Stew Mac Fret Press - Setup, Review 2022

[@ygurawu-akido-fu2061]

This guy is spot on in his opinions. I concur. A plastic rail for the cost of the system. I purchased in 2020. I turned my plastic into, that's right, Aluminum. I hope to start posting my shop in April 2024. Keep doing what you do. I like it.😊

[@matthewdrake9699]

After watching this very good review, maybe it’s his voice, maybe it’s his calm manner, maybe it’s the background sound/music… but i now feel, a - more knowledgeable than before, and b - like I’ve spent the last hour in a spa having a head and shoulder massage.

[@gefenguitars]

Thank you very much for the video, it helped me discover that the drill press I have is much stronger and more stable and I will continue with it

[@koryanderson2183]

Thank you for the video, it’s an ok tool, I still like it, I’m gonna drill and tap those two turny knobs to the press, see how that goes

[@AlanElias350]

I was about to order this. Now im unsure.

[@LosPompadores]

You probably got one returned by another customer

[@theRandy712]

My thought as well

[@alternatune]

The reason for StewMac's ridiculous overpricing is to pay for their "Lifetime Promise." It's like an insurance premium built into the price of every tool they sell. Every StewMac customer is literally paying for other people's returns, not just their own returns but the next guy's returns as well. Many of their tools are simply rebranded or unbranded versions of the exact same thing you can find for at least half the price, e.g., Iwasaki files, the $45 Harbor Freight arbor press, clamps, vises, files, cutters, wrenches, measuring tools and the list goes on. StewMac is a retailer not a manufacturer, and they work very hard at hiding the origins of where their tools are manufactured (mostly East Asia) and the identity of those manufacturers, not to mention disguising the materials so they appear more than what they actually are. Nowhere on the Fret Arbor Press product page does it mention that the table is made of plastic, but they sure do a good job of making it look like aluminum. I'll never understand the cult-like devotion to StewMac.

[@molinamusic5110]

How much it weights the hole box . Please help!

[@warloshernandez]

I found an arbor press for $40 on marketplace, is not Stewmac but it looks just the same, also Vevor arbor press look good and 1/3 of the price

[@gemininimeg]

I just removed this press from my Luthier's Amazon list I was building up. I pretty much removed 50% of StewsMacs expensive tools, cause of this review. His Uke DiY kits are the only thing good, cause the other DiY Uke kits are very cheap hence there pricing. But Stew should be using hardwood bottoms with the pricing, just like they use hardwood tops.

[@r.llynch4124]

I would expect aluminum for 270 bucks. I ordered mine few days ago @ 15% off so 250 shipped and It went back out of stock after just a few hours. I would also expect Stewmac to order enough for customers so we don't have to wait weeks for another batch. I think that is just silly on Stewmac's part. I do not expect anything "quality" coming out of china so par for the course I guess.

[@EbonyPope]

There are a lot of things quality coming out of China. This tired stereotype of anything Chinese being low quality is just that. A stereotype. They are overtaking the west just like the Japanese. Cell phones, electronics etc. It depends on how much you want to spend. But most people buy the dirt cheap stuff so it's not unexpected for it to be crap.

[@r.llynch4124]

@@EbonyPope It's all crap but you go ahead and think what you want. All the wood they use for guitars, sub par at best. The plating last about a week before it looks like shit. Anything they build, the fit and finish is sub par. When you work as a slave in china you have no pride in workmanship. Do not try to compare Japanese products with china crap. All the Japanese products are of high quality.

[@EbonyPope]

@@r.llynch4124 Oh so Xiaomi, Huawei etc. are shit brands? Strange because everybody is raving about their quality. I had several and they are as reliable as people say. I wasn't talking about StewMac in particular if you haven't noticed. I expliicitly referred to non-super cheap products that aren't made by factory slaves as you put it. China has some excellent craftsmen. Taike a look at the guitar market. Eastman Guitars are oen of the best out there. They have incredible build quality. Goes to show that there are capable people everywhere. And yes China is quickly catching up in terms of quality. Only 10 years ago you couldn't find well made instruments made in China and now look at the market. Year after year some other Chinese manufacturer is coming up with new quality stuff. Is there still a lot of crap? Of course. But they are getting better at a pace that is almost scary.

[@alternatune]

@@EbonyPope "Oh so Xiaomi, Huawei etc. are shit brands?" Yes, and they're derived from stolen and reverse engineered designs. The last time China produced anything original and of global significance was in the early Medieval period.

[@guitartech-uk]

The iPhone is made in China, and also a lot of Tesla's.

[@GuitarAnus8]

Yours looks much rougher than mine did when it arrived and really looks worse than mine does after years of use.

[@robertw1871]

Yeah it’s a little janky, but in this day and age what we expect for quality would honestly be about $2500 not $300… So I’m not totally disappointed… In a lot of cases plastic is actually better than metal, it retains its dimensions and doesn’t corrode. higher end machined metal would drive the price up nearly 10 fold easily so… Seriously don’t think anyone would consider this thing if was approaching 3 grand… Is what it is… I thought it was aluminum too so I think they did some photoshopping on the ad pictures…

[@rjwhite907]

Most of StewMacs tools are way over priced, and not always the greatest quality!