On Sat, 3 Jan 2004, Jon Murphy wrote: A modification, perhaps of interest to those who dislike tying fret knots:
Cut the cable tie into three parts. Discard the middle third. Drill small holes in the proximate ends of the remaining two thirds (two holes, one in each of the thirds). Thread regular gut fret through the two holes and tie a knot just past each hole, so that the two pieces of plastic are locked on, like beads on a string. Now just wrap the gut around the fingerboard and use the cable tie's regular mechanism to tighten the gut. This has all the advantages of gut, but without the many drawbacks of fret-typing (for example, the difficulty associated with getting a tight first fret, or applying heat close to a nice finish, or just the plain difficulty of the mechanics). A little experimenting and record-keeping might be necessary to find the optimum distance between the two knots, but this can be done with inexpensive twine or old strings. One caution: conceivably the cable tie could react with the finish. I rather doubt this will happen, as cable ties don't have those nasty "plasticizers", but I disclaim responsibility. Final note: when you trim the cable tie after tightening, leave a small bit (say 4 mm) for future tightening, and round it with a nail-file, as the cut end can be un-fun to jab your finger on.
