History of Guitar Bar Frets “Bar frets were used on CF Martin guitars made before 1934. Part of the function of this type of fret is to act as a wedge and stiffen the neck. The change to the modern “T” cross-section frets was accompanied by the addition of steel neck...
“Often, during a repair job, a clamping caul is needed. In this picture, a spruce block has been cut to match an odd-shaped bridge so that the clamping pressure is evenly distributed. This 1964 Epiphone Excellente requires several clamping procedures that...
“We use the term ‘book match’ frequently in the guitar trade. People often ask: What does ‘book match’ mean? The images on the left are of a board that I have sawn in half along its edge. The adjacent cuts are opened like the pages of a...
Steven Mather is lead instructor at Guitar Craft Academy. Inlay can be a difficult process to execute properly. I did a demo of inlaying a block inlay into a bass neck to demonstrate how I go about this process. Step 1: The first step is to measure the inlay...
When I do a guitar neck refret job, I create this tool to confirm proper fret slot depth before installing the new frets. I bend a small piece of the fret wire into an ‘L’ shape and lightly file down the burrs on the smaller part of the ‘L.’ It’s never a pleasant...
Brian Nutter is the founder of Nutter Guitars and a Guitar Craft Academy faculty member. So, you’ve spent loads of time making the perfect guitar. But before you can buff it to a high gloss, you have to level the finish with sandpaper. Your finish...
