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Refret for Steve Jones’ Les Paul

Monday, January 18th, 2021
Many of you will recognize this guitar as belonging to local legend, Steve Jones. Having been in Steve's lineup for longer than any other guitar, this Les Paul was in desperate need of a refret. Being such a discerning player, we know Steve had concerns about anything changing with his setup so we appreciate his trust in us to do this job.
While we do have a standard procedure, many of our customers have different preferences in regards to their setups. We made sure to take note of the low action on this guitar, as you can see here, we couldn't quite fit a 0.010" feeler gauge between the strings and first fret, whereas our typical standard is to have 0.024" of clearance here.
After making note of the setup specs, we start the process by removing the old frets.
We then use a sanding beam to create a uniform surface on the fretboard, ensuring that the new frets are all installed properly .
The fret slots are then cleaned of any debris and prepped for the new frets.
After bending the radius into the fret wire and cutting some rough lengths, the frets are then pressed into place.
The frets are glued in place in the slot and around the edges with super glue.
The ends of the frets are then cut to be flush with the fretboard, and we use this beveling file to taper off the sharp ends.
All of the frets are then sanded to ensure the tops are all a uniform height for proper playability. We check each fret individually with this fret rocker, which helps us find any high spots.
Once all of the frets are the proper height, we tape of the fretboard and get to work crowning and polishing the frets.
And here is what they look like once completed!
New strings are installed and we setup the guitar to the specs we noted earlier.
Now all that is done, this guitar is ready for many more years of use. After having the guitar back for a while, Steve said "It's like getting a new guitar and an old friend back at the same time." Thanks again, Steve for bringing this one in!

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