The old school Gulf station attendant hat was worth the time here. Oh, and picking up needed fretboard maintenance skills also. 😁🤣
@OgamiItto708 күн бұрын
If you read the directions on a Micromesh kit, they'll tell you to alternate the direction of your strokes by 45° each time you go up in grit value. So your coarsest grit might be along the fretboard, your pass with the next highest grit might be 45°, the next pass with the next highest grit after that would then be 90°, the next after that at 135° and so on until you've made it either to the highest grit in the kit or you decide your frets might get _too_ smooth and shiny... The reason for alternating angles is to more quickly smooth out the grooves from the previous lower grit out of the surface being polished.
@DavidParker6 күн бұрын
Hahaha Dans car wash cameo was perfect 😂
@sharkman49287 күн бұрын
Dan at the car wash was hilarious!!! 😂
@stewmac5 күн бұрын
He's the best🤣
@anyday827 күн бұрын
Gene is so comfortable on screen, love watching this guy!!
@stewmac5 күн бұрын
Thank you!
@danthegeetarman8 күн бұрын
Great video! I’m always looking for new ways to polish frets. That metal polish with the leather strip is brilliant. I’ve heard Greg Voros talk about doing that too before. The pick slide “ if you hear it you feel it” is brilliant as well
@stewmac5 күн бұрын
Thank You!!!
@JohnHorneGuitar8 күн бұрын
Great info. My first teacher used to buff frets to a shine using a cloth treated with jewelers rouge, but it took a lot of elbow grease and had limited results. Excited to try some of these techniques. It looks like something I could actually do without destroying anything. And the Dan cameo is priceless!
@stewmac5 күн бұрын
Nice! Lots of repair guys used to use jewelers rouge back in the day...Thanks for watching!
@user-ir2bj3re1z7 күн бұрын
Thanks Gene👊
@bocattoluthieria8 күн бұрын
Great vídeo!!! Here in Brazil we don't have this tools, but we used similar tools.
@firecrackerheart7 күн бұрын
great, informative vid, gene! thanks .. .
@raymond51168 күн бұрын
I use a cheap set of nail buffers, they come in 3 grits and give it a nice shine
@Cherry_Sunburst8 күн бұрын
EXCELLENT...Thank you!
@LilYeshua8 күн бұрын
Flitz and a Dremel made mine beyond shiny. I used what I had to clean the fretboard which was isopropyl alcohol then used Stemac boiled linseed oil to treat it then once it cured i taped it up. The actual fret buffing took less than five minutes. With the Flitz metal polish my frets looks ten times better than the factory shine. P.S. i used fret erasers as well and rounded the edges of the fretboard and used a fret file to dress the fret ends as well as smoothing the edges and took care of any sharp fret ends. I used 0000 synthetic steel wool on the neck back to bring it back to a satin finish
@stewmac5 күн бұрын
Nice! Thanks for watching!
@m.f.33478 күн бұрын
0000 steel wool is my go-to for polishing. Just tape off the pickups first!!
@oatnoid8 күн бұрын
Great advice, They are magnetic after all and will attract metal dust.
@ssl35468 күн бұрын
that's very much a matte finish, not a mirror finish.
@ajmee96646 күн бұрын
No StewMac Fret Polishing Wheels being featured?
@stewmac5 күн бұрын
Polishing wheels are great too, they are very popular and can give you excellent results, but they're not one of Gene's preferred methods. Thanks!
@garethtravis17868 күн бұрын
I love the 2 hr method - it's just not always easy to get clients to pay 2 hrs labour for fret polishing before other work 🤔
@The-Real-Blissful-Ignorance7 күн бұрын
Dan the Ham. LOL!!! 😆
@toddknaster97318 күн бұрын
Great info. How many frets can you polish with one strip of Kovax Tolecut?
@stewmac5 күн бұрын
Great question...We get about 3 to 4 frets per strip before we change them out. Thanks!
@toddknaster97315 күн бұрын
@@stewmac can’t wait until you get the tool in stock! I am a little bit obsessed with smooth like glass frets. Thanks
@stewmac5 күн бұрын
@@toddknaster9731 We sold out fast...we have more on the way!!!
@OttoVonRaz7 күн бұрын
Any particular leather for this final step?
@stewmac5 күн бұрын
Not really, but thicker pieces work better. This is a scrap piece of tooling leather, but an old belt or anything similar will work fine.
@OttoVonRaz3 күн бұрын
@@stewmac thank you for this info. I’ll definitely give this a try 🎉
@iamanovercomer32538 күн бұрын
I don't understand how a fretboard got this way. Every time I play, I wipe down the whole guitar before putting it away. And when I change the strings, I use a polish for the rosewood fretboard and Dr Duck wax for the maple fretboard
@OgamiItto708 күн бұрын
Low-budget guitar for a beginner player who doesn't know the ins and outs yet, maybe? Or it may have gone into storage for a while, allowing the fingerboard to dry and the frets to oxidize a bit.
@photondebuger457 күн бұрын
It still will happen and will be worse if you're in a humid area too lots of people play for some days at a time and like leave the guitar in a corner and forget sometimes. Life happens and then the frets can get dingy like that then you go back and see that well it happened to the frets. It also doesn't have to get REAL bad a little corrosion on a fret you'll feel it and it will still look fine.
@iamanovercomer32537 күн бұрын
@@photondebuger45 my acoustic is in a gig bag. My strat a hard case and my tele is in a gig bag, even my budget guitar is in a gig bag. If I'm not playing, then they go back in the case or bag. My acoustic has a humidifier ( wet sponge) I put in the bag in the winter time.
@iamanovercomer32537 күн бұрын
@@OgamiItto70I take the 2nd one. .I always took care of my guitars
@photondebuger457 күн бұрын
@@iamanovercomer3253 that's great and all but other people who don't know much don't do that like at all
@MrDanbecker8 күн бұрын
🙂👍🥂
@luislanga8 күн бұрын
Stainful steel frets are a thing apparently
@RulgertGhostalker4 күн бұрын
"if you can't hear it, you can't feel it" ( or you might be going deaf )
@J.C...8 күн бұрын
I don't waste time polishing frets. It takes me like 5 minutes to get a mirror shine. Get out the drill, polishing pad, and blue Dialux polish. Load up the pad and polish the frets. Done. That alone will take out 300 grit Z file scratches and leave a mirror shine on my guitars but I think my frets aren't as hard as Fender or Gibson. So I don't even mess with anything else anymore.
@Bliggick3 күн бұрын
Wonderful instructional video, thank you. I have watched the spot with the fret eraser at 6:15. Is that fret not seated properly? I have watched it a few times and at slow motion. To me it looks like it's bouncing up and down at the fret end.
@sergejkКүн бұрын
good eye! ;)
@guitarz8 күн бұрын
excellent methods
@TuneIn13 күн бұрын
Dang! Clean frets are always satisfying, especially when they've seen better days!!
@3cardmonty6027 күн бұрын
I use micro-mesh, then Rolite polish and a dremel buffer. To me it’s the best method.
@billgdegilliomusic31957 күн бұрын
Great video, and great shout-out to Rupert Holmes!
@itsratso.3 күн бұрын
"How to Polish Frets to Perfection" umm that's code.
@dannyprasetya24968 күн бұрын
DAN!!!
@rudolfbagusat92678 күн бұрын
top video👍
@PeterKertesz20138 күн бұрын
Thank you.
@nickmizell11417 күн бұрын
Thank you sir, great work!!
@stewmac5 күн бұрын
Thanks for watching!
@SuriSanJose5 күн бұрын
Thank you for the amazing video Gene. Always a pleasure to see your work. More please!
@stewmac5 күн бұрын
Thank you for watching...Yes, much more to come!
@greedygringoprospecting69418 күн бұрын
the epiphone doesnt get played ,i've never had that happen.
@OgamiItto708 күн бұрын
Come some of the work gets kind of hard This ain't no place to be if you planned on being a star Let me tell you it's always cool And the boss don't mind sometimes if you act a fool At the car wash, ooh-ooh Talking about the car wash, yeah 🙂
@JonDeth8 күн бұрын
*Scuffing pad, aka scotchbrite, with an instrument safe oil or other compound will take that right off and you don't even need to tape up the fingerboard.* After that, a 600 grit or finer paper turns the crowns into a mirror with no reason to go any further. *I also swipe petroleum jelly on my strings every couple weeks which greatly extends their life, reliability and all around performance.*