3rd Party Tools and Consumables:
There are no 19th century sanding beams or files here because this is about...
Professional Precision tools that are DIY Novice Friendly.
Precision 21st Century Professional Tools and Know How.
Precision work always begins and ends with precision measuring.
You want your guitar done right, don't make costly assumptions.
Get the digital gauge and download our Fret Forensics Worksheet.
Dumpster the Sanding Beam:
See how and why 19th century sanding beams are so very wrong.
SixStringers has no affiliation with any 3rd party sellers.
Our goal is to make it easier for you to get the right products at the best price.
Guitar Neck Support: 3rd Party
There are two I recommend. They self-adjust to balance and establish a rock solid support and also do not extend above the fretboard to obstruct work access. A support that pivots or rocks into a stable full contact support is ideal, Vs a rigid one the will not fully support the neck across the support plane.
Notched Straight Edge: 3rd party
You want a notched straight edge that stands up by itself on the fretboard. Expensive triangle and sculpted ones look pretty but they fall over meaning you must hold on... not good. And the cheap ones are not actually straight.
We recommend this Made in USA company, mid-range price, top notch quality.
SixStringers Saddle and Nut Sander:
For acoustic guitar sanding the saddle after fret level is a must.
SixStringers makes the only True Precision tools for the job.
Side Cutters for close cropping new frets 3rd Party
Used correctly these eliminate all but the finishing touches for fret sprouts on a new refret.
61-63 HRC that is a must for stainless steel frets that are 30-50 HRC. These should last a long time, and for $10.00 you can't go wrong.
The right tool and method for the Novice DIY and Professional, this is a lot faster than those edge files that can easily go astray and scrape your guitar neck.
Inch Pound Torque Driver: Bolt on necks: 3rd Party
Specifically for Bolt On Necks. Over time the neck bolts can loosen, or worse, some bozo messed with them.
The bolts/screws must be evenly tight, meaning you need a torque drive to achieve this.
The inch pound range required is 15-20 inch pounds. Start at 15 inch/lbs, test all screws for the driver to click, continue adjusting the torque setting until all screws click at the same inch/lbs.
If all click at 15 inch lbs, set to 16 and test if all click, set to 17, maybe one does not click at 17, tighten it, and now you know all are the same torque. It matters. Do it.
Never torque in a circle, always go cross corner, then down, then cross corner again, and then down again, this is the correct torque pattern.
Make sure the neck is correctly torqued before doing any work related to the guitar neck, including frets, nuts, saddles, string action, relief. Seriously, we do not make or sell these torque drivers, we have no horse in that race, but we want you to know better and save yourself the very real heartache one always gets from half-baked procedures.
Digital Gauge: For Nut Slots and Fret Height: 3rd Party
Using the included SixStringers fret height gauge will ID the shortest fret but it does not show the big picture.
Fret Forensics tells you everything you must know before doing any fretwork. It also helps us help you in true detail with our unmatched customer support because we will know exactly what you are working with.
This is why we recommend the Digital Gauge and our free Forensics Worksheet download.
All of these gauges are made in China, there is no advantage spending for a name brand that cost more than twice as much for the exact same thing.
NOTE: These brass block gauges have 4 feet forming a 16" radius, some are 12". Not good for sharper radius fretboards. File down the center 2 feet to get past this limitation so the block does not rock on a sharper radius.
NOTE: Regardless of price all read to .0005" and are made in China.
SixStringers makes radius adapters for this to exactly match the fretboard radius to get the dead on accurate read.
SixStringers Nut Slot Gauge:
Nut slots are a real bear to get right, mostly because the traditional measuring tools are hit and miss 19th century relics.
SixStringers Nut Slot Gauge is super easy to use and dead accurate.
Insert gauge blade into nut slot, retract the blade, when you hear and/or feel a click or drop, the slot is too shallow. File a bit at a time, checking as you go. Be careful not to over file the slot depth and width. When the blade slides out without a click or drop the depth is right.
Precision Fret Wire: 3rd Party
I have bought various fret wire. What I found is that the precut frets are not precision, that those can be as much as .005" variance in a single fret and as much as .01" variance across 22 frets. Not good.
Trying various not precut pre-radius fret wire I found these, and across six feet of wire the variance was +/- .0005", for example for the .054" the bulk measured .0535" with a low of .053" and a high of .054" with the nominal at .0535" and then +/- .0005" made some .053" and some .054". I found that I could narrow it down to .0535" and .054" by discarding the .053" sections and have more than enough to refret 24 frets and more.
The price is right when you get it that the precision is there. Note the brand. This link is for stainless steel, you'll need to find the fret wire you want from what they offer.
SM is pricier and they say new frets need leveling. The truth is, frets measured and cherry picked for ultra high precision do not need leveling. But of course SM wants to sell you more tools.
SixStringers Radius Blocks for Digital Gauge:
11 Radii to choose from, twice as long as brass block for improved stability and accuracy.
SixStringers Saddle and Nut Surface Plane:
For acoustic guitar saddle and nut.
Unlike the Saddle and Nut Sander that only adjust the height, the Saddle and Nut Plane also faces the saddle and nut thickness. It is the only precision tool ever made for doing this, and also the saddle and nut height. Two precision tools in one.
SixStringers makes the only True Precision tools for the job.
Fret Puller: 3rd Party
Compare our 3rd party Choice 1 to Stew Mac.
Pay $9.99 for a true quality tool or pay SM $62.00
We list many FM in our 3rd party suggestions. You will find their prices are 3 and 4 times higher and the quality is often less. But many people put blind faith in a name assuming it means real value. However, actual material specifications often times proves that a name brand is not best quality for the price.
Fret Cutter: 3rd Party
Stainless Steel frets are hard, 30-50 HRC, which means a fret cutter must be much harder.
When a seller of cutters such as Stew Mac does not disclose the HRC rating it's a red flag that their HRC is cheap.
Quality tool sellers skip the flowery word sales pitch and state the HRC value.
Here is our recommended 3rd party 63-65 HRC rating choice for $9.99
Glide Strip:
If you do several guitars this is where to get more Glide Strip on the cheap, and probably enough for a lifetime.
Do not buy another brand because this material is the correct 0.005" gauge to be compatible with FretMaestro. We do not know what you will get with other brands.
String Action Gauge: 3rd Party
After Maestroing (true leveling) the frets and then dialing in the nut slots the next step is setting string action, and a good gauge is a must have. See link for a 3rd party highly rated fair priced gauge.
There are very expensive ones, and very cheap ones, price either way does not ensure accuracy. Here are two we like.
Dry Lube Spray: 3rd party
Treat every diamond fret file with dry lube before using. Do not use silicone or teflon both of which will build up an unwanted film in the file. Here are the right ones.
Belt Sander Eraser: 3rd party
For cleaning diamond files when filing nickel frets. Use often as you work because nickel is soft and wants to clump into the diamond grit which then prevents the file from cutting. Get the eraser, and use it, no matter what diamond file you use. Note, if an eraser gets gummy to the touch, do not use, get a fresh one. If you gum up a file with a gummy eraser use lacquer thiner to quickly an easily clean the file, Acetone does not work.
Fret Rocker & String Action: 3rd Party
Simple, effective, straight to the point.
Choice one cost a bit more, it has cleaner markings.
More to come: 3rd Party
There are many tools that have been around a long time for other purposes, and guitar tool sellers simply buy in bulk, private label with repurposed claims and then jack up the price fivefold to tenfold, and often times they don't even bother using good quality.
As for those pretty anodized tools, think in real terms, cheap lipstick on a pig and then they quadruple the price. Tools are not jewelry, don't buy just because it looks pretty and is expensive, when it comes to tools that combination is a surefire red flag.
Brand Name Traps: 3rd Party
In many cases I provide the SM option for buy.
They sell 19th century tools at grossly inflated prices. They tell stories such as having to level new frets on a refret to steer customers into buying tools they do not need, that is smart business for them, but it is a raw deal for the customer.
It is true that new frets are imperfect, but they are inexpensive, it is easy to measure fret wire to cherry pick frets within a .0005" tolerance... the cost is two packets vs one and there is no need to maul and deform brand new frets with a sanding beam and eyeball guesswork freehand crowning file.
SM and the others want to sell more tools, if lying gets them your money, so be it. That's not the same as sincerely helping customers. That said, it really is the responsibility of the Consumer not to be taken advantage of, and when it comes to tools, tools are Objective, not Subjective, the information is readily available for anyone to protect themselves from a predator seller... for example...
When you know how to correctly evaluate the difference between fair priced quality and overpriced junk, such as fret cutters listed on this page, knowing the HRC of both the frets and cutting tools, and you compare our suggestions, the smart money does not pay the Predator.
SM sells some good tools, sure, they also sell some real junk. Know your tools.
I have given a lot of information and reasons based on real specifications and data... it is now up to you to either bet on the real data or bet on a brand name based on nothing more than blind indoctrinated faith.