Removing frets: technique

[Keith Somerville]

Recently, I've bought some new/replacement tools and occasionally the maker will include a little sheet or pamphlet about using the tool. One of these little instruction sheets is about refretting and talks about removing frets and--I'll paraphrase--says that so as to avoid tear-out when removing frets, the fret pulling pliers should grip the sides of the fret crown and that, under no circumstances, should the jaws of the pliers go under the fret crown. Now, I've always used fret pullers so the jaws go under the fret crown, and I can't really see any other way of doing it, but I wonder now if I've been doing it wrong all this time?

[Mike Kolb]

I'm with you, Keith.  Assuming that the fret removal pliers have sufficiently-wide feet (to spread the force) it makes sense to go under the crown.  I can't see any advantage to grabbing the fret at the mid-crown and trying to wrestle it out. 

Much easier and safer to lift it from underneath, plus being able to control the force & speed of the removal in case a fret decides "to fight". 

For frets that tend to chip-out, (thinking old ebony here) I like to insert one of the StewMac 'Chip-stopper' tools to slide between the crown and the board once a fret starts to pull out, but before the tang can chip the edges of the fret slots.