Emergency Fret Repair
Last year, my SG took a spill and ended up with a nasty dent at the 3rd fret, where the guitar neck had impacted my mic stand.
In this video, I demonstrate an experimental emergency fret repair using a soldering iron and solder paste, and some fret files. This isn’t a permanent solution, but it’s a very serviceable repair. The repair lasted about 6 months before I needed to revisit it.
Ultimately, a full fret level-crown-polish is the proper answer, and I’ll be demonstrating that in another article, but this approach is certainly good for an emergency quick fix.
The silver bearing solder paste from Iso-Tip claims to be 10 times stronger than typical solder, and resistant to stress and vibration. I know it’s not intended for fret repair, but in the end it turned out pretty well.
Some of the resources I used in this project:
- Weller WES51 soldering station
- Iso-Tip silver bearing solder paste
- Blue painter’s tape
- StewMac fret crowning file
- StewMac fret end dressing file
- StewMac 3-corner file
- Super-Fine Grade 0000 steel wool
- 220 grit sandpaper
- 320 grit sandpaper
- Fretboard oil (yes, I use bore oil)
Here’s a close-up of the repaired fret. Yeah, it’s not perfect, but it’s total workable.
Silver Solder Paste Repairs Guitar Fret How To | Iso-Tip
May 27, 2020 @ 9:37 am
[…] I recently received an email from a customer who gave me a link to a video showing a guitar player using our Silver Bearing Solder Paste. The author of the video explains that a fret on his guitar was damaged when his guitar fell and hit a mic stand. The damage to his fret caused the g-string on his guitar to give off a pinging sound when strummed, which is obviously not something you want. He needed his guitar the following day, so he didn’t have time to take it in for repairs. He had the clever idea of using silver bearing solder paste to smooth his fret back out and get his guitar back in playable condition. You can find the video with his full explanation here. […]
September 11, 2020 @ 3:32 pm
Because of this video, I tried using this exact Iso-Tip solder to repair the depressions in several frets caused by normal wear. Don’t waste your time trying this! After I filed and polished them, they looked good, but after 5 minutes of playing, the strings had already restored the depressions to a significant degree. Solder, even this kind, is very soft! If you have a small area of damage that isn’t directly under your string, maybe such a repair will last a bit, but this won’t work for repairing worn frets. I just need to bite the bullet and refret my guitar, this time with stainless steel!
September 11, 2020 @ 3:35 pm
Hey Burke- sorry to hear the repair didn’t last for you. Maybe it’s something about the position of the dent, but my repair lasted for like 6 months before I had to redo it. But in the end, for the more permanent solution, I did an overall fret leveling (not replacement): https://www.planetz.com/fret-and-neck-overhaul
-John
February 24, 2023 @ 2:15 pm
The solder is too soft (98% tin, 2% silver) and the repair only last for a very short time.
February 24, 2023 @ 2:29 pm
True- as I said, at the start of the video, it’s not a permanent solution and it lasted me about six months. Iso-tip claims it is “Ten times stronger than conventional 60/40 solder paste”. My experience that it was hard enough to feel like a fret. And for a 15 minute fix, that was pretty good result for an emergency repair.