How to Polish Guitar Frets with Micro-Mesh

Over time frets pick up fine scratches and oxidation from strings and fingers. You feel it as a gritty drag when you bend a note. Polishing them takes around half an hour at a string change and makes a guitar feel noticeably smoother.

What you need

• Micro-Mesh Flexifiles or dual-angle Flexifiles, which are firm enough to work along each fret and flexible enough to follow its crown
• Low-tack masking tape
• A soft cotton cloth
• Fretboard conditioner, if your fretboard is unfinished

Step by step

1. Remove the strings and clean the fretboard.
2. Mask the fretboard. Run low-tack tape along the wood either side of each fret so only the metal shows. It is fiddly but protects the board.
3. Start with a middle grade. Work along the length of each fret with the Flexifile, following the curve of the crown.
4. Move through the finer grades on every fret before going to the next grade.
5. Finish with the finest grade. The frets should look like mirrors.
6. Remove the tape, wipe the frets and fretboard, and condition unfinished rosewood or ebony before restringing.

Polishing, not levelling

This method polishes the surface of the frets. It doesn’t change their height or shape. If you have fret buzz, uneven frets or deep grooves under the strings, you need a fret level and crown, which is a job for a luthier or specialist tools.

More in our guitar fret polishing guide.

Questions

Do I have to mask the fretboard?

It is strongly recommended. Abrasives can mark the wood, especially on maple boards with a lacquer finish.

Which grade should I start with?

Start in the middle of the range for lightly scratched frets. Only start coarser if the frets are badly scratched.

Can I polish stainless steel frets?

Yes. They take a little longer but polish to a lovely finish.