What Good Value Luthier Tools Do I Need For Guitar Re-fret?

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What Good Value Luthier Tools Do I Need For Guitar Re-fret?

What are the best value tools for a beginner to start re-fretting guitars?

OK – I have had several guitars for 30 plus years and paid several times over £200/£300 to have them re-fretted. Finally, I have decided rather than splash out on expensive guitar refrets any more I must learn to do it myself. The problem is that immediately after several days researching the topic of guitar re-fretting I have realised I could quite easily spend £1000 plus on the tools needed to do a high quality guitar (or bass) re-fret. So what tools can I buy that won’t break the bank?

Two weeks of tool and price research!

I have just spent two weeks watching guitar-refret videos and reading articles inspecting luthier tools far and wide from USA, UK, and China etc, and finally having listed all the tools I will need, visited Amazon AND Ebay to find the best deals on high quality guitar and bass re-fretting luthier tools. Here are the cheapest (but high quality) products I have settled on.

Save at least 50% using the links I supply below

I am hoping this will make anyone else thinking of doing the same job be able to cut out all teh searching and reading (I now have a migraine!) so you can simply follow the links I have included. Note: I will receive a small commission if you do buy any of the products I suggest but I have found MASSIVE variations in prices of the SAME products from different sites and suppliers and this could save you tones of time too.

So here goes for the guitar re-fret tools list I finally settled on (I estimate I have probably saved 50% of the cost if you take the most expensive offerings of any particular luthier tool versus the cheapest version on offer of the same product!).

List of tools required to carry out a guitar re-fret

But what about fret Presses? Should I use a 1 Ton or 1/2 tone fret press?

This is a good question and I have compiled below all the answers to this very important question I found around the web so you can make your own choice (as the answers vary slightly)

QUESTION: 1 Ton Arbor Or 1/2 Ton For Fret Pressing?

ANSWERS…

A1: 1/2 ton is perfectly fine and you won’t have to worry about denting softer rosewoods and maple as much as 1 ton.
A2: 1 ton. I bought 1/2 ton because the were out of 1 tons when I was there. It’s fine and I’ve fretted a half dozen necks or so with it, but there are times when the extra reach of 1 ton would be nice.
A3: I bought the 1/2 ton Harbor Freight press which works great.
A4: I went from using a 1-ton to using the 1/2-ton StewMac one.
A5: I prefer throat of 1-ton by large margin – if I could transplant parts of 1/2 ton onto 1-ton frame, I’d prefer that.
With that said, it’s always possible to perch the press onto something solid to elevate it.
A6: I bought 1/2 ton Harbor press which works great. I also was concerned about drilling hole in arbor. Used a cheap drill press vise, also from HF which held very well and drilling was easy.
A7: A small press like a 1/2 ton is adequate for pressing frets in. I’ve got a big old arbor press that I made over into a fret press and I have to use a deliberate light touch with it.
A8: The 1/2 ton size can work as a fret press, but it’s a little light. The force on the handle is about the same as a small drill press. The 1 ton size is most commonly used for fret presses. That’s what the Stew-Mac press is.
A9: The arbor press works much better. However, there is some finesse involved. You must use it lightly. Even a small amount of extra leverage will crush the fret into the fretboard.

Well I hope that helps you start guitar fretting! I will update this page later if any of the tools turn out to be duds but I very much doubt it since I spent a LOT of time researching and narrowing down to the options I listed.

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