Repair And Restoration
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Refretting a Stella Harmony from 1964
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Refretting a Stella Harmony from 1964
61 year old Stella Harmony with brass frets. Fret board is poplar. It needs refretting and I want to try doing it myself given the cost of the guitar was $70 bucks, hiring a pro will cost way more. Any recommendations on Fret wire? I can’t find Fret wire that is an exact match. Current frets are 1 mm wide, a hair over 1 mm high and the tang looks to be 2.5 mm deep. Has anyone regretted one of these guitars?
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2 Replies
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Not this particular model, but I have had a crack at some older pearwood boards before. Here is a list of things to look out for.
- Fingerboard is brittle. Extra care for removal of frets.
- Fingerboard is soft. When putting frets back in, take care not to apply enough force to dent the frets into the board or there will be extra fret leveling
- Black leather dye is your friend if you need to re-black the board after planing.
- You wont find replica fretwire and the guitar is cheap, use whatever fret wire makes you comfortable.
- Might be good to hit the board with mineral oil after you pull the frets and let it sit for a couple days to soak it up. This may prevent chip out when installing the frets.
- Measure your expectations when working with suboptimal materials. Take it slow and do the best you can.
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Thank you Ian.
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