I was going to make a video, but I think a few words will suffice. To tighten a loose fret, move the fret up to a very loose position until you can push one end of the fret through the knot. Pull it as tight as it will go just as you did when originally tying the fret. Usually you will get only a few millimeters of extra. Now, burn the existing bit with a soldering iron or match or flame-thrower or however you make heat. Put the fret in position. Now you'll never have to use ridiculously lame shims under your frets again.
The very first time I put frets on a lute as a kid I said-"oh, you can tighten them if they get loose." And ever since then I've wondered why people use shims, or even the completely baffling practice of replacing loose frets. "Do they," I wondered "replace their shoe laces every time they tie their shoes?" Maybe I'm a dreamer, but I think we can end this strange shims and fret replacing practice in our lifetimes. Sterling Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
