fall away

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hi all I would like to discuss fall away when levelling frets

im planning to do my first one on the weekend. I basically got this fender telecaster with lots of buzzing on frets 7-12 and areas of the upper frets. the person that sold it to me said it was a project guitar, but couldn't get the guitar to play well. no history on the neck as to whether there was damage etc. anyway, I felt it was a good time to get into fret dressing.

my research led me to the subject of fall away. some people on youtube don't do it, some do. so first question is, do you really need it?

second question is how do you create a fall away. some people have said they tape of the 12th fret with 3 strips of tape, or 8 strips, it seems hit and miss for a novice, although I understand the concept. how do you know you done it right?

thanks in advance
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Comments

  • HaychHaych Frets: 5595
    edited February 2019

    The way I was taught to create a fall-away was to use three layers of masking tape on the 12th fret, mark up all the frets above the 12th and rub with a levelling beam (partially masked up) with 320 grit paper until the marker pen is rubbed off.  This is done after the levelling all the frets.

    I know of others who do it a different way and in fairness I know people who don't create a fall-away but still have good results, but this method seems to work well for me.

    There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife

    Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky

    Bit of trading feedback here.

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  • MayneheadMaynehead Frets: 1782
    It’s not strictly necessary, but may help in achieving a lower action depending on your neck relief (more relief usually requires more fallaway).

    You can always do a setup without a fallaway, and add one if you need to. You know, the old “you can always take more away but can’t add it back” adage...
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  • It's needed on most guitars, subtly though.
    The tape is just to stop sanding through.

    In my experience the highest fret also needs to come down Alot, no exaggeration. I'd do fallaway and then more aggressively take height off the 2nd highest fret and more so on the highest. It's these that stick up the most when you add relief into a neck. 
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  • finest1finest1 Frets: 94
    edited February 2019
    thanks for your comments. good idea Maynhead! i'll try that first. 

    how would I know if I need to add fallaway?
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  • Winny_PoohWinny_Pooh Frets: 7732
    edited February 2019
    Unless you adjust the truss rod perfectly straight (obviously not) you always need fall away if you want a medium to low action. 
    Take a long ruler and bend it very slightly in the middle, now imagine a straight string running across. Do you see how the raised end near the neck would be interfering with the string vibration?
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  • CorvusCorvus Frets: 2924
    tFB Trader
    I don't tape off, used to use flat diamond files with mounted handles, partly to work the upper frets but also flatten off the radius a bit. But lately have been using the long block to make a sort of compound radius instead and work the upper frets a bit more. Either works fine though.

    Is the neck relief OK, not back-bowed, it's a bit unusual for a Fender to buzz in that wide an area and all those places.
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  • DanielsguitarsDanielsguitars Frets: 3261
    edited February 2019 tFB Trader
    get the neck flat first then level all of them then mark all the ones from 12th back and level only those, i do use say 600 or 1200 so not much comes off and i do that a couple of times, i don't use much relief so others might need more

    I use a long and short levelling beam with 600 and 1200 paper 
    www.danielsguitars.co.uk
    (formerly customkits)
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  • Corvus said:
    I don't tape off, used to use flat diamond files with mounted handles, partly to work the upper frets but also flatten off the radius a bit. But lately have been using the long block to make a sort of compound radius instead and work the upper frets a bit more. Either works fine though.

    Is the neck relief OK, not back-bowed, it's a bit unusual for a Fender to buzz in that wide an area and all those places.

    yeah the neck feels solid, loads of frets. not sure what happened to the neck, maybe someone tried to do a fret job, who knows. it came with no history apart from the guy that bought it. he felt he could put it together, which he did, then panicked at the set up. truss rod seems ok.
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  • DanielsguitarsDanielsguitars Frets: 3261
    tFB Trader
    finest1 said:
    Corvus said:
    I don't tape off, used to use flat diamond files with mounted handles, partly to work the upper frets but also flatten off the radius a bit. But lately have been using the long block to make a sort of compound radius instead and work the upper frets a bit more. Either works fine though.

    Is the neck relief OK, not back-bowed, it's a bit unusual for a Fender to buzz in that wide an area and all those places.

    yeah the neck feels solid, loads of frets. not sure what happened to the neck, maybe someone tried to do a fret job, who knows. it came with no history apart from the guy that bought it. he felt he could put it together, which he did, then panicked at the set up. truss rod seems ok.

    ,Check how straight it is before doing anything, if it's on the guitar check relief, you can also put a straight edge on the frets just in case the necks itself isn't that flat
    www.danielsguitars.co.uk
    (formerly customkits)
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  • hi all

    I posted an update on another thread as the subject changed slightly, so wasn't sure whether to post it here

    http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/150832/adjusting-action-to-eliminate-buzz-project-guitar#latest
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