Episode 108 How I Spot Level, Recrown And Polish Guitar Frets
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- This episode demonstrates my technique for spot leveling, recrowning, dressing and polishing guitar frets. Show your support! Visit www.eguitarplan... and buy a plan. Or visit highline-custo... and buy a shirt!
Fret rocker: amzn.to/2uBa1t1
Three corner file: amzn.to/2NMRy5w
Notched straight edge:amzn.to/2usn1Rq
Fretboard protectors: vamzn.to/2NN04RJ - เพลง
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This was the best video on this that I have been able to find, and I've been through a lot. Great attention to detail. I would also recommend that people be sure to apply a good bit of painters tape and completely cover your pickups beforehand or you'll have a fun long time trying to get the metal shavings and steel wool off of those magnets :)
Hands down
Fantastic video, THANKS!
Maybe it's just me with my extensive background in classic wooden boat building and restoration, and now into stringed insturments as well, but there is another an option available to you other than steel wool (which I personally WILL NOT allow anywhere near my shops, be they of a nautical or musical nature).
It's Brass Wool (admittedly hard to find), or bronze wool (much more common), and both of which can be found at any decent Marine Chandlery, at most Hardware stores that cater towards the fine furniture refinishing market, and even at specialty suppliers catering to fine jewelry shops. Like steel wool, these non-ferrous abrasives are available in grades from coarse to ultra-fine.
Please save yourselves from the nightmares that any ferrous particulate matter, especially those of a microscopic airborne nature, WILL cause you!!! -Eric-
This was great, but as a tool and die maker/ mold maker always clean between grits of steel wool or sand paper as to not drag heavy grit back into the lighter grit.
good tip man thank you!
I'm not a professional machinist or anything but whenever I break edges with a file on something I machined I only push it across. Never with a sawing back and forth motion. I guess if your sanding and polishing afterwards it doesn't matter but pushing only makes a better finished and more even break. You can also feel when the edge is gone.
220 grit sandpaper seems a little rough/ .0 steel wool also when using a fine file. 400 grit paper on up to 1000 grit and finish off with.0000 steel wool is what I've always used. Course everyone does it different.
I will give your approach a try.
Good video.
This is so encouraging...thankyou for sharing this flat file technique.
Was always dis-couraged by people saying it was necessary to run the whole board....my common sense always disagreed....and the same with needing a $50-$100 crown file.
Using a sharpie will help to visualize my efforts. I am encouraged to fix those two tiny spots that have bothered me....and if it goes easy (which I feel confident of now) ...ill check my other guitars.
Perfect timing for me, I just finished a re-fret on a scalloped Brazilian rosewood fretboard. I found two spots about two strings wide a slight (barely noticeable) high spot after crowning and polishing. The scalloped board was chippy and I had to meticulously re-construct many fret slots. I leveled the board the way you checked for high spots with a rocker. Came close to perfect, but I want to level those 2 high spots, seeing as this isn't horseshoes or hand grenades. Thanks for the tutorial.
Easily the best video on this subject , he explained so well that even a idiot like me understood.
Awesome video! Thanks for your straight, no fluff, process description and techniques. I am new to performing some.of these actions on my guitars and this video is precisely what I needed to become proficient.
Thanks, I really enjoy your clear, detailed, descriptions of the way you approach every given build issue...
This video stands out as many video, while covering these things, don't really get down to the level of actually doing it, showing you specifically which files are used and how they're used. A three-sided file is often referred to in regards to crowning, and great, but how big a file? How fine a tooth? Those details get left out,, and while here maybe no numbers were mentioned, I can clearly see the file in question and figure it out from there. But especially dressing the ends of the frets, I haven't until now come across a video that shows it being done with such clarity, and shows you how to do it without damaging the fretboard most important of all.
I also put a link in the description above to the exact file I use.
This is such a nice video. Very detailed and I can tell that you’re mindful of the small details that us beginners wouldn’t know.
damn he the Bob Ross of fret leveling...great video!
And may be there's a little squirrel that hangs out on This fret....
What if it is the F fret that is really high … then what ?
Those 2 first minutes gave me the best advice to know if I have to recrown my frets. Thanks !
Excellent video! Exactly the way I was taught by a master luthier. The only nugget I might add is to tape off your pick-ups before leveling. The metal shavings have a way of finding the magnets. Another way to cut down on the fine metal particles is to use scotch-brite pads instead of steel wool. Again, awesome video. Thanks for the detailed information.
if not on a hurry, better check all the frets with fret rocker tool. check neck straightness then start all over again to make sure all the frets are level then do the ffret crowning and polishing.
This is great!
So if you just want to remove some grittiness from your frets, and don’t want to go fully into leveling and crowning, since you might feel that is best left to professionals, could you just start with the sandpaper?
Probably.
You have just confirmed what I've thought for years: Wood moves, and save time by using a fret rocker.
Many thanks Chris, hugely helpful video. I appreciate the detail, pointers and hints all along the process--as well as the time it takes you to do these videos. This is an invaluable addition to the guitarist community's online library.
Good tip on the edges of the triangular file
Nice video lesson, I am finding your videos more informative than $tew Mac$. Question, I bought a cheap Acoustic from CL with absurd action. The strings were very high off of the neck. I managed to successfully lower the action by adjusting the truss rod and sanding down the saddle some. It plays much better but now but I have a little string buzz on the low E and A strings between frets 1-6. It's minor buzz when fretting barre chords. I think the truss rod is as tight as it'll go. I'm wondering if I should loosen the truss rod just a bit to see if that removes the buzz and then further sand saddle if I need. I'm I thinking wrong or right here? Or what can I do to eliminate the buzz? Thank You.
I found myself blowing away the metal fragments as you filed! 😂
😅
good explanations of what you're doing and why combined with good camera placement makes this one of the best and most informative videos I have EVER seen on TH-cam. fine work, Chris! and thanks.
Much appreciated!
Excellent and relevant explanation, as for me , by watching the video, I noticed that I am just short with some of the tools to work on the crowning and leveling but you nailed the point of what I need to do next time....thanks.
Awesome vid man thanks. Gna give this a shot. What is the big metal file youstart with called and where could I find one?
Great video! Particularly appreciated the 3-minute mark where you actually walked through how to use a fret rocket and to only mark parts of the fret that seem to be high. A lot of other videos breeze through this stuff.
Glad it was helpful!
I have to assume those are stainless frets. Nickel would take 3 or 4 swipes from a new file.
Thank you for this video! At this point, fret leveling is my least favorite thing to do on a guitar. Ugh. But this helps. Thanks!
Loved the good tip for grinding off the sharp edges of files! ( Their ALL kissin the grinder!)
I have changed the file for 400- 600 sandpapers wrapped on a piece of foam for spot levelling. Goin down slow! Great Video Cheers!
Absolutely practical and helpful.
Thank you very much.
Henry Bon Ruiz.
Hi there ,sir may i ask before checking the level of fret wire is it necessary to make the fret perfectly straight? If yes how to check if it was straight?
Excellent. Thank you very much. Wonderful instruction.
I agree your idea of having to remove really any material from new frets doesn’t make sense. Using a consistent pressing in of the fret is best. However there’s no guarantee. But what if the press arbor had a meter to measure the pressure? Do you think that would solve the problem or will the wood of the board still cause difficulties? Or maybe close enough to work well and do a fine job? Thanks for al your info, it’s great! Knowledgeable you are.
Thanks for the video. Algorithm nom nom.
Wire wool is the way, give em a swipe when you change strings.
NEVER use steel wool on an electric guitar. The particles will stick to the magnets in your pickups and alter the magnetic fields. Use synthetic non-woven abrasive pads instead.
Thank you Chris this is an incredibly good explanation. Stew Mac has a crowning file that will crown both sides at once. It might be the better choice for a novice (like me). :)
Thanks so much for this video, it gave me the confidence to correct some high frets on 2 of my guitars and I am quite happy with the results. I wanted to add that instead of using steel wool in the polishing phase, I've been using those 4-sided nail buffer blocks (normally used for manicures). I got that tip from an online guitar forum and I was quite surprised at how well the block does this job.
Great to hear!
I have all these great tools and I like low action. Own currently 20 guitars-all fine at various price points. My issue is I have a hard time getting the StewMac rocker to rock although I know the technique. Logic says there has to be some high frets yet I can't seem to finesse the sound or rock. BTW I've had 5 of my favorite guitars Plek'd by the nation's top shop. Now that I have all these tools I'd like to work my other guitars for low action. All rooms are humidity controlled. Will be buying an inexpensive Monoprice guitar to practice on. Perhaps you could do a video on just the finesse and technique of the rocker. Thanks. Good videos as always.
I am not aware of any finesse or technique to using a fret rocker.
Great instructional video ! I'm about to attempt fret leveling & crowning on my 83 Ibanez Roadstar2 for the first time ever , I've owned her for nearly 40 years since I bought her new , I need her to play to the best of her abilities , your video will help !
Exceptional Explanation!!💥🎯💯
Thank you ,very informative ,and great detail ,easy to get small info too ,much appreciated, since I'm right there with my third attempt at installing frets ,and they look pretty level already ,but will purchase a fret rocker first to see if I'm five or less ,like your goal ,before buying the beam ,thank you ,have a great New Year ,God bless !!
Hi Chris, I am a former orthopaedic specialist, so guitar builds are one of my favourite areas because there are a lot of similarities between both specialities which is the biomechanics and I have been watching your channel for a while and the reason is mainly the way you are thinking and explaining your thoughts. I really enjoying them please keep the good work and I know sometimes we have to understand that not all people are thinking the same and are so open to varieties of thoughts at the same time. However the results are the main proof of our practice and thoughts. Thank you again kind Regards from ENGLAND UK.👍
Thank you very much for taking all the time to explain every step, you are really helpfull, cheers, the best for you!
Thank you for taking the time to get a good close up and focused shot with your camera.
Hi Chirs ! Really epic job and informative. I wish I have watched this earlier. Because I just ruin my new neck by leveling that was supposed to be assembled next week. I have a question ❓ is it correct that never crown on the top of the fret. I ruined it by keep crownning it on top of the fret and the sharpie just gone completely. It's my first time so I don't really know what I was doing.
But I need to grab this technique. My problem is.there will be a flat surface on top of the fret After leveling. How do I get ripped off that flat without damaging the fret and get the reformed process done. Thank you so much.
If you do this process correctly, the flat strip in the center of the top will be as thin as a human hair. Nothing to fret about.
Just the video I needed today. I’ll approach it slowly. Thank you 👍
Great instructional video, I appreciate you posting this! Will subb today!
Awesome, thank you!
Great video and explanation. I will be using your technique to fix a new epiphone with high fret in 2 spots. Checked with the rocker and otherwise it is perfect, but I have 2 trouble spots. I ordered a file and I am ready to go. It also has nut issues, which is frustrating. For fret polishing, I have discovered that micro-mesh pads are amazing. They shine up like a mirror in just a few minutes.
Very helpful tutorial, my friend. I find I must replace the first 7 frets on my old Flatiron mandolin due to wear and string grooves. I have a home made fret rocker tool that is perfectly flat on all four edges, and is very accurate, as it was used when I built two other mandos a few years ago. So thanks for this vid. Bob
Hm after crowning my frets with a file the frets looks more like pyramids or cones. They look quite pointy, so did I file them the wrong way? I guess if I sand down the pointy bit then I will ruin the leveling..
You’re probably holding the file perfectly perpendicular to the fret as you work. Try rocking it from side to side instead.
Very good, thank you!
I leveled out few high spots of frets on my bass guitar, now the buzz is gone.
I also noticed 1 fret was out a few tenth of mm from the fretboard and i carefully pushed that back in flush with a piece of hardwood and a light hammering.
Hello, love you channel and you reply promptly on messages which is great. Can you explain why you level all the frets if instead of spot leveling with fretkisser for example more than 5 high spots? What if guitar has about 5 high spots before 12 fret and some high spots higher on the neck which normally is leveled off anyway to reduce buzz.
These days, I level all the frets and crown them after they've been installed. However, I'll wait to polish them later. Instead, I finish the guitar, string it up, tune, intonate and let it sit under tension for a week or so. Then, I'll recheck the tuning and intonation, adjust if necessary, and play the guitar. If there are any high spots, I'll spot level and recrown. When I'm satisfied all is good, I'll polish the frets and call it done.
Great Video; Thanks!
How do you decide to file down the frets, as opposed to smacking them with a hammer? Say that fret is .5cm not seating against the fretboard, but you can't see that with your eye? Is trying to hammer down the fret ever an option? Thanks!
Hammering is only an option if you know the slot is deep enough.
I honestly don't believe I could talk and file at the same time as well as you do.. kudos
An interesting video. I have a luthier's 3- corner file, but I find i seldom use it. When I find a high fret with my fret rocker, instead of my 3- corner file, I will use my recrowning file, frequently checking with the rocker, until the fret is level.
I do the opposite. We all should do what we know works best for us.
just ordered some of the tools in your links. thank you for posting this
Great teacher, explainer , and super knowledgeable
How do you crown it to a thin sharp angle. Ive done the thin line thing but it never get to a sharp angle. Look like a thin line on a square surface. Yours looks like a pyramid. Like the angle starts right at the base near the fret board while mines starts angling later. Thanks
Practice!
What marker (sharpy) do I need to use? Because the marker I have now its ink doesn’t stick on the frets. I have SS frets
You said it. Sharpie!
Great video, Chris! But i have a question: what happens with the recrowning part if i spot level half a fret (like in the video)? Should i recrown the whole fret or just roughtly the spot i leveled?
Thanks!
I just recown the spot I leveled and blend it into the rest of the fret's crown. Once you've sanded out the file marks and polished the fret, it should look and feel correct.
I found the best way to find which frets and what part of the fret is buzzing is marking them with erasable markers and then playing the guitar so that it buzzes. The strings will chip off the erasable marker revealing the areas that are buzzing.
Best to do a few frets at a time and loosen the strings before applying the marker. You need to strum with a heavier hand than normal and until you see it chipping off. Also you must lay on the marker quickly ( you can't go wet over dry) , if it dries before finishing marking the fret you have to wipe it off and reapply to get an even coat.
I bought an 30 year old guitar to refurbish. It was bought from a collector/songwriter and had several flat spots. As I was cheap and inexperienced I thought about the flat spots and decided to try just adding a bead of solder to the flat ones. Filed them down, crowned them. Works great. Probably not as durable but it still works.
John Connor -- I had to chuckle about the solder on the frets. Yeah, I'll work for maybe a week or 10 days, then you'll notice grooves in the solder. Solder is just way too soft to work very well. A suggestion:. Look up Ted Woodford. He has several vids on how to replace frets. My old mando needs 6 or 7 frets replaced and I will review Ted's method. This guy knows his stuff. Good luck, friend. Bob
very interesting video.
So when you're going over the frets with sandpaper to remove tool marks it doesn't matter if you pass over the thin strip down the middle of the fret with the 220?
No
Hi!!!
Do you use any protection on your face during using sanding paper???
I feel like I want to get cough after leveling/crowning/polishing process.
Very helpful thankyou
thank you...... a practical accurate process!!! your videos are wonderful!! i learned a lot. i will see the rest of them as soon as my time permits! thanks again!!
This was great, thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
your video helped a lot man thank you so much!!
Highline Guitars -Nice video! Am I correct in assuming that leveling the whole neck is safer for the inexperienced luthier?
When you use a fret rocker,How can you know there is a high spot in the middle instead of a low spot on the side? thanks
Think about this way; you can’t raise a low spot, but you can lower a high spot. All of the high spots have to be reduced to the height of the lowest spot in order for all of the frets to be level. If you have to remove too much material to get the frets level, you may need to refret the fretboard.
Awesome job! Took the time to inspect and fix the fret at the fret’s high spot.
Thank you sir 🙏..... For your time and your knowledge.... Your appreciated !!!!
The best video on this topic on TH-cam! One suggestion. SS frets are still a sort of mystery. You should put it in the title of this video. Some claim they are hard or impossible to level and crown and you did an amazing job!
They are a bit more work, but not worth the extravagant claims.
If you keep your frets polished they'll last a long time anyway. Capos kill frets
ABC= Always Be Checking! 😂
Those that have seen the movie "Glengarry Glen Ross" will understand this! 😁
Thanks! Am building a stewmac Les Paul Jr. and found this to be a good step- by- step guide. Terry from OZ.
This is a really good video. For a refret..... I've been doing this after the initial beam leveling....going over the frets with the rocker and marking the high spots.....working them close (a sliver high) then going back to the full sanding beam. it's been the secret to removing a lot less metal from all the frets. I have to do a Les Paul I finished leveling a month ago.....went back over it a few days ago with the rocker and found two high areas just under the thin E at the 13th and 17th fret. They just popped up even though I glued in all the frets. I'll do what you did and then just recrown the fret. I believe this is the secret to a great fret job and not removing too much metal from all the frets.
Most video's don't show you this. Everyone should thank you. This is one of those secrets most luthiars won't give up. Took me 7 or 8 years to figure it out. Actually I just figured it out this year. Most newbies will end up removing too much metal for many refrets. It's really a mess if they use .040 frets to begin with.....it's so easy to end up below .036 and start having problems. If you use the beam alone I've found the rule of thumb is if a fret is .002 high you'll take .004 off all the frets to get the frets perfectly level. Doing your method makes it much less.
Maple can be difficult to clean because of one reason; dirt shows up on a light material much better. Rosewood is not as difficult to clean because its dark and it hides dirt better. If you saw the Les Paul biography Tribute he was interviewed about the origins and design of the Les Paul line of Gibson electric guitars. They they bought the design from him and showed it to him. He said in the interviews that all his guitars were maple necks. When Gibson showed him their Les Paul design they all had Rosewood fingerboards. He asked them why they did that and said he was told "Your fingers show up better".
He said well OK. Some professional musicians have told me that Rosewood creates a "warmer tone". Les Paul said he couldn't tell the difference. I'll take Les Paul's opinion any day.
I just did mine (the whole neck needed it then it still had some high spots) but if it is a very slight rock I leave it. Human hair type of distance away so should stop dead spots and buzzing.
Have you tried hammering the fret? Seems like a lot of luthiers use this method to prevent levelling all the frets.
That’s how amateur luthiers try to do it. If it works, the fix is only temporary.
Oh good! So I have been doing it correctly. I loathe having to level sand the whole fretboard. I feel I am doing the guitar and it's owner an injustice! Thanks for another great bit of information!
A most excellent tutorial as usual. This really helps newbie guitar luthiers like me
Thanks, good info.
Great video! For those reading, quality tools help as well!
Very good video and process. I hate taking off more fret than I have to also. Have to agree with Steve (below), a fret rocker is a must.
What do you feel about the z file from stumac ? For crowning
I think they are fine for novices, but experienced luthiers who have mastered the three corner file can get a better crown faster, and much cheaper.
hi chris, i know this is an old video, but i just had a question regarding the sanding/polishing section of the video. I am wondering if using something as abrasive as 220 grit sandpaper will lower the crowns on already leveled frets, and potentially create buzzing and other issues?
I will if your technique is too heavy handed.
Fair enough, thanks for the response. I suppose the idea is to focus more on the edges and less so on the crown itself?
Nice video, I just ordered a triangle file from your link. Question? Couldn’t you just use the sanding paper to re crown the fret ? Thank you.
Use a file and save your fingers (and your sanity).
@@HighlineGuitars thank you. I see your point. Nice site by the way. 🤷♂️
1 billion videos and no one addresses my problem, I have a low fret not a high one.
You can’t raise a low fret. All you can do is lower all of the other frets.
I'm so happy to explained what a crown really is. Other "tutors" had left me with the impression that it was a little ridge across the top.
Thank you! Best explanation and demo I've been able to find.
Very helpful video! Thank you very much 😊😊
Hi. Question, what if I accidentally pres the fret end-file in to the rose wood board, leaving small but visible dents in the wood around the edges of the fret? Hence, hhen not using the safe edge just to get filing on the fret where it just meets the board.
And i agree with the huge amounts of positive comments here.
You can try to steam them out by covering the dent with a wet paper towel and touching the towel with a hot soldering iron. T e resulting steam will swell the wood and the dent might disappear. Be very careful not to burn the wood and I would suggest you test the method on some scrap wood to get a feel for how it works. If this method doesn't do the trick, try sanding out the dent or learn to love the dents.
Thanks a ton. Love is universal so perhaps that is best. 😅
Using a rocker, I have found 7 high frets on my acoustic. Should I spot-level or level the whole fretboard all at once?
I'd level all of them at once. Spot leveling is very difficult for a newbie with just one high fret. Seven? That's just too many. That would drive me crazy (yeah, I know, it would be a short drive!) to get seven high frets level with the others.
@@HighlineGuitars Thanks! I am thrilled to try my hand at doing a fret level. This is a good guitar to learn on. (The guitar only cost me $10.)
Great videos. I'm a little surprised that no leveling problems occur from sanding over the tops of the frets. Not much material gets removed I guess?
No. Very little if any material is removed. All I am doing is removing scratches.
Wouldn’t fret crowning files be better than by free hand? Also sometimes just a few taps with a soft hammer is all that’s needed to fix a couple high frets!
Using a 3 corner file takes skill and experience which is why crowning files are a good choice if you lack that skill and experience. Tapping frets with a soft hammer can work, but it can also create low spots where there were once high spots.
@@HighlineGuitars I do like your idea of spot leveling though, fret height is precious and can make or break a guitar imo. I once took a guitar to a luthier to address a few uneven frets but he took the frets down to less than half their size rendering the guitar almost unplayable … so I always talk to my luthiers now and sometimes just a recrown is all that’s necessary.
what are your thoughts on the hosco fret rubbers for finishing frets? Super detailed video, very nice!
They wear into a half pipe groove which looses contact along the top surface of the fret. I prefer sandpaper. Cheaper, faster, and readily available.
Excellent ... Very informative, clear narrative and quality video.... Just what I needed! Cheers 😊
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience!
Big thanks GB! I don't do this for money, but it surely helps!
That's a fantastic video, great work!