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Home : Tools : Special tools for Fretting : Fret Tang Nipper

Undercuts fretwire cleanly

Fret Tang Nipper


Read 54 Reviews   |   Write a Review

There's gotta be an easier way to trim the ends of the frets to fit over the neck bindings, right? Our friend Bill Collings (of Collings Guitars) had an idea that inspired us to produce this simple and precise tool. It's become a repair shop favorite. It does an outstanding job of undercutting fretwire to fit over neck bindings, speeding up fret jobs on bound necks, and helps save the lacquer finish at the edges of the fingerboard. Just insert the wire to the desired depth in the guide notch, squeeze the handle, and the wire is quickly and cleanly undercut. No bending or crimping!

The Fret Tang Nipper is useful for unbound fingerboards too. Try nipping the fret tang to length before installing the fret. Now you'll only need to cut and file the overhanging crown, and the fret will be less likely to twist and unseat.

See details below

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Fret Tang Nipper
 
  Item# Description In stock Price Quantity
1626 For medium fretwire Yes
$48.94

1649 For wide fretwire Yes
$48.94


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Details
 Pictures
#1626 is for medium-width fretwire, .075" to .095" (1.90mm to 2.41mm)

#1649 is for wide fretwire, .100" to .120" (2.54mm to 3.05mm)

The Fret Tang Nipper is 6" long (152.40mm), including 4" (101.60mm) rubber-sleeved handles.

Not recommended for stainless steel frets.

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 Ratings and reviews
Fret Tang Nipper
Fret Tang Nipper
 
4.5 out of 5 stars
Based on 54 ratings Write a Review
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Displaying 31 – 40 < 1  ...  3  4  5  6 >
5 8-31-2011
Must Have

If you do a lot of fret-work, this is a real time-saver! Most of the time there is no cleanup after.

Middleton Guitars  Southern California Read my reviews (53)
5 7-13-2011
Almost perfect

Ok Five stars because it saves so much time and effort and works pretty much flawlessly. StewMac by far has the best quality tools.

My only beef would be that some are rather pricey. But this is a device that does exactly what is says and does it very well.

Caravella Guitars  Lindenhurst, NY Read my reviews (3)
5 7-06-2011
So simple - So effective!

Can't believe how much easier this little tool makes this job! Fast, accurate, easy. Not cheap, but worth the money.

Yoz  New Zealand
5 6-03-2011
Fret Tang Nipper

This is a great little tool, reducing fretting time to about 20% of what it took filing each fret end before. It cuts accurately, and I can place and fit each fret in seconds.

Pick  New Zealand Read my reviews (4)
4 6-01-2011
Fret Tang Nipper

Very nice piece of equipment; minor filing and you are ready to go....4 1/2 stars!

KC  Henderson, NV Read my reviews (3)
5 5-11-2011
Fret tang nipper cuts the work down to size!

This is a great tool. I used it to re-fret an unbound neck, and I was able to use this tool to cut the tangs and fit the frets so they did not extend past the fretboard. Also, using this tool made it easier to cut the individual frets from the fret wire. It's well worth the price!

Bruce Lyons  Wichita Falls, TX Read my reviews (11)
4 5-07-2011
Tang Nipper

Works great, could be cheaper though in my opinion.

Jerhico Guitars  Altona, NY Read my reviews (53)
4 4-19-2011
wonderful tool

The reason I'm only giving this 4 stars is, that it's not absolutely foolproof. But with a bit of practice and care you can really cut off the tang nice and smooth with this. But it is easy to not hold the fret perfectly and then the cut will also not be perfect. But you'll figure that out in no time.

MoorMusic  Switzerland Read my reviews (48)
2 4-09-2011
Blunt nipper

I was dissappointed today when I went to do a re fret job on a bound fretboard (Can't be more than the 6th re fret that i've done with this tool)today and found my fret tang nipper had gone completely blunt. To the point where the cutting part has squashed down and bent into a curve. I tried to sharpen it but, after half a re fret job, i found that the same thing happened again. I think that this would be a better tool if the cutting part was made of stronger stuff. To be fair, the tool has already payed for itself but it would be so easy to make it better.

Andy Keeling  Dublin, Ireland Read my reviews (3)
StewMac responds

Andy,
We apologize for the issues you're having with our nippers. We're sending a replacement set out immediately.

5 3-30-2011
Great tool

It does exactly what it says on the tin a great idea saves a lot of messing would recommend it.

Michael Mulville  Dublin Ireland
Displaying 31 – 40 < 1  ...  3  4  5  6 > /\ Top of Reviews


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