Fender Stratocaster Refret-relaxing watch

Filmed by my friend @joshcarne when I refretted his Strat. Stainless steel frets installed. This is a slow, relaxing watch. No upbeat rock guitar or commentary by me. So sit back, take a deep breath and enjoy.
flameguitars.co.uk
London UK

[@family-accountemail9111]

I like the little jacket the guitar wears during the operation

[@davidthompson6832]

Amazing to see someone NOT struggle,throw things,get mad, cuss like a sailor, cry uncontrollably in a corner.... but enough about my method !LOL BEST LUTHIER ON YT HANDS DOWN ! CHEERS , I SUBSCRIBED AGAIN👍

[@flameguitars5770]

That is a very generous comment. Thank you

[@MyLifEcademy-sr4hy]

Bwahaha!

[@Slash1066]

Stunning attention to detail, truly a pleasure to watch you work

[@moosey62]

Very nice work. There are always things to be learned from such skilled people. Thanks so much.

[@colintierney9715]

Always enjoyed your videos and love this new effort. The calmest luthier!

[@steevkelly]

i could watch vids like this every day. while i do enjoy the instructional material, this was a pleasure to sit with a cup of coffee and watch & relax. thanks!

[@NickWolfOakland]

David, thank you for producing such great content. Your Jaguar restoration video, along with your other older YT offerings, inspired me to enroll in a woodworking course and learn home luthiery, which has been a great way to ingratiate myself to the local musical community since moving to a new city.

[@pasdedeux4444]

I am sooooo lucky to have David as my local luthier - has set up my Strat, Tele and Les Paul - talks to you at your level so you understand exactly what is going on - and above all he is such a lovely guy

[@bikerboy7126]

Lovely, thank you. 👍👍

[@davidthompson6832]

True craftsmanship!!! Some things will always be better "Old school" ! KEEP ON LUTHIER'N 👍.....

[@FenderBenderBilly]

Superb as always

[@JordanBrennan]

awh man, thank you for this, such an amazing relaxed video, appreciate this a lot

[@flameguitars5770]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@knockknock3686]

David is nothing less than a guitar surgeon. Rescued my much loved strat

[@Stu66orn]

Thank you for the video very pleasing to watch

[@flameguitars5770]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@graemesimkins-ce6fs]

Beautiful video and as always beautiful work. More please David!

[@garydeschenes4320]

This gentlemen, is how it's done. Every step deliberate and purposeful. Hell of a luthier and great soundtrack as well. Respect.

[@ruisousa4835]

Hi David, it's always a pleasure to see you work, that kind of refret can be tricky, especially with a gloss fretboard. Next time i come to London i will have to pay you a visit. Greetings from a fellow luthier based in France (south of Paris).

[@Kevin-nr9lj]

Amazing video quality. Thanks for the video.

[@flameguitars5770]

Thanks. Josh Carne filmed and edited.

[@robertlevasseur8896]

This was beautiful, and now I feel at peace with the world! Wish you could do my LP custom.

[@klasandersson9430]

A very nice, relaxing video..👍

[@flameguitars5770]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@stevedavo79]

Fantastic video, keep it up.

[@flameguitars5770]

Thanks Steve

[@wiltshiredoug9959]

Great video. More or less removes any excuse I had for not tackling my own Strat which is long overdue a neck makeover. Maybe I’ll just watch this one more time………

[@patandmacmusic]

My toxic trait is thinking that after I watched this I should go try this on my strat… having none of the tools or experience.

[@patrickpamintuan8814]

I like the jacket thing on the body. I am guessing you use stainless steel fret wires. By the way, what did you use for crowning? I am not sure if I missed the fret crowning part.

[@flameguitars5770]

Yes, SS frets used on this guitar. After levelling I would have done some recrowning. Just trying to make the video not too long.

[@notalkguitarampplug-insrev784]

Great job❤❤❤ stainless steel frets are the best innovation in guitar world since the Strat!!

[@nigelsmith721]

I've never owned a guitar with stainless frets - how are they better?

[@autodidacticprofessor869]

@@nigelsmith721 Put it this way, Eddie Van Halen shredded his frets to the point, they needed new ones in his guitars every month of a tour. They usually just replaced his necks. But his Wolfgang guitars have SS frets and my understanding is none of them needed re-fretting from the 2008-2015 tours. Not one. They simply don't wear out. They do wear out strings faster and for luthiers, they wear tools faster. Some way they are "brighter" in tone but that's why you have a "tone" knob.

[@nigelsmith721]

@@autodidacticprofessor869 new frets every month? Gary Moore had Greeny for 30 years and it was maybe refretted once…

[@mindfuc]

Why was the masking tape taken off and then re-applied? Great video!

[@jimw2997]

How do you ensure the fretboard is level without radious sanding? Amazing video thanks

[@flameguitars5770]

Thanks. This issue is always a challenge on maple fretboards. Proper prep of the fretboard is an essential part of a good refret, but unless you remove the fretboard finish you just have to accept that the frets may not seat as well as on a rosewood fretboard. So a little more fret levelling may be needed. Good choice of fretwire widths may help.

[@ericheder777]

Wow! Your videos were really good beforehand, but this is a whole new level. Superb craftsmanship and attention to detail as always. Stainless Steel frets?

[@flameguitars5770]

Thank you but I cant take the credit for this one. This was filmed and edited by @joshcarne And yes, SS frets.

[@jacofol6242]

The video itself is quite relaxing. Regarding the sound, I find ASMR to be more relaxing than adding background music.

[@yoheff988]

do you over radius the frets before installation like you would with standard frets, or having the radius exact match the the fretboad?

[@flameguitars5770]

Over radius by a small amount

[@arinocal]

I guess it was a pain to get that nut out of there, Fender uses too much glue and lacquer these days. Amazing video :)

[@flameguitars5770]

I agree, particularly on maple fretboards.

[@400_billion_suns]

Beautiful video and skilled hands! I hate to be that guy, but... leveling but no crowning? 🤨

[@GuitarTubeAmpRepair]

Just wanted to know why you nipped the tang on the frets? At least that what I think I saw. Just trying to learn.

[@flameguitars5770]

Yes, I do this on lacquered maple fretboards. I undercut the tang so that it is 0.5mm narrower than the fret slot. I then don't have to file the overhanging fret tang with the risk of damaging the adjacent finish. I may not do this with nickel frets but mostly do with SS frets.

[@gregmarquis1886]

was that Lighter Fluid you were using after the buffing? Also, what kind of guitar tuner is that?

[@flameguitars5770]

Yes, lighter fluid is naptha, which I find to be very kind on most finishes. I am a using a Petersen strobe tuner.

[@Ray-um3if]

Hi David, great video as always. Did you make that body protector sleeve or is it something you can buy? I just love locking tuners they make the last part of the job so much easier. 🎸

[@flameguitars5770]

It was actually made by my mum a few years ago. I have another for acoutic guitars.

[@wiltshiredoug9959]

You should market them!!

[@Stripeysnave]

Hi David - love your videos - thank you. I would like to hear you talking too - explaining what you are doing.

[@flameguitars5770]

@@Stripeysnave Thanks Barry. This was filmed and edited by @joshcarne Mostly I do explain my process but we agreed a different style for this video.

[@danieljohnston4359]

Great video! Did you not recrown the frets after leveling them? Or did I miss it? I guess that was on purpose then? Greetings from Stockholm!

[@autodidacticprofessor869]

He mentioned above that he did but it didn't make it into the video.

[@gregmarquis1886]

How come you never used any heat to remove the frets? Also, when putting the new frets on, how come you never used any glue? Thanks.

[@flameguitars5770]

I generally do use a soldering iron on rosewood and ebony fretboard but rarely on maple. It is easy to overheat the fretwire and scorch the finish adjacent to the fret. As for glue, on maple fretboard I run superglue in from the fret ends.

[@gregmarquis1886]

@@flameguitars5770 so how were you able to remove the frets the way you did in the video if someone put glue in the frets. you made it look like it soooo easy to remove the frets. and as for putting super glue at the fret ends, maybe you should have put that in the video so people like me don't make any mistakes that could cause us the ruin our guitars.

[@fly69doc]

If you want to get more views and subs, do more content like this! No talking, NO music or if so,very low volume relaxing ones and just guitar repairs.

[@martinroy7016]

Good demo but need to explain .....a bit

[@solarismoon3046]

I gave this a thumbs down because after all that time waiting and we never get to hear it being played after all that work!! Otherwise I would've given it my seal of approval.