Cleaning finish off Strat frets

[Chuck Tweedy]

I'm doing a clean-up / setup job on a 2002 Strat with a maple board.
It still has a lot of finish on the "slopes" of the frets.
I figure someone here has figured a clever way to clean all that off without scraping up the frets too much, or scratching up the board.

Anyone?

[Chuck Tweedy]

This is working reasonably well for the thick stuff, but the thin stuff is much more annoying.
Probably just leave it, eh?

[Peter Wilcox]

I've used a nail tool like Mark Swanson describes with success on new finishes, but don't know how well it would work on old lacquer.

http://www.mimf.com/library/Removing_ni ... -2007.html

[Stephen Neal Saqui]

I've used a sharp knife used like the nail above.

Ultimately the cure comes when the guitar needs a refret. Then I refinish the fingerboard before putting the frets in. On old instruments I mix in a bit of amber.

[Jason Rodgers]

Sweet Jebus, drop the dental tool and back away! I attempted this once, albeit on frets that had grown green in damp storage, and ended up refinishing and refretting a neck very poorly - I recounted this effort to you once over a pint - in my first and last repair attempt. If done again, I would use a very sharp exacto or razor to cleanly shear the lacquer at the base of the fret. The dental tool leaves a ragged and chipped edge that can easily and quickly spread to the fretboard surface. Oh, I shudder at the memory....

[Jim Ashby]

+1 for the sharp blade suggestion. Shear the lacquer - then scrape it off the fret

[Mark Swanson]

For sure, you have to score or cut the lacquer at the base of the fret a bit before you try to scrape it off or you will break chips off the fingerboard surface.

[Chuck Tweedy]

Hey guys,
The dental pick is doing a great job of scoring the finish film at the bottom of the fret, and as you can see in my photo, the thick stuff just flakes right off.
I've been just rubbing it with my fingernail now, and it is mostly coming off.
Nice that Fender leaves that on there to get all scummy, trapping grime in the crevices. Guess if you do something long enough it is "traditional". Still not tidy though - if you ask me.

[Mark Swanson]

No, I hate that "finish on the frets" thing.

[Chuck Tweedy]

Well ... I hate it now.

[Chuck Tweedy]

Custom lutherie ruins you for this stuff.
Apparently they don't even remove the protective film from the pickguard before assembling with pups and switches, because there are little bits of plastic film under every screw on the face (and back) of the guitar. Each screw has a nasty little pig-tail of torn plastic. Nice look.
How much do people pay for these things because they say Fender on the headstock??
I'm dead.

[Mark Swanson]

Oh Hell no, they leave that stuff on there until the customer has to pull it off. Some people never take it off, to "save" that new look...and they are later on screwed because if you leave it on too long you can never get it off.

[Jason Rodgers]

How much do people pay for these things because they say Fender on the headstock??
I'm dead.

Nah, you're in another market.

[Mario Kessels]

there is so many things on Fenders that annoy me working on them. Trusrod access, trem functioning, trussrodinteraction with neck!!, 0.05 trem screws electronica installation, fretboard finishes, pole alignment etc. just wanted to throw in some b%$#%ing
its the best sold not so best guitar by far

[Dan Smith]

Don't leave out screwed-on necks.
A wood screw is not a bolt.

[David King]

To be fair, fender sells their instruments at a pretty reasonable price for a domestically produced instrument. Last I heard some of them sounded ok too. Quality vs price today is miles ahead of what it was in the 1970s and 80s.

[Dan Smith]

To be fair, fender sells their instruments at a pretty reasonable price for a domestically produced instrument. Last I heard some of them sounded ok too. Quality vs price today is miles ahead of what it was in the 1970s and 80s.

Yep, I agree.
And you can't go wrong with a Tele sound.

[Stephen Neal Saqui]

To be more than fair, Leo Fender created Strat's and Tele's...what we call "the very definition of electric guitars!" I've worked on them for over four decades and still enjoy everything about them. I used to bitch about the things said above but somehow that faded away from my awareness and now I only appreciate the fact that they've stayed fairly true to what was...great guitars for all players, including the very best we've heard on the planet.