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Gibson Refret: Saving Binding
Frets Nibs
Neck
Bridge 1/4/2014
Body
This article shows the process of refretting a Gibson without
Inlay
disturbing the binding nibs, which costs more than eliminating
Electronics
the nibs.   A more cost-effective approach is described here.
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1. A Gold Top Gibson Les
Paul.  This one was built in
1969 shortly before the
design changes of the Norlin
era, making this a somewhat
valuable guitar.  The original
frets are worn out; time to
refret.
2. Patina.  The fretboard and
inlays have darkened with age
and still retain tool marks
from the factory.  The owner
doesn’t want to lose the
patina so I wont sand the
fretboard.  The customer has
chosen jumbo frets so there
will be plenty of fret height
for leveling.
3. Binding “Nibs” are the
small, raised sections of
binding that cap the fret-ends
on bound Gibson necks.  I
will also preserve the nibs.  won’t chip the fretboard as
“Nib-retention” is expensive,
the added labor can double
the cost of the fretwork.
5. The Nibs.  This one has a
small nub from the glue at
the factory.  I clean up any
fret-seats with this sort of
issue with a sharp chisel.  All
but one of the nibs made it
through in tact.  I’ll repair
the nib damaged by the
soldering gun later.
4. Removing the Frets.  I
use a modified soldering gun
to heat the fret up so the
flush ground end nippers
they force the frets up.  I
protect the pickups with an
EMF-shield.
6. Cleaning the Fret Slots. 
I pull an exacto knife blade
through the fret slots
backward.  I also use a small,
modified back-saw to break
up any clumps of glue or
other obstructions in the fret
slots.
7. Filing the Tang.  I use
LMI’s fret tang filer to
remove the last bit of tang at
the fret ends.  The customer
has chosen Jescar’s .110″ x
.057″ nickel silver fret wire
for this project. I will bend
the frets to closely match the
various radii of the fretboard.
9. Sanding the Fret Ends.  10. Rough Cutting the fret
I use 2k sandpaper on a flat
granite slab to get rid of the
disc-sander marks.  I lightly
chamfer the edges of the fret
crown end.
8. Pre-Grinding the fret end
with the disc-sander.  I work
near the center of the disc
which sands the fret slowly.
to its final length.  I push the
pre-shaped fret end against
the binding nib, I cut the fret
wire a little proud of the
inside edge of the nib.  I 
grind the fret end on the disc
sander and sneak up on a
snug final fit with 2k
sandpaper.
11. Installing the Frets.  A
few light mallet taps seats
frets pretty well.  This
fretboard has an inconsistent
radius throughout its length
so each fret must be pre-bent
a little differently.
13. Cleaning up the Glue.  I
use a small square of paper
towel lightly dampened with
acetone to mop up the excess
glue.  I won’t touch the
pearloid inlays with the
acetone.
12. Gluing the Frets.  I use
thin super glue to help hold
down frets.  An application
of stew mac’s fretboard
finishing oil prevents the
super glue from staining the
rosewood.
14. Clamping the Fret.  I
use the Jaws tool while I
apply a small amount of
super glue accelerator to the
side of the fret.  The self-
adjusting brass inserts will
work with any radius that’s 6″
or flatter.
15. Clamping the Frets over
the body.  I use the drill
press and the modified
Erlweine neck jig to safely
clamp the upper frets during
gluing.  The modified neck jig
provides added support to
the body and neck by the
neck joint.
17. Binding Butter.  I soften
a scrap piece of matching
vintage Gibson celluloid
binding by soaking it in
acetone to create binding
butter.  The acetone in the
butter melts the butter to the
existing binding on the guitar.
16. The New Frets are
installed and they nicely rest
against the nibs with no
visible gaps.  Unfortunately, I
damaged two of the smaller
nibs while installing the frets. 
I’ll go ahead and rebuild the
damaged nibs to closely
match the surrounding nibs.
18. Rebuilding Nibs is no
big deal, but it is time
consuming.  I tape off the
binding and fretboard
surrounding a damaged nib
with pin-stripping tape to
protect the neck from the
butter which I liberally apply
to the remnants of the old
nib.
19. Shaping the Rebuilt
Nib.  24 hours after
application, I trim away most
of the excess nib with a razor
blade.  After I bevel the fret
ends, I use a small scraper (a
bent razor blade with a burr)
to fine tune the nib so it
looks like it’s nib neighbors.
21. Leveling the Frets under
simulated string tension in
the Erlewine neck jig.  I use a
long aluminum sanding beam
with a 12″ radius and psa
sandpaper.  Because I was
unable to sand the fretboard
straight, I’ll start leveling the
frets with 80 grit PSA,
followed by 180 grit and
finishing with 400 grit.  I
hand sand then polish the
frets with the buffing arbor.
20. Beveling the Fret Ends
with a file.  I will file the fret
ends to match the bevel filed
into the binding by the
factory.  This will maintain
the original look of the fret
ends and nibs without
damaging the binding or nibs.
22. Recrowning the Frets
and Dressing the Fret
Ends.  The fret ends need to
be slightly rounded over
because the frets themselves
are wider than the nibs.  I
prefer to use stew mac’s
offset diamond crowning files
for both tasks.
 23. Original Nib.  This
binding nib appears as it did
prior to the refret, even
under close inspection.
24. New Nib.  This is one
of the nibs that I rebuilt with
binding butter.  Under close
inspection it’s difficult to tell
that it’s not original.

25. The Patina of the 26. Nib Retention.

fretboard, inlays and binding
are intact and appear as they
did before the refret.

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