TUTORIAL Basic fret level, crown & polish made easy (picture heavy)
- Thread starter MichaelW
- Start date
MichaelW
Well-known member
It doesn't really matter if you get the polish done well because the end result is the same.
The way I've shown in the tutorial by going side to side "knocks the corners" off the crowning and rounds it a bit.
But doing one fret at a time going lengthwise along the fret works too and can give you more consistent results.....but takes more time and effort.
MichaelW
Well-known member
"Hot dogging" is really a completely different technique. Hot dogging entails cutting the fret the exact perfect length you need BEFORE installing. Then taking a small concave Dremel grinder and rounding the end of the fret so it looks like a.....hot dog. Then undercutting the fret tang then installing the fret. Super labor intensive and the end result is not always that great. As much as I like how it looks, invariably the lengths are not always cut perfectly and when a fret end lifts it's easy to get the strings caught under the fret.
Here's a good video.
cdwillis
Well-known member
Thanks for this write up, Michael. I've never done a fret level and crown myself. It's really intimidating. When I get another guitar I always tape off the fretboard and use 0000 steel wool to clean/polish the frets. Lately I've gotten gutsy enough to use a small file to clean up some sharp fret ends on some of my guitars (and a bass) with a maple fretboard where the frets poked out a bit. But as far as a full on fretjob I've always been hesitant for fear for permanently messing up the guitar.
I have a couple spare necks to practice on so I think I'm going to use them as my first victims of learning this process. One is an old Peavey Predator neck with a rosewood fretboard and the other is a cheapo maple Fender Starcaster neck.
I have a couple spare necks to practice on so I think I'm going to use them as my first victims of learning this process. One is an old Peavey Predator neck with a rosewood fretboard and the other is a cheapo maple Fender Starcaster neck.
MichaelW
Well-known member
Glad you're going to try it. It's really not as scary as it appears and like everything else in life, experience is the best teacher. Once you've done it a couple of times you'll develop your own techniques and hacks. There are multiple ways to skin this cat.
Joben Magooch
Well-known member
Going to interject a bit here and hopefully not hijack too much as it’s a bit on topic.
My acoustic’s action was just a bit high. I wanna say factory spec is about 0.080-0.090” at the 12th fret low E (bass side) and 0.050-0.060” on the 12th fret high E (treble side). Mine measured about 0.115” and 0.085” respectively so about 0.035” too high.
Didn’t think that merited a neck reset (Taylor w/ NT neck) and had the stock Tusq/micarta/plastic/whatever saddle so ordered a bone one and figured I’d sand it down to get the proper height. As I understand to lower .010” at the 12th fret you need to remove 0.020” from the saddle.
Anyways got it fitted and sanded down pretty good and it’s very close to where I’d want it now, about 0.085 and 0.050. I think I was slightly skewed toward the treble side and took a bit extra there, but not bad. It plays much easier now and sounds really great.
Only small issue is I have a tiny buzz on the 13th Fret of the G string and only when I bend the note slightly. If I play it “straight” it’s nice and clear, no buzz. But just a little bend and it starts to fret out. This suggests to me that the 14th fret is perhaps slightly higher and it’s my understanding that this “bump” is relatively common where the neck joins the body. SO all that to say I’m wondering if a very slight “partial” level and dress as described above (~14th and up) would be the appropriate solution here, or if there’s something else to look at? It seems like all the other strings in the 12-14 range are fine, just that bent note in particular. Almost makes it seem like there’s a very slightly low spot on JUST the G’s location on the saddle though I don’t know how that would be possible.
My acoustic’s action was just a bit high. I wanna say factory spec is about 0.080-0.090” at the 12th fret low E (bass side) and 0.050-0.060” on the 12th fret high E (treble side). Mine measured about 0.115” and 0.085” respectively so about 0.035” too high.
Didn’t think that merited a neck reset (Taylor w/ NT neck) and had the stock Tusq/micarta/plastic/whatever saddle so ordered a bone one and figured I’d sand it down to get the proper height. As I understand to lower .010” at the 12th fret you need to remove 0.020” from the saddle.
Anyways got it fitted and sanded down pretty good and it’s very close to where I’d want it now, about 0.085 and 0.050. I think I was slightly skewed toward the treble side and took a bit extra there, but not bad. It plays much easier now and sounds really great.
Only small issue is I have a tiny buzz on the 13th Fret of the G string and only when I bend the note slightly. If I play it “straight” it’s nice and clear, no buzz. But just a little bend and it starts to fret out. This suggests to me that the 14th fret is perhaps slightly higher and it’s my understanding that this “bump” is relatively common where the neck joins the body. SO all that to say I’m wondering if a very slight “partial” level and dress as described above (~14th and up) would be the appropriate solution here, or if there’s something else to look at? It seems like all the other strings in the 12-14 range are fine, just that bent note in particular. Almost makes it seem like there’s a very slightly low spot on JUST the G’s location on the saddle though I don’t know how that would be possible.
MichaelW
Well-known member
Do you have a Fret Rocker? That's the easiest way to check and verify is that 14th fret is high. Irregardless of the hump, there's ALWAYS going to be some hump and fall away, it's inherent in the design of instrument. But no one should have to live with buzzy frets and there are easy fixes.
If you do verify that one high spot I can walk you through how to deal with it.
Alan W
Well-known member
For the upper frets, I find using a single edge razor blade better than the typical commercial rockers. (too short for the lower frets)
jaminjimlp
New member
Sean from scarMyguitar on YouTube sent me this link and I got the kit... I also bought a cheap leveling bar from Amazon as well was under 10 bucks works fine I didn't my first fret leveling on a 1990 Jackson professional fusion guitar that had several string dents It came out great.. I tried posting the pictures but it said they were too big maybe later I can edit this but I'm on my computer
MichaelW
Well-known member
I've only used the offset z-files. I think give you a bigger range of frets to work on and also allow you some range of how you like to crown the fret.
Raises Hand
