Installing 22nd fret with overhang

[Dave Sparrow]

I hope someone more experienced can advise me please.

I've carried out many refrets so I'm generally fairly experienced in that respect but I've just been asked to refret a 22 fret Strat with a fingerboard extension.  That's obviously a very delicate area so does anyone have any tips or learning points born from bad experiences?!

Dave

[Thomas James]

Make a block of wood that matches the heel radius under the fretboard and the heel height as a support.

[Taffy Evans]

Hi Dave, I did one yesterday. What I did was clean out the slot and check the fit of the tang using a vernier gauge and feeler gauges. I aimed for a push fit, I was even prepared to make the tang narrower if needed. It went in safely with a little glue on the tang for insurance. I pushed it in not hammered.
Taff

[Mark McLean]

So exactly how worn was that fret before you replaced it?  I don't think many players make much use of their 22nd fret. 

[Dave Sparrow]

Thanks all for your advice.  I took it all on board!   I made a block to support the overhang (Thomas) and slightly thinned the tang to aid a push fit with a bit of glue (Taffy). 

Mark - no wear at all.  The customer just wanted to have bigger frets installed.

It was one of those jobs that I was particularly pleased with, and the customer was thrilled with the work.  Two days later they came back to me saying that they were getting fret buzz when they were putting in some big bends.  I was a bit surprised because as far as I was concerned, this refret and setup was just about as good as they come.  It transpired that the customer had lowered the action to less than 1/32" (apparently, the higher frets felt er .... higher!).  But only on some strings!

Ho hum!

Dave

[Casey Smith]

Hey Dave, your customer is probably getting fret buzz from those big bends because of the radius of the fretboard. If the neck is a 7.25 radius, and they bend, they will fall past the "horizon" of the fretboard plane. Larger (wider) frets and low action will also make this phenomena worse. Your attachment kinda looks like a 7.25.

You probably didn't do anything wrong with the fret level, you should proably just advise your customer that this will happen when they bend hard just due to the geometry of the plane, and the only way to avoid that is getting a neck with a large radius. 

Watch that steel wool on the pickups too! Glad the fret worked out!