btoth76 Posted June 23, 2015 Author Share Posted June 23, 2015 Hello Evans! When You want to check neck straightness, a conventional, unnotched straight-edge will mislead You - because of the fret wear. With the notched one, You can measure the neck directly. And it's the neck which needs to be set straight! As a result of fret levelling, Your goal is not only to have the frets in level with each other, but too achieve consistent fret height. If some frets are higher than others, it will result inconsistent intonation, as some frets will needed to be pressed further when fretting them. When levelling You have to be very precise, in fact. Even the slightest anomaly can make a big difference in playability. Cheers... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Hi Bence, Just read through this fascinating tutorial. I thought I had seen all lutherie tools, but the beam is new to me. It looks useful for all except compound radius necks. I have a question re: the notched straight edge. Is is not just as good to use a regular straight edge on top of the frets? The difference from fingerboard straightness will be minimal I think, and any irregularity on the fingerboard would not be more than a couple of thou & not significant would it? -evans Hello... just to confirm what bence has said with pics :) I was given an Epi SG by a friend to fix up.. The darn thing wouldn't stay in tune for more than two seconds, I have never seen a guitar that bad... So I assumed at first it must be the tuners.. and I was totally wrong... So when I checked the guitar out the first thing I did was to check the fretboard and it was TERRIBLE.. check the gap in the middle This is the first and second fret.. that's how bad the bow in the neck was So all I did was tighten the truss rod and while not perfect it was much much better Then I tuned it up and hey presto... it was in tune and intonating... I had no idea that the bowed neck would have such an effect on the guitar, but I guess it makes sense.. I think what was happening was the truss rod was loose, so the string tension was pulling back on the neck making it go out of tune then as you tuned it up and increased the tension it just got worse... Making the truss rod right corrected all of its issues and my friend who gave this to me now loves it :) Without a straight neck to start with it doesn't matter if the frets themselves are level or not as the bow in the neck will put all of that out of whack... You MUST make sure the neck is straight first. Whats mad about it all is how the tiniest difference can make all the difference.. In luthier terms 1mm or so can be the difference between something that works and something that doesnt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Thanks for the patient answers guys. When levelling You have to be very precise, in fact. Even the slightest anomaly can make a big difference in playability. A further thought: Once the frets are levelled perfectly, crowned & polished, the truss rod is adjusted again to add relief. Surely that relief is going to be greater than any disparity of fret height. So why do we not experience such intonation problems at this end stage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted June 24, 2015 Author Share Posted June 24, 2015 Hello Evans. Most likely, - when You are done with levelling and dressing -, You won't need to adjust the truss rod any further. Because, - as You install the strings and tune them up to pitch -, You will add pressure to the neck. Enough to slightly bend it into a perfect curvature. Intonation problems are always present on a guitar. It's one of the worst instruments from this aspect (fret positioning, nut and bridge, string height, etc. contributes to this). But at least, with perfectly levelled frets, we can get rid of buzzing issues and dead spots - while maintaining comfortable string height. Cheers... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Hello Evans. Most likely, - when You are done with levelling and dressing -, You won't need to adjust the truss rod any further. Because, - as You install the strings and tune them up to pitch -, You will add pressure to the neck. Enough to slightly bend it into a perfect curvature. Intonation problems are always present on a guitar. It's one of the worst instruments from this aspect (fret positioning, nut and bridge, string height, etc. contributes to this). But at least, with perfectly levelled frets, we can get rid of buzzing issues and dead spots - while maintaining comfortable string height. Cheers... Bence I know about the imperfect intonation of guitars. I'm not ready to go for fanned frets just yet though ;) Thanks -evans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 Hello again! For setting intonation properly on Your guitar, I highly recommend this application: http://www.chrisalsopguitar.co.uk/shop/index.php?route=cagapps/intonation Cheers... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 This thread should be pinned to the start... Some good info on here that lots of people want to know about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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