Fret leveling, board length

alexh

I decided to give the frets in my old squier strat a level as I had some choking issues on the high e. I adjusted the truss rod to flatten it as best I could, then leveled with a 20cm diamond coated plate. The middle frets were heavily worn whilst those at both ends had little wear. My leveling attempt has solved the choking issues. However it is clear that the middle frets are now effectivity lowered compared to the end ones as they have what flat areas. Is that an issue? Once I crown them it will no longer be visually obvious. Does anyone attempt to make all closer to the same height of is being close relative to their neighbours sufficient.

gary_mac

I always aim for getting them all the same height, sometimes with a slight fall away from the 12th onwards. 
Also, the neck needs to be properly flat/level prior to carrying out the levelling.

alexh

Surely once there is relief that becomes moot anyway?

Corvus

The levelling is relative to each other hence making the neck as flat as possible first, pref with a notched guide rule. That also gives the least hit on the heights of each fret and they all end up the same height. Thats helped using a beam that works over more frets at once. A file can be OK but needs some extra care to work them all evenly.

alexh

If we take them all down to the same height haven't we reduced some more than they needed? Especially since I'm not going to keep the neck flat for playing, I'm going to bend it for relief.

So I think I have effectivity left a arc with a huge radius, because the middle fret are now some fraction of a mm lower than the top and lowest. How would I ever notice the difference between straight and this tiny curve, which I think is equivalent to some minute degree less relief via the truss rod. If I'd left the middle higher obviously that would present a different issue.

Danielsguitars

alexh said:

If we take them all down to the same height haven't we reduced some more than they needed? Especially since I'm not going to keep the neck flat for playing, I'm going to bend it for relief.

So I think I have effectivity left a arc with a huge radius, because the middle fret are now some fraction of a mm lower than the top and lowest. How would I ever notice the difference between straight and this tiny curve, which I think is equivalent to some minute degree less relief via the truss rod. If I'd left the middle higher obviously that would present a different issue.

well i can tell if i play my stuff if a truss rod needs adjustment, for me it's easier to play a flatter neck with a very small relief, it's noticeable as the action is higher with more, if you then bring down the action with less than ideal relief you will probably get choking notes higher up the fretboard

You should always flatten frets with a straight neck imo, then you can adjust relief and action to taste and don't forget to check nut height after relief is set

GoldenEraGuitars

Do you have all the necessary tools for the job?

Youll need 

Notched straight edge 
levelling beam 
fret rock 
crowing file
double sided tape 
sharpie 

You could also get a bevelling file for the fret ends if you wanted. Make sure the neck is straight before starting. 

alexh

No, the cost as much as the guitar did!
I used strings as the straight edge. Diamond  sharpening stone to level. I'll be using a triangular file to crown the frets once my fingerboard guard arrives.

Andyjr1515

alexh said:

I decided to give the frets in my old squier strat a level as I had some choking issues on the high e. I adjusted the truss rod to flatten it as best I could, then leveled with a 20cm diamond coated plate. The middle frets were heavily worn whilst those at both ends had little wear. My leveling attempt has solved the choking issues. However it is clear that the middle frets are now effectivity lowered compared to the end ones as they have what flat areas. Is that an issue? Once I crown them it will no longer be visually obvious. Does anyone attempt to make all closer to the same height of is being close relative to their neighbours sufficient.

There are various levels of precision you can opt for.  Your question is a bit of a mix across those levels and options and hence the answers are also - which can be a bit confusing:


1. At it's most basic - 'if it ain't broke, then don't fix it'

       If your fix above has sorted the original problem and no unwanted side effects have been encountered, then you are done.  So basically, if it plays without buzzing or choking at a reasonable action height, then that's mission accomplished.  You can optionally crown the flattened tops to marginally improve the fretted note accuracy (though you may not be able to hear much difference) but, if you do, then be careful not to change any of the fret heights by accident.  Instead, just round the tops up to their present height.  


2. More precise fret levelling on a budget.  

       First of all, don't confuse fret levelling with neck relief - neck relief is not there to compensate for uneven frets.  Fret levelling is also quite a complex topic and there's loads of decent tutorials and explanations on the net but, armed with a diamond file sharpening stone and just a few cheap but essential tools you can tackle the most common two scenarios: 
  

Scenario 1 - two or three frets are HIGH.

           In brief, you can identify them using a simple 'rocker' - an old credit card can be cut and works perfectly well - that straddles three frets at a time.  If it rocks, the middle fret is high in that spot.  Then you can check if the fret is raised out of its slot (hammer or clamp back) or if it needs filing down.  For this - yes...you could use your diamond plate 

        The danger, though, if you don't really know what you're doing, is that filing this one down, might makes the next one rock, and so on until you realise that all the frets are being filed and in an uncontrolled way.  Key Tip - rock every triplet all the way up the fretboard and at each string position, making a note off all those positions that rock BEFORE you file anything!  Because you might have Scenario 2...


Scenario 2 - two or three frets are LOW, or, your rocker is telling you that the heights are all over the place

           Here, you will need to level the whole fretboard - that is make sure that all of the fret tops are in line with each other over the full length of the fretboard and all positions across the full width of the board.  Here you definitely need at least a straight edge of some sort (a long steel rule or a machined beam) and a levelling sanding beam of some sort.  A lot of people I know buy a cheap metal builders spirit level beam and glue some emery cloth to the bottom and use it for both.  I bought a 1m length of aluminium box section off ebay for a few £'s, glued the emery to one side and use the other as my straight edge.


        And here, the sequence is important to prevent unnecessary removal of fret material - get the neck straight as possible; then level all of the frets with the sanding beam; then crown the flat tops; then polish out the scratches; and only then, set your neck relief.


It's a big subject.  There's LOTS of info around.  But hope the above puts a perspective to your original question.  

randella

@Andyjr1515 - that's a really useful post, I'll keep a note of that.  Thanks for writing.

It never occurred to me to use a sharpening stone to level, I always used an old spirit level (which is surprisingly true against a known straight-edge I have) and stuck sandpaper to it.

I have some nice Japanese sharpening stones of varying grits given to me as a gift, will investigate.

alexh

Thinking logically, since l lacked the notched straight edge I have made the tops of the frets level by my initial truss rod adjustment using the strings as the straight edge. I guess if the middle frets were more worn I probably induced a very slight backbow in the neck itself. Then when I marked and sanded them I was only evening up any difference between nearest neighbours and equalising wear across the width. This solved the issues I was having with a single high fret and some wear at the higher string side of the board. I would be interested redo it and put a notched edge to compare but I'm too tight to buy one!

Thanks for all your replies, particularly @Andyjr1515 ;;;

I also used a 4000 grit Japanese waterstone after the diamond plate. I used it dry in case the mud would be difficult to get off the fretboard.

Andyjr1515

alexh said:

Thinking logically, since l lacked the notched straight edge I have made the tops of the frets level by my initial truss rod adjustment using the strings as the straight edge. I guess if the middle frets were more worn I probably induced a very slight backbow in the neck itself. Then when I marked and sanded them I was only evening up any difference between nearest neighbours and equalising wear across the width. This solved the issues I was having with a single high fret and some wear at the higher string side of the board. I would be interested redo it and put a notched edge to compare but I'm too tight to buy one!

Thanks for all your replies, particularly @Andyjr1515 ;;;

I also used a 4000 grit Japanese waterstone after the diamond plate. I used it dry in case the mud would be difficult to get off the fretboard.

Yes - sounds like you got to where you needed to get with what you did