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  • Rob Parry

Filling fret slot end gaps

These things:

Fretboard slots

Many companies let the tang go all the way to the edge of board, it is unsightly and a little lazy. Here's what I do:

Nip the tangs off the frets at around 2mm from the edge (left image), and make sure to tidy it up with a jewellers file. After the frets are seated, fill the gaps with wood dust, ebony in this case, and don't be shy with it. Drop glue on to the ends of the slots and let it soak in (right image), superglue works very well however it can dry much darker than the surrounding wood on rosewood and maple, PVA is an alternative for those.

It's like magic or something

Once it is dry, scrape away the surface lumps and lightly sand (with a block). If done correctly, especially on ebony, the gaps can be made near invisible.

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