Hi everyone! I'm new to the group and the hobby. I have built one simple fretless guitar and want to get into fretting on my next build. I have been ordering supplies from CB gitty and have been very satisfied and I am looking for opinions on whether or not to bite the bullet and get their $90 fret kit or just buy fret wire and a couple other things? How necessary is a fret bevel ? What are your experiences with novice fretting? Also- I have been cutting my necks from wood I get at Home Depot- where can I get wood thin enough to use for fret boards? I don't have a lot of power tools - only a circular saw and drill. Would I be better off just ordering hard wood blanks from gitty ? Thanks so much !!!

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Here's a couple  of videos on how to cut fret slots and install the fretwire. It's not the only way to do it, but it might help if you've never tackled the job before. Personally I don't like using a fret end bevel file as it's really easy to mark the face of the frets, I just use regular medium and smooth cut flat files. It's not impossible to rip down timber for fretboards by hand and plane them to thickness. I've done it, but it is a tedious job that needs some hard graft, so you might prefer to buy pre-thicknessed blanks. You can of course set the frets direct into the neck providing you've got a thick enough neck blank to start with.

Thank you very much- this is very helpful!

The first thing you will have to decide is whether you will buy a fret slotting saw or a preslotted fretboard. You cannot replace a fret slotting saw with kind of another one, because for a clean slot the blade width has to equal the kerf, and a measure of about 0.020" is obligatory to get the frets fixed.

If you saw the slots with a square and a fret slotting saw, next you need is a fret slot depth gauge you can prepare from a thin sheet of plastic, to control the slot is deep enough, about 3/32", with equal depth across the fret board. Try to install your first frets to a piece of scrap wood similar to the one of your fretboard, go on only when you feel comfortable. For the rest, there's a lot of choices and room for improvisation...

Great advice, thanks a lot!

You should see some 1/4 x 2 boards  for fret boards right near the 1x2's you are buying.

If free funds are a constraint, just get the saw from cb gitty, its worth every penny and them some.

Thank you! I will be ordering the fret saw tomorrow and making a trip to Home Depot!

P.S. Check JL's «troubleshooting basics» on «Frets fitting loosely into slots».

Ok will do- thanks a lot!

Everyone has the methods well covered.  For the first try, take a piece of scrap and mark a few spots to cut your fret slots and give it a try.  See how square you are and how deep the slots are.  Tap in a fret and bevel it.  Check your measurements and see if you are hitting your dimensions and if your fret edge is smooth.  If anything is not right, figure out why before you scar a nice neck or fretboard. Or if that sounds too tedious, just go for it!

Good advice Kigar, the easiest mistake is to miss your line by a blades width or similar, work out how you best read your mark, and stay with that method for the whole board, if you are 1/2 a fret out, they will all be the same and stay relative to each other

Awesome advice! Thank you Kigar!

First thing you should do is scour craigslist and spend the 90 bucks on a table saw. I picked this one up for 80 and it came with a set of dado blades.

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