Why is There Finish All Over My Frets?

"First of all, let me congratulate you on being a person of wisdom and refined taste."

I’ve used 0000 steel wool with a stewmac fingerboard guard. It’s the fastest and makes your frets shine without taking material of the frets themselves.

I have really extremely tough stains, like tarnish or some kinda coating, on my Strat frets. No matter what I use and how I do it, it still stays on. This video is wisdom given!!!! Can’t appreciate enough!!

I was sure I got Evo Gold frets instead of stainless steel on my maple/maple neck at first... Was so happy to see that steel underneath after I talked to Warmoth 👍

I always learn somethin new on your channel.

I usually use steel wool with a guard like Brad M. does but I will try your method next time to see which leaves a nicer transition. Thanks for the tip...

Really hope for oil finishes in the future. It'd save me some time because currently I have to order maples necks unfinished and then get it oil finished locally.

Jim Beam works really well. You don't put it on the frets... you just drink it while you're taking off the schmutz. 🤘

To polish the frets at string changes I use 8000 grit sandpaper. That should work for the Maple board with clear finish.

I'm sorry to be snarky, but I found his 'official' method for removing the lacquer to be completely inadequate! I've installed over one hundred Warmoth necks on customer guitars, and I've found the lacquer-removal process to be quite 'touchy', and not easy at all. The best way I've found, is to sever the lacquer from the edge of the fingerboard, where the fret-end meets the edge of the neck, and then 'pop' the lacquer off the fret in one piece. This takes practice, and is always somewhat problematic - however, when it's working well, it's a beautiful thing to behold... It's also cleaner, and fast.

Hey, i just order a custom body from y’all guys and i know the wait time that is listed is from covid, i was wondering if those were current waiting times as well. either way i’m stoked about the body and can’t wait to receive it!

- Why is there finish over our frets? - Cause we paint the necks with frets installed Gee, thanks mister, who would have thought

Oh one more comment I have four Warmoth necks and every one is fantastic and wonderfully crafted total works of art that play better than any factory neck I have played.And I have been playing for 61 years.

I didn’t need the maple neck of my 80’s Tokai to be refinished when it was refretted. The luthier said it was painted before it was fretted. Fender typically fret and paint the neck.

Oh man the old clean the finish off the frets. I have done this plenty of times. This is it. Its basically how I do it too.

I love maple neck/fretboards! I LOVE THEM!!! Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrggghhhhhh!

Great video. Thanks for all the great info y'all post about Warmoth parts. That being said, at the price point of Warmoth necks, it seems like the frets should not come with finish on them, particularly when you keep saying that most of the time the necks are good to go out of the box without a further fret leveling and crown. Just an opinion, and we all know about those.

So what exactly would make it lest efficient in the long run if you just sprayed them before fretting? Seems like it would be a go too for any builder in the industry or in the diy scene. I can't think of a single other paint/clear application in any industry where you have to remove clear after its oversprayed where it shouldn't go.

What, no one else uses an Angle grinder? lol. Seriously, I've used the StewMac fret guards and steel wool to remove the clear coat, then check the neck with a fret rocker and spot level any high frets (rarely needed), then finish up with micro mesh to polish to a glass smooth finish.

Hey Aaron, thanks for the informative video. Would this apply to Nitro finish as well? My tech had a hell of a time removing Nitro finish from a neck that had been finished a few months prior and it was so hard that he ended up having to use metal items to scrape, which ended up slipping and scratching the finish. Now that the neck is refinished, I want to make sure the same thing doesn't happen again as I attempt this on my own this time.