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Step 6Wire the Frets
If you're here, you've either got a new neck, or you didn't bother trying to wire the filled neck from the inside. This makes things somewhat easier.
Along the side of the neck, between the neck and the fretboard, use a circular cutting disk with the rotary tool to cut out a small groove, approximately 1/8" deep. Make sure you cut this on the side of the guitar that will face the ceiling; the model in the picture was accidentally cut on the wrong side. This will be used to carry the wires from the frets to the body of the guitar, so it's best to leave the side your fingers will be sliding along alone.
After the groove is cut, either with a drill bit and rotary tool or small screwdriver, dig away at the wood beneath the first 5 frets. The goal is to have access to each of these frets beneath the fretboard so you can solder wire to each fret without the solder or the wire sticking out from the neck of the guitar.
Now cut the lacquered wire into 5 strips, each long enough to reach at least the middle of the guitar body - it's good to have extra to make sure we can get everything in place. To remove the lacquer on the tip of the wire to be able to solder it, hold the tip of the wire over a cigarette lighter or match and burn off the lacquer, then scrape the ash off briefly with your fingernails. One at a time, solder the lacquered wires to the frets, making a tape flag at the other end of the wire identifying which fret each wire connects to. Finally, use tape or wood putty to cover up the wires.
Along the side of the neck, between the neck and the fretboard, use a circular cutting disk with the rotary tool to cut out a small groove, approximately 1/8" deep. Make sure you cut this on the side of the guitar that will face the ceiling; the model in the picture was accidentally cut on the wrong side. This will be used to carry the wires from the frets to the body of the guitar, so it's best to leave the side your fingers will be sliding along alone.
After the groove is cut, either with a drill bit and rotary tool or small screwdriver, dig away at the wood beneath the first 5 frets. The goal is to have access to each of these frets beneath the fretboard so you can solder wire to each fret without the solder or the wire sticking out from the neck of the guitar.
Now cut the lacquered wire into 5 strips, each long enough to reach at least the middle of the guitar body - it's good to have extra to make sure we can get everything in place. To remove the lacquer on the tip of the wire to be able to solder it, hold the tip of the wire over a cigarette lighter or match and burn off the lacquer, then scrape the ash off briefly with your fingernails. One at a time, solder the lacquered wires to the frets, making a tape flag at the other end of the wire identifying which fret each wire connects to. Finally, use tape or wood putty to cover up the wires.
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