parallel with the fret means, you won't really hit the binding except the very but of the nubs that is showing. This will not take off the nubs and it is necessary to leave them exposed when you do this.

Bottom like is to mask the fingerboard and even the neck well. A strip of tape on each fret and then mask the back to be extra careful. Hopefully this made sense.

[RayS]

One of my archtops has sharp fret ends that cause some discomfort. It is not fret sprout, as the guitar has been well humidified for a long time. I've done some research but everything I have found involves filing frets that have no binding material on the ends. I don't mind filing metal, but I'm concerned about damaging the beautiful binding along the neck, which covers every fret end. Advice and suggestions welcome!

Thanks,

Len

This:

might be what your looking for ..watch beyond the words "fret sprouts" though. start at 2'30".....

Ray

[Len R]

Thanks Deacon and Ray, but both of those methods do what I am trying to avoid - remove the binding from the fret ends.

[RayS]

Hummm, so the fret ends don't peak thru the bindings? not sure I understand the issue then..

Or fret Nibs ? :

Have a pic?

Ray

[Jimmy blue note]

If you can feel protrusion, it's not even. I'm with Deacon Mark on this one. I keep one of those foamy nail boards I get from the drug store nail care section. I use the medium and fine polish multi board. A little kiss of a stroke with a slight twist along the bevel and I don't feel it. I guess I can't guarantee that a few molecules of binding aren't going to be removed but guess what? I build guitars and taking binding down to where you want it is part of the process of the original build. Somebody brings a hand built instrument to me with that issue, they might not know it but I take the metal down, stop when it's level and that's what you want.
Or you can live with the annoyance of metal peeking out.
I like to do this in the winter when the fingerboard has pulled the binding in, and as the wood hydrates, the fret ends are hidden in the expansion.
My humble opinion anyway.

[Jimmy blue note]

Thanks Deacon and Ray, but both of those methods do what I am trying to avoid - remove the binding from the fret ends.

Hmmm, are you maybe talking fret lift? The frets lifting off the plane of the fingerboard to which they're inset? That's a whole different issue. Yeah, let's see what's going on. We're speculating in the dark here.

[deacon Mark]

This:

might be what your looking for ..watch beyond the words "fret sprouts" though. start at 2'30".....

Ray

This video shows really bad fret spout and I don't think you have this issue or at least as bad based on your comments. I would be a little more gentle and please tell us the guitar make and model that helps. A Gibson L5 is different than a inexpensive Korean Strat.

[Len R]

Thanks, I really appreciate your efforts to help. Here is a photo that shows the fret end covered with binding material:


This is a 17" L5 type. I'm sure you can guess the maker by the fretboard inlay...

[RayS]

Thx for the pic .. while it may not solve your issue here's this Luthier's thoughts on fret nibs (binding over the end of frets)

The Great Big Gibson Fret Nib Debate — Haze Guitars

Ray

[Len R]

Thx for the pic .. while it may not solve your issue here's this Luthier's thoughts on fret nibs (binding over the end of frets)

The Great Big Gibson Fret Nib Debate — Haze Guitars

Ray

Wow, that nails the issue. Looks like I will need to file/sand/smooth the nibs carefully. If I just round the sharp edges, no need to remove the nibs altogether.

I will try that.

Thanks!!

[Jimmy blue note]

Wow, that nails the issue. Looks like I will need to file/sand/smooth the nibs carefully. If I just round the sharp edges, no need to remove the nibs altogether.

I will try that.

Thanks!!

Softly round the ends with the aforementioned nail polishing supplies. Nothing lost really, if you are careful. If you're worried, try one, up on the neck, and see if it feels better, and then see if you even notice it. Note, I'm careful always to pull the file in the same stroke direction, from midline outwards. This keeps the filing consistent and lets you control the 'roll' of the file better. You might try it and see if that works for you.
Good luck

[Len R]

Thanks Jimmy. And in case anyone is wondering why I'm being so cautious, the guitar is a Campellone 30th Anniversary Special (2008), which is featured in the gallery on Mark's website. Do not want to mess it up!!

[RayS]

Wow, that nails the issue. Looks like I will need to file/sand/smooth the nibs carefully. If I just round the sharp edges, no need to remove the nibs altogether.

I will try that.

Thanks!!

Len R, in the video I linked to at the beginning you can see the nail file used ..very cheap actually and quite efficient.

Good luck with that magnificent instrument!

Ray

[Danny W.]

Thx for the pic .. while it may not solve your issue here's this Luthier's thoughts on fret nibs (binding over the end of frets)

The Great Big Gibson Fret Nib Debate — Haze Guitars

Ray

I disagree with the premise that nibs serve no non-decorative purpose. I have never had a problem with fret sprout on any guitar that had them, while I've often had it on guitars, Gibson or otherwise, that didn't. I'm sure the frets still sprout, but the nibs make it unnoticeable, to me at least.

I have a nice little fret-end file from Stewmac that I haven't used in years because all my current guitars have nibs.

Danny W.