Would you attempt to do your own fret dressing?

[bigtim]

I been thinking of doing a little fret dressing/leveling on my guitar. I have done a little bit of that before on another guitar but only did it with a file and finished it out with different grits of sand paper. I noticed I have some slight buzzing near the 6th fret. Neck is straight and the action could be a little closer if I had a professional luthier do it but I am an el-cheapo kind of guy. Do any of you guys dress your own frets buy purchasing those radius blocks from Stew Mac and just going to different grits of sand paper to finish it off with? Will I nessesisarly have to re-crown them also since the frets already are the flat crown style on my SG? Thanks in advanced, Tim

[Sinner 13]

I been thinking of doing a little fret dressing/leveling on my guitar. I have done a little bit of that before on another guitar but only did it with a file and finished it out with different grits of sand paper. I noticed I have some slight buzzing near the 6th fret. Neck is straight and the action could be a little closer if I had a professional luthier do it but I am an el-cheapo kind of guy. Do any of you guys dress your own frets buy purchasing those radius blocks from Stew Mac and just going to different grits of sand paper to finish it off with? Will I nessesisarly have to re-crown them also since the frets already are the flat crown style on my SG? Thanks in advanced, Tim

 

I am currently saving up for said tools, drop the coin and get the complete fretting kit they offer.

READ and RESEARCH the process thoroughly, you can easily turn a crown and polish into "oh Sh!t, now I need to refret...."

also I have not had a chance but the guys at SM are touting the "fret erasers" these days too.

[bigtim]

I am currently saving up for said tools, drop the coin and get the complete fretting kit they offer.

READ and RESEARCH the process thoroughly, you can easily turn a crown and polish into "oh Sh!t, now I need to refret...."

also I have not had a chance but the guys at SM are touting the "fret erasers" these days too.

 

 

Yes it can get hairy real fast if you do not know what is going on. I know about finishing metal and such but never did it on a guitar fret board. I have lots of info on the subject but I would really like some opinions before I get after it. I have a few different files and such already. My biggest hold back is the radius blocks and by not having them. I do my own set ups and have repaired necks and pick guards for other people but have never done a full blown fret leveling/dressing. Tim

[Sinner 13]

Yes it can get hairy real fast if you do not know what is going on. I know about finishing metal and such but never did it on a guitar fret board. I have lots of info on the subject but I would really like some opinions before I get after it. I have a few different files and such already. My biggest hold back is the radius blocks and by not having them. I do my own set ups and have repaired necks and pick guards for other people but have never done a full blown fret leveling/dressing. Tim

 

Nor have I hence the advisory.

I have set up and wiring experience as well, the aspect of fretting is my last part of the Build/repair process I need to learn/master.

I have a guinea pig guitar I will use for the first outing, if that goes well I will add these skills to my arsenal.

[stein]

I have done many fret dresses with a file as a starting point.

 

I am not a 'pro' or a paid luthier, but I have done it maybe 30-40 times on my guitars and sometimes for others. I don't have a raduis block.

 

There are advantages and disadvantages to me. A file cuts fast, and if your file is flat (they aren't always) it can be very precise. And, the understanding of how to stroke it across the board can take imperfections out both of the file and the neck. Same principle of grinding a lens by hand.

 

The disadvantage is the it can take a lot of material off real fast, and if you aren't sure of an area or you don't have the neck flat to begin with, you can take a lot of fret off in a hurry. And, the file leaves scratches that have to be smoothed out. How you use the file, and the file itself, determines the scratches. I could refer to it as surface sheen. The surface being uniform determines the polishing staying uniform.

[strat-o-steve]

Yes you can. You can do it for cheap. Buy a good fret crowning file, a contoured sanding block (for the radius of your board) and some sand paper (320 will work fast) and some 0000 grade steel wool. The file and sanding block you can get at www.stewmac.com . I've done several fret dressings, and it doesn't take as much specialized tools as others will have you believe. It just takes skill, patience, KNOWLEDGE of what makes a guitar work and the lack of fear to dig in and go for it. After you remove your strings, either have the neck adjusted dead straight, or slightly backbowed. Use a bag of bird seed as a neck rest (it works!) and have a towel spread to keep the guitar from sliding. Then use the sticky sandpaper to stick on the radiused sanding block and very lightly rube it back and forth over the fret tops (and use masking tape to cover the pickups and the body near the neck joint). When you see that the sandpaper has just left marks (a wide flat spot) across all of the frets (the high frets will have more material removed) then you stop. Now use the crowning file and work it in the ONE WAY it files. Don't saw it back and forth as it will F@&% up the file. This will round out the flat tops a little. Again, don't take tooo much off, and leaving an ever so slightly flat, thin line across the fret tops is fine for safety sake. Now your frets are level and crowned. Now to dress them. Use the 0000 steel wool, and rub vigorously on each fret at a time, until it polishes up and looks smooth and feels smooth. Then go on to the next fret until done. (Mask off the fretboard if you have beautiful inlays or a maple fretboard). Now you still ain't done....now to use a polishing compound or something like 3M scratch remover to buff the frets to a truly bright, smooth surface. Now remove the tape from the guitar, clean it up well, add new strings and set it up. You will be AMAZED how well the guitar plays! :D

[pfox14]

I do all my own fret work, but I also build guitars from scratch. You are welcome to try and do some work on your own guitar's frets. I use a fine grit sharpening stone to do leveling. I do not recommend using radius blocks to level frets. Check the levelness of the frets using a high quality straight edge approx. 4-6" in length. Kepp leveling until the straight won't rock back & forth anywhere on the frets. I follow that with a fret file I got from StewMac to re-round the frets. Then I use 120 - 220 - 320 sandpaper to finish, plus 0000 steel wool. Hope that helps.

[surfpup]

I do my own with a fret file. I also find this little tool is great for finding those frets that are slightly higher than the others... Stew Mac Fret Rocker

[bigtim]

Thanks for all of the input. I am fixinig to aquire some special tools and attempt the job. Alot of great info on this thread. Thanks again, Tim

[Sinner 13]

I do all my own fret work, but I also build guitars from scratch. You are welcome to try and do some work on your own guitar's frets. I use a fine grit sharpening stone to do leveling. I do not recommend using radius blocks to level frets. Check the levelness of the frets using a high quality straight edge approx. 4-6" in length. Kepp leveling until the straight won't rock back & forth anywhere on the frets. I follow that with a fret file I got from StewMac to re-round the frets. Then I use 120 - 220 - 320 sandpaper to finish, plus 0000 steel wool. Hope that helps.

 

What grit do you use?

I have 2 1000grit a 6000grit finish stone (Japanese water stones) and a couple of 180/300's

I also use non silicate polishing compound on cork backed flannel for intermittent polishing.

[gaxeman]

You mentioned being cheap, but there's another way to look at it. Unless you're making millions, and depend on the guitar for your millions - no one will be as careful with your guitar as you.

 

I think the most important thing is to select some cheap guitar that might need it, and just dive in and try it. Lots of tools and instruction available via stewmac, also online tips, but nothing takes the place of experience. I did my first leveling to correct some string buzzing (the frets were clearly getting worn, this might not always be the cause of buzzing of course). Used the fret leveling and crowning files, dressing sticks, and masks available from stewmac. Think I also used some kind of fret polishing paper that I had previously gotten somewhere else. I knew where the problem was - maybe it was beginners luck, but it turned out great.

 

Since then I've added only a straight edge, and a radius block, but haven't gotten around to trying that out yet. I'll still want to mainly level with a file, but was thinking the block might help improve the final job for a particular guitar that needs some work. Good luck with yours.

[bigtim]

Well, I got to looking around my old tool box and found a small flat file 6 inch, and a 3/4 inch wide 6" long stainless steel ruler made by starret I used for checking the frets at different locations on the fret board, left over from my old tool box when I used to do metal fab and going through some other stuff I found some very stiff cardboard type emory boards my sweetheart uses for doing her nails of all things (imagine that). So needless to say I have already dressed the fret ends on my SG and I am very happy with how it turned out too. It is a 2006 model I bought recently. When I got it off of him, he told me he did not do anything to the guitar and it was set up still from the factory. I believe him as he still had the plastic on the guard too. I liked this SG very much and went ahead and bought it off of him. This is my 3rd Gibson guitar to own. The 1st was a 1981 les paul custom the 2nd a 1991 explorer 68 reissue. Now I have got to admit that the other older Gibsons I had, the fit and finish was excellent. This SG needed more than a basic good set up and intonation adjustment and that is why I started this thread. The frets ends were only half dressed and sounded terrible when I pulled the strings toward the bottom of the fretboard, the E string would make that terrible "PINGING" sound because the string would fall off of the fret and I can see light lines in the fret board from where they ran it through some kind of surface planer type machine and did not completely get the lines out afterwards. Now I am not knocking Gibson guitars at all but maybe the day this SG was made, the guy in the fret board department went to lunch and forgot about it when he got back from break, heck I do not know. I also notice the clear coat has a slight uneven look to it along the edge of the neck too. I am not too worried about that because I know the way I hold the neck over time, this will wear through. Maybe Gibson does not go over their guitars as close as they used to in the past but I can tell a difference. I have also worked on about 8 frets also and it seems to have made a big difference and I have it about set up like I like now. All of this without a radius block too although that is still on my list to purchase. I did not go head over heels with my project either so far and will approach it cautiously again when I decided to do it more. Thanks for all of your input and let me know if any of you have tried this since this thread has been started. Tim