I hate tying frets, but the shims got to be too much and too many, so it
was time. I only did 1-5, since they get the most wear, and the others
were still tight.
I don¹t like wasting fret gut, but it¹s doubly wasted if a piece is cut
too short to get a grip on it. I used the old fret to measure for the new
one, and added a few inches. That I way could safely cut a workable
length from my ³skein².
With the heavier gauges (I use 1.1 mm for 1st fret), before snipping I
tried running the appropriate length back and forth over the (smooth) edge
of my work table. That seems to have bruised and softened the gut a
little, making it easier to knot and fit tightly over the edge of the
fingerboard.
Getting a grip on the gut: hemostat is a must! or a reasonable
facsimile
of such.
For a knot I used Dave van Edwards' simplest option: an overhand knot
with the other end passed through. [See
http://www.vanedwards.co.uk/fretknot.htm] Heating the ends holds the knot
tight. A lot of twisting around the neck and sliding up and down helped
with tightening before finally securing the knot.
Even the 1st fret came out OK!
Now I can forget about all of this for another couple of years, when
I¹ll
look this up in the archives.
Regards,
Leonard Williams
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