After several years of woodshedding, the frets on this Japanese Fender Reissue '54 Strat are worn resulting in fret buzz. A re-fret is in order and the owner of the instrument chose to go with my preferred and highly recommended fretwire which is similar to the popular Dunlop 6105 fretwire. The fretwire I use is 0.010" narrower than the 6105s.

The frets are removed cleanly from the fret slots. Fender frets and then finishes the neck with a vintage toner. That explains the discoloration along the fret slot. The finish on the subject neck is thin compared to most Japanese Fender Reissues, which usually has a thicker finish. The fingerboard will be re-finished before fretting as per most boutique makes.

The fingerboard is lightly sanded, re-finished, fret slots cleaned up and re-cut. We’re now ready to fret.

The frets are seated, filed flush, beveled, dressed and crowned. I’m very particular about fret dressing and pay a lot of attention so I don’t remove more than necessary material.

The guitar is strung up so the new Tusq nut could be slotted. As you can see from the worn frets, the owner loves bending string but was previously unable to do a full step bend without fretting out. Well, it's no longer a problem to do 1 1/2 step bends now.

The Tusq nut is slotted and the set up process begins.

The owner of the instrument has spent a good chunk of change upgrading the stock pickups to Van Zandt Blues pickups and stock trem assembly to a Callaham trem assembly with titanium saddles.

The guitar is set up and all ready to go.