Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

What is the proper way to polish frets on a Strat? I may be getting one on a trade, and if the frets need a bit of work, I'd like to do it myself!

http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/tutorial9.htm

Scroll to the middle of the page. A two-part tutorial.

...would a three-part one be called a "three-torial"?

Thanks Paul! I noticed this tutorial uses steel wool... the local tech, as well as internet guys recommend sand paper, between 400-600 grid...

What do you use?

Not to answer for Paul, but steel is magnetic, rubbing it on your frets will cause small particles to get into the pickups and cavities..it was used long ago by many(even myself) but the yellow 320 grit sanding pads sold at places like Home Depot work great, even the guitar factories use them and they last a lot longer, then go thru the various grades of wet dry paper up to 400 thru 1500

Not to answer for Dale, but...

Steel wool works better to polish the entire fret; it's difficult to get sandpaper to wrap around the fret. The drawback to steel wool is that it collects on the pickup magnets and covers.

Sanding sponges work best, as Dale has indicated.

You need to get the frets to about 1000 grit, scratch-free, in order to get a mirror polish. Keep the fretboard masked--use GOOD masking tape (3M Blue is my own preference).

I buff my frets on a large 12" buffing wheel, but you can get good results with polishing compound too. Here my preference is for 3M Perfect-It 3000 in paste form; this comes in 8-ounce plastic widemouth jars at your local auto paint vendor.

steel wool sux on guitars. The playing area/surface of the fret is what needs polishing, that would eleminate the need to polish the lower area of the fret that is near the fingerboard. After the frets are leveled and crowned, the use of various papers from 320 thru 1500 used on the index and middle fingers in long strokes up and down the length of the fingerboard will put a crown and high luster/polish on the frets and their playing surface.

Not to answer for Dale Or Paul; but what I always do if I'm steel wooling frets, is First, Cover the area around the PUs w/ masking tape[you gotta get creative on different mfr guitars; Strats are easiest this way..], after you are done, whisk brush and blow off the fine wool particles.A little more fussing, yes, but Does keep the wool off quite well.YMMV...

Not to answer.

Not to answer for Dale Or Paul, but one way to get nice frets is to chuck the Fender and get one of these:

Not to answer for Nick, but thanks guys.

Not to answer for myself, but long ago(70's) and far away(Tustin Calif.)when I used steel wool, I would place and tape a piece of white poster board over the body & pickup area, then when you polished the frets with steel wool and those little tiny pieces of steel would end up on the poster board above the pickups..they made a cool Mag-Na-Doodle that I could make designs with..So much fun was had. But as time and technology came around, better ways of polishing the frets were found. It really bothered my to get those micro slivers of steel wool under the finger nails or if some crept into and under the pickguard ending up in one of the controls..Bummer in the summer. It just made more work for ones self.

Steel wool has no place around an electric guitar since all the various synthetic abrasive pads have become available.

It doesnt matter HOW much you mask, some particles always remain lodged somewhere on the guitar. The worst is when it sticks in grunge areas, collects moisture, and then rusts on the finish.

As I was cleaning out my garage this weekend, I ran into supplies of steel wool in all grades, left over from projects through the years. It made me so happy to chuck it all into the trash. I only spent 10 minutes or so this morning digging a piece of coarse steel wool out of my finger . . .

I have used FLITZ Polish on my Alembic Basses.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Flitz-Metal-Polish-150-Gram-Tube-New_W0QQitemZ230168747220QQihZ013QQcategoryZ20606QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

It does an AMAZING job to make those frets look like brand new! Just a cotton rag, a little on the tip of the rag and rub, rub, rub. It takes all the dirt, crud and tarnish (if that is what it is) and leaves the frets sparkling like new!

I'm a Flitz user as well. I'll use just a little on the frets and then take a soft buffing wheel from my Dremel set and polish. Then just wipe away any remaining residue with a diaper. Takes very little effort and is much easier than doing it by hand. This is a little trick I learned from Phil Jacoby at Philtone Guitars in Baltimore one afternoon while watching him polish my frets after a nut replacement. It's actually the only thing I use my Dremel tool for!