Worst Fret-job ever – A procedure
If you are able to; avoid, at all costs, the refret of a Parker guitar. For your own mental well being; heed this advise. Now, don’t get me wrong; I love me a Parker. During my career I was head looth for the design team at U.S Music Corp. (parent company of Parker) and tried to bring the Parker line back to reality. Tried as I might, it didn’t come to fruition however I’m still of the opinion that today, some 30 years after they first hit the market, they are the most advanced electric guitar ever built and one of the few, true design advancements of the guitar ever. But, within the design genius of Ken Parker, comes some aspects that are truly mentally trying to deal with.
One needs to first understand that a refret of these was never meant to be done – in the wild anyways. And as the last little bit of specialty fret wire becomes closer to extinction (yes, even the frets are custom made and unlike anything you’ve likely worked with before) a refret is going to be even more challenging if not all together impossible.
The frets. They were/are stainless steel in the hopes they would never wear (they do in fact resist wear very well) so tending to the frets would likely not be an issue. The carbon-fiber fingerboard design means the fingerboard really doesn’t distort. The problem came from the method of bonding the metal to the carbon fiber (achieved-ish with epoxy) and the fact the frets were/are tang-less. That’s correct: there is no tang on the frets, rather 2 small channels cut into the underside of the fret which the epoxy was meant to set into. Unfortunately, the epoxy (an epoxy that through the years varied in composition) didn’t always hold and frets would pop off or become loose. So, what does one do now?
During the manufacturing process, a special caul was used to clamp the frets to the fingerboard while the slow setting epoxy bonded the tangless frets in place. Earlier Parker’s had a special compound radius with matching caul and later ones, a set radius caul. But that was a specialty tool that existed only in the Parker factory. Were one available today, the refret would be lightyears easier but alas, they do not and so, one must be very Zen when considering a partial or complete refret.
So, without further adieu, as I’m an idiot and recently accepted a Parker into the shop that ended up needing a complete refret; I present: A method for refretting a Parker – May you never need this reference
Tools
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1-5) First, I apply acetone to the area of the missing fret to soften the epoxy or any other adhesive residue present. I let it set for a few second then wipe it away with a paper towel. I will then begin the gently scrape the softened adhesive(s) back with a razor blade or small chisel. Be very careful not to remove so much that the channels produced by the initial epoxy set are totally removed! They position your fret in the correct place. If they are fully removed, it’s caliper time.
6) I take a new fret to a fret bender. I want to bend it to the exact radius of the fingerboard.
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7-9) Ensuring a perfect radius on the fret means back and forth between the fret bender and the fingerboard
10-11) Once I’m certain I have the correct fit, I use a piece of low-tack tape to help ensure correct position/repositioning of the fret in accordance with the need for speed with cyanoacrylate glue.
12) Carefully applying the cyanoacrylate
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13) I use a fret-press clamp with the correct matching fingerboard radius and clamp the fret in place for about a minute.
14-16) I apply cyanoacrylate solvent to a q-tip and forcefully rub to each side of the fret. I then clean vigorously with paper towel. I use force to ensure my fret is well seated and adhered after the glue up.
17) I further check the fret is seated properly by tapping lightly with a small hammer. If it’s loose, you’ll hear a ‘plunk’. Reseat it by wicking in some cyanoacrylate and using the fret press.
18) Finish with the ‘ol 81 Guitar Works Simon Thumbs-Up
Bravo! great stuff, Doc. Love the tape manuever! I’ve luckily only had to fuss with repositioning the first 5 frets on a parker once. Several had been reglued on previously and were visibly crooked, a few were just loose. I think I used a stop to locate the position after much measuring. It was a real caliper party and nail biter.
Much obliged Paul!
Great post, Doc! Wonderful photos and captions!! Thanks, Dan Erlewine
That’s greatly appreciated Dan! Much-o Thanks-o !!!
Thanks for taking the time to create this post to share with the group! I could read these all day! I’ve done electronics work on Parkers- also a nail biter as they used that proprietary ribbon instead of regular wire- but thankfully I have not been presented with any Parker fretwork requests. That being said, I can see myself accepting the job as you did then cursing myself as I do the repair! Thanks for sharing your experience. ☺️🙏🎸
Thanks Cate!
Anytime I get the ribbon, I reject the work if the owner is not willing to do a full Ghost conversion. When parts are needed (as I find they most often are) the Fishman and Ghost stuff doesn’t integrate well enough and I find the Ghost is just a much better product overall and it’s still made and readily available.
These refrets/fretjobs are just really something where one can’t be in a rush and they need to know what they’re doing and have the tools to do it right. Like anything in this gig, it’s just so much worse when you’re not only facing the shenanigans of Ken Parker’s brain at work, you’ve got to fix someone else’s (hopefully) well intended but nevertheless utter failure at doing the job.
Very interesting. How did you remove the tang on the frets?
These are specially made frets that Ken Parker designed. I’m afraid removing the tang of frets as we’re most accustomed to wouldn’t accomplish what is going on with a Parker fret. There are two channels recessed into the underside of the fret and the adhesive is meant to form into the channels to aid with the bond.
US Music Corp. sold the last of the specialty fret wire to an individual that sells it on eBay; that’s where the client acquired this new-old-stock from that I’m using. Once that individual runs out, a Parker refret is going to be a whole lot trickier if not all together impossible. Cutting the tangs on a stainless steel fret would be one thing not for the faint of heart but managing the channels? I’m not sure how one would effectively accomplish that and they’re such a useless fret for traditional fret work that having new ones manufactured would be quite a financial undertaking.
Thanks for the very insightful rundown. I think I would take one on now so long as the fretwire is still available. Looks like you’re beveling the frets before install, how are you going about that? Seems tricky
If the original fret(s) remain and no one tried to level them after a failed attempt at gluing/reseating them, there’s no issue in using it/them again. The problem with this one was a number of frets became loose and someone just loaded in some CA to firm the ends up. Then they leveled them because they were high compared to the correctly seated ones. By the time I’m involved, my goal is to have the frets seated properly. In doing that, all the leveled down frets are now too low and there’s no choice but a refret.
In regard to my new fret(s) here, they’re just cut from a roughly 6ft length, which is what the owner was sent from the eBay seller. The way you see them installed is straight cut from a set of the Hosco stainless steel fret cutters. I will bevel in an angle later. Beveling beforehand is certainly possible I just find I get a better chance of having a good straight line looking down the edge of the fingerboard having beveled them after install.
Ah okay I just slightly misunderstood what was goin on. Makes sense, thanks!