Neck support when hammering in frets?

[Steve A.]

I was reading how bags of sand or beans are good for supporting the neck when hammering in frets.

Yikes- I just found something that should work. It is an ergonomic wrist support for a keyboard filled with "ergo" beads. I doubled it over and shoved it in a sock. I was thinking that I needed something that would support the entire neck but 8" to 10" centered under the hammered fret should be fine- right?

I thought I was saving money getting a multi-head hammer from Amazon but when I was using the brass head to tap in frets in a new guitar I found that it was leaving marks on the frets. And the frets had left marks on the brass head. Is that to be expected or was it not a good grade of brass? I was reading that the plastic head should work fine...

Steve A.

[Brock Little]

Provided the support is firm enough, then 6" is enough. No idea what ergo beads are, but if you think they have a decent amount of mass and support, it should be fine. If they're small, sand grain sized beads they should be ok. If they're larger plastic balls, they may have a tendency to leave dimples in the back of a neck.
A hard plastic hammer is better than any kind of metal for hammering frets, IMO. Plenty of mass for the job and soft enough to not leave pit marks and compression on the tops of frets. The one I use cost me about $2US.


I do try to press frets, wherever possible. Some people think that it doesn't seat them properly, but I've never come across any problems with it. I did have a type of reciprocating/vibrating hammer tool that I used for pressing frets, until the damn thing died (spectacularly!). Set the fret ends, place a shaped caul over it, push with hammer, and it was done. 10 seconds per fret without a mark! I need to get a new one, but modern versions of the tool are a bit too savage. If anyone knows of a... more pissweak version of the one in pic, I'd be happy to hear about it.

[GlassBass]

One of those C shaped travel pillows works pretty well , or you can use a cervical collar like whiplash victims use if you really need support.

for real tho, a press works best, or a rawhide hammer. The brass and nylon ones are good too. I support the neck for refetting with a rigged up sandbag.