Single Fretboard Protector Strip with Choice of Size
Designed and Made By Chris Alsop in his workshops in Derbyshire, UK.

Dimensions

Strip Material:
These strips are made of Spring Steel. The main property of this is that it will ALWAYS  RETURN TO A FLAT SHAPE. Other metals become bent and puckered so that you soon have a strip that prevents you having a smooth surface to work with. Being made of Spring Steel our strips ALWAYS SPRING BACK TO ORIGINAL SHAPE.

 Strip Thickness:
These strips are  only 0.1mm thick , which is ultra thin for strips, so allows maximuim access to the frets. This dimension is very important as thicker strips restrict the amount of fret exposed for working on.
For example when working on a fret that has 1.0mm above the fretboard, then 0.25mm thick strips would only you to work on the top 75% of the fret.  With our strips,  on a 1.0mm fret, you will be able to access  90% of the fret height  at any one time.

Slot Width:
2.3mm wide (for MEDIUM frets) or 3.1mm wide (for JUMBO frets)

Strips Width:
16mm - allows the very highest frets to be accomodated
20mm  - ideally suited to the middle frets
40mm  - allows maximum fretboard vcoverage at the lowest frets

FREE with this item


  • FREE: We include a set of sandpaper strips 800, 1000, 1200, 1500,  2000,  2500 grit. Each strip is approx 25mm by 280mm. These grits are used for crowning and polishing frets.
  • All strips supplied in protective wooden case.
  • A printed guide to using these strips and refretting in general is included in this sale. 

Material


These are are made of very tough spring steel which is hardened and tempered
The steel  being only 0.1mm, is half as thick as most protector strips so they allow access to  as much of the fret height as possible - which is crucial when pulling frets, crowning frets or polishing frets.
Spring Steel means it is it is flexible - and so it can closely follow the fretboard radius - but will not get permanently distorted from a nice smooth surface.

We have experimented with many different sheet materials for this tool, with the idea to have a thin  strip (so you can get near to the bottom of the fret) which is tough and  will not bend out of shape or wear out when subjected to abrasion. Our choice was hardened spring steel. The best property of this material is that it is virtually impossible to get dents and bumps bent into it.
We tried many materials such a ordinary shim steel, brass etc. and they all start off flat but, after a bit of use, they tended to get a wrinkly and therefore  would not sit nicely on the fretboard. With spring steel as the name suggegests, you can virtually bend it double and it will return/spring to its original shape -  making it always stay nice and smooth.


Usage


These strips are most suited for use when carrying out:
• Fret removal - using fret pullers (the strip being only 0.1mm means it can go under jaws of the pullers)
• Fret crowning - making the frets rounded after levelling them
• Fret filing - to level out high spots, usually to prevent string rattle
• Fret polishing - necessary to give a nice smooth feel which greatly improves playability

We have found no one fretboard protector strip design is suitable for all frets on all guitars because:
• The width of the frets varies - some narrow (<2mm wide), some medium (about 2mm wide), some Jumbo (>2mm wide)
• Obviously the width exposed fretboard wood - or the gap - between frets changes, as big as 36mm near the head of the guitar and as little as 8mm at the very highest frets.

Other Products

We produce a wide range of guitar tools. All tools are produced from our workshop in Woodville, Derbyshire, UK by Chris Alsop.

See our eBay shop for Fret Pullers and Cutters, Fret Bevel Diamond Files, Fretboard Protectors, Crowning and  Dressing Diamond Files, Guitar Neck Rests, Fret Levelling Diamond Files, Fretting hammers, Fret Polishing Kits and String Action Gauges.

Also, see our eBay shop for a wide variety of Custom Made Guitar Saddles, Nuts and Pins - all made by Chris Alsop to customer specified dimensions. We  offer these components in many materials, specialising in crafted high quality Ox Bone, Buffalo Horn and European Hardwoods.

Shipping

• Fast & Secure Shipping : We ship all our items by Royal Mail using Tracked Services.
• Discounts : On multiple item orders, shipping costs are discounted by 75% on additional items
• International (Non UK) Orders : Please note that the buyer is responsible for payment of any customs and import duties on the items.