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.

Best Deal Digital Gauge in USA
Download Fret Forensics Worksheet

Dumpster the Sanding Beam:
See how and why 19th century sanding beams are so very wrong.

Video: Dumpster the sanding beam

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:

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.

Two recommended buying Choices plus one for money to burn

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.

Their Store
Four pcs set

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.

84mm very common
108mm for rare saddles

Inch Pound Torque Driver: Bolt on necks:

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.

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Digital Gauge: For Nut Slots and Fret Height:

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. Not good for sharper radius fretboards. File down the center 2 feet to get past this limitation.
NOTE: Regardless of price all read to .0005" and made in China.

Two recommended buying Choices plus one for money to burn

Download Fret Forensics Worksheet

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.

Details
Buy

Precision Fret Wire:

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 different frets. That's just not good.

So I decided to see how the not precut pre-radius fret wire measured up. 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 22 frets and more.
And the price is very good 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, Check them out.
The other guy when not on fire sale is a lot more expensive and the precision is lacking by their own admission as they say new frets need leveling. No, precision frets do not need leveling, only garbage frets need that.

SixStringers Radius Blocks for Digital Gauge:

11 Radii to choose from, twice as long as brass block for improved stability and accuracy.

Starter Set
Full Set

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.

Video
84mm very common
108mm coming soon

Fret Puller:
Compare our 3rd party Choice 1 to SM Red Alert.
Pay $9.99 for a true quality tool or pay SM $62.00

We list many FM Red Alerts in our 3rd party suggestions. Why... because it makes no sense to pay 3 and 4 times real value just because SM says so, and a lot of times at their prices the quality is 1/2 or less than our 3rd party suggestions effectively making SM 6 to 8 times the real cost. Up to you.

Fret Cutter:

Stainless Steel frets are hard, 30-50 HRC, which means a fret cutter must be much harder.
When a seller of cutters does not disclose the HRC rating it most likely means the HRC is cheap quality no matter how flowery the description.
Quality tool sellers state the HRC because they don't hide behind flowery descriptions that omit the actual quality specs. No one that sells quality omits the material specs.

Now check out our 3rd party 63-65 HRC rating choice for $9.99

Perhaps SM will see this, and if their tool is actually a true value HRC they might amend their listing and state the HRC in plain print. Until then, they don't state the HRC and that puts their quality in question.

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.

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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.

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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.

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Truss Rod Wrench:

Most guitars come with the correct truss rod wrench, some do not, and others are misplaced.
WARNING: using the wrong wrench size will ruin the adjuster nut, and that's expensive trouble.
BE SURE... NEVER use a wrench that is not the ideal fit, and never tighten the rod when under string tension because this could twist the rod anchor and that's it, you have a giant repair bill that may cost more than the guitar is worth.

Nut Slot Files:

Nut slots almost always need adjusting after fret level.

Nut Slot Files need to feature a half round cutting edge for proper string seating.

Nut slots should never be more than .003" wider than the string gauge, ideally no more than .002"

Music Nomad files claim .01" for 1st string, but measure the ends of their .01" file, it is .013", then measure the full length of the file on the diamond, it is .015" to .017" because their file is warped. Numbers don't lie, dishonest companies do.

StewMac prices $480 for 6 files, get a life.

Then the budget round files - the smallest is 0.02" far too big for .0085" to .017" strings.

I cannot in good conscience recommend any of these nut slot files, all are off by the numbers.
Which is why...
SixStringers is developing True Precision no measure nut slot files, making nut slots a no brainer. Stay tuned.

Sandpaper:

Simple inexpensive sandpaper works wonders, and is 20x more affordable than those expensive gimmicky fret pads. You need, 600, 800, and 1,200 grit. That's it.

Fret Polishing:

Some people think that mirror shine frets are the thing. But 15 minutes of play and the mirror is a spider web.
Shops use mirror shine for two reasons:
1. the high reflection hides the flaws.
2. customers think the shine means they got their money's worth when more often than not this is far from reality.

To get a mirror shine, most people use a Dremel tool buffer. Do not attempt to shine a fret in one session as this risks overheating and softening the fret glue.
Instead, do about a 1/3 polish, move to next fret, do all frets, then come back and do the 2nd 1/3 polish, then the final 1/3, it takes no longer to do and saves you a real headache.