How to use glue for guitar frets

that slaughtered guitar in the back

What kind of wax are you using with the super glue? At one point you've got a hard wax in a foil wrapper, and then you've got something on a Q-tip. I did a fret job (my first) with CA glue and tried to wax off with regular old trewax paste wax, and it didn't do a great job at protecting the fretboard; but maybe that's just inexperience?

I don't want to read 195 comments lol lol what kind of wax are you using and where can I buy some?

hello My Dears do you have any tip for wide slots, the frets are not grabing on the fretboard

Look like risky business, also it would seem if you ever had to pull glued frets out you might have problems.

I wonder if Elmer's glue would work

Does wax on rosewood prevent oiling later on?

Cool advice from the best.!! Thankyou for sharing your skills 🤜🤛

Better tone!! Come on, you can’t be serious. Did Segovia have his frets Superglued in?

Don’t eat beans. What a quack!

What do you use to “wax off” the fretboard?

Thin CA glue is not going to fill any gaps just stabilize the fret. So how does this cover the point that you make on better tone?

what wax do u use with the super glue? then what product do u use to remove the wax?

EXCELLENT VIDEO...Thanks a lot!!!!!!!!!!! 👍👍👍

People learn that super-gluing frets is a terrible idea when the next refret is due, but of course it's usually the next poor guy who's ripping out parts of the fretboard when pulling the old frets. I'm pretty shocked that just of all StewMac promotes this bad practice. Also this subterfuge with "better sound" is just ridiculous... the very idea of a fret is that it's the place where the string does not really vibrate, and when a fret is so loose that it impacts anything you have a whole different problem. The real reasons for gluing frets are 1) not having a press and avoiding frets coming up when you hammer them in to save time and 2) not having the right (=wider tang) repair fret wire. Summary: Terrible botch job and again, I'm shocked to see this promoted here!

About to attempt my first fret job. Super glue will be the choice.

what type of wax to use???

What kind of wax are you using?

Does Gibson and Fender put glue in their slots?

StewMan good.

It is surface tension, not "gravity" pulling the glue down into the slot. Gravity is really just density and buoyancy.

Sir after 12fret i am hearing same till 16th fret in E 1st string can help me out for this.

If super glue is used, will it be harder to pull the frets out next time they need replaced? Anyone?

No glue. I argue it changes tone. Tight cut slots for frets without glue.

I almost never use glue while fretting, I simply don't believe in the concept of glueing them. If the fret slots are a bit too wide to hold the tang, I think it is way better to deform it. With those special "W" pliers of Stewmac for example.

Clear Gorilla Glue ???

I do like the option of using water soluble glues for this purpose. Easy clean-up and repairability.

How do you clean off the wax?

Excellent video! Thanx for the always very informative content! Any preference of wax used to border the glue in the fret slot? Every advice is greatly appreciated. Thanx!

I use superglue. acetone helps with clean up. don't use accelerator..

Esses métodos estão ultrpassados.!

You can't "Knock out 4-5 fret jobs in a day," with leveling the fingerboard, treating / cleaning the fret slots, edging, rounding fret edges, polishing. "ETC. X 10". I also have NEVER HAD to clamp one fret using fish glue ... well; I suppose if the fret slot was to large. .... Never ran into that, since 1976, when I threw my first guitar into the garbage. I learned a bit, after that. Overall; I find your information to be somewhat informational, but overall misleading.

Clean the fretwire tang barbs with acetone, coat the tang and barbs with shellac then press in immediately. Shellac gets very sticky and lubes up the slot going in.

What sort of wax are you using on the fret board to protect from the glue?

To prefend pieces of wood from chipping while removing (glued) frets, softening glue by heating it may be a good option.Which of the glues you mentioned can by softened by heating?

4 or 5 fret jobs in a day? wow

Excellent video, just the reassurance i needed. Do CA glued frets release easily enough when heated with a soldering iron, or does it make future refretting more difficult? I'm doing a partial refret (just a few badly worn spots), if it doesnt work out perfectly, it would be good to know they can be removed easily enough.

I want to become proficient with original technology hide glue. Most things used hide glue before WW II. It is strong, but wet or very hot it falls apart. It's dry, mixed with water and applied at 140F. If it gets much hotter than 145F it is ruined. Other thermal glues are crafting Hot Glue (much higher temperature) and similar keratin glue used for hair extensions. I think it may be possible to use gelatin as an original technology hide glue.

Fretboards are like snowflakes. No two are the same. From chipping to previous glue jobs to varieties of fret stock, you never know what you're going to encounter. Over the years quality ebony has become hard to some by, so the newer boards will accept frets a little more easily but they will also release them more easily. I radius a fret then test press it. You can tell by how it goes in whether the tangs are going to do the job or not. CA glue can be very tricky to use in fret slots. Applying frets is the most critical job to making an instrument playable.

Get superglue on the wood it is nasty to remove

I’ve fretted and refretted over 10,000 guitars since 1974. We always glue the frets. Thin Hot Stuff super glue is the best. It takes a little practice to not make a mess with the glue, but once you get past that little learning curve it’s a snap to get perfect results on every fret job you do if you follow the correct steps. We use clamping cauls that clamp two frets in at a time. We dremel out the fret slots with a small dentist burr that makes a perfect sized slot then clamp them in two at a time. We work from both ends of the neck to the middle, so after we glue in the first two and clamp them, then we move to the other end and glue in two. Once those are clamped the first ones can be unclamped and the ends flushed up. Then glue in the next two, and repeat the process at the other end. I can do a full refret start to setup in about 2 hours on most guitars.

I never use glue....never a problem.

Is it ok to use Turtle Wax Carnauba wax on a maple fingerboard during a refret?

I am currently using Stewmacs fish glue. I used it on placing frets into an ebony board that someone put on a 72-precision neck, and a refret on a bandmate's warmouth tele neck.

Hello, how do you maintain and clean an ebonol fretboard? What do you recommend?

Excellent video! Thank you!

Can I use Aliphatic glue??