Advice on fret dressing for a cheap moron

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5redlights5redlights Frets: 317
edited January 2015 in Making & Modding
Hello 

I'm thinking of joining the HB modding challenge above, and would like to try and do a fret dress of a bass (assuming it needs it, which I imagine one or two frets will). However, I am a ham fisted moron, so don't want to go too full-on in case I get something massively wrong and end up removing a fret or gouging the fretboard. 

I've seen a fair few tutorials and the principles seem ok, but seem to involve a lot of custom equipment, and as it's something I want to just have a go at on a cheap bass neck, I'm not looking to really buy specialist equipment (like the Stewmac Notched Edge thing). 

What's the minimum equipment I could get by with? Would a metal ruler and small file do? Would the following approach be enough?  - 

1. Tape up neck, check fret levels against ruler. Mark any frets higher than others with pen. 

2. File down those frets on top, and then rounding off on sides of fret lightly. 

3. File down fret ends where needed. 

4. Set up bass. Make some noise. 


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Comments

  • MegiiMegii Frets: 1670
    edited January 2015
    Decorator's box level with an accurate milled flat surface on one side, double sided sticky tape, various grits of wet and dry sandpaper, plus fine wire wool, suitable tape for masking/protecting the fingerboard, dark marker pen - as here - I've have excellent results with this approach, and not a single bit of specialist kit required. Most expensive thing is the box level - I got mine from a well know diy superstore for just over a tenner - must have done about 20 fret jobs with it now, on myself and others' guitars.
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  • So you tape the sandpaper to the spirit level and do them all at once, or are you just using the sandpaper with a wooden block/free hand? 
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  • MegiiMegii Frets: 1670
    So you tape the sandpaper to the spirit level and do them all at once, or are you just using the sandpaper with a wooden block/free hand? 
    If you're asking me and not WezV, then it's sandpaper attached to the full length of the spirit level, which needs to be the full length of the fretboard at least, and then the frets done all at once - it's this basic method, although I've added a few extra "sophistications". 



    Very important to get the neck set absolutely straight before starting of course. And make sure you do get the type of box level with an accurate flat-milled surface.
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  • MayneheadMaynehead Frets: 1782
    There are multiple methods, ranging from doing the entire fretboard at once with a long fret leveling file to doing individual frets using just a piece of sandpaper. It all depends on the state of the frets and how much work is required.

    I personally don't like leveling the entire fretboard with a leveling file because it's a very destructive process, and it's critical that you can get your neck absolutely straight. A lot of frets get filed down which means a lot more work to recrown and polish them, and you can easily file off more material than you need to.

    I usually start off by straightening the neck (by visual inspection, doesn't have to be perfect), then checking the middle and sides of each fret with a fret rocker all the way up the neck, and marking off any high areas on frets with a black marker. I then assess the situation when I'm finished.

    If there are only a handful of frets that need to be worked on, I will address those frets individually with 280 grit sandpaper, checking with the fret rocker as I sand.

    If there is an area where there are lots of uneven frets, usually above the 12th fret, I will use my 6" diamond fret file and level that area, again checking with the fret rocker as I file.

    If the fretboard is really bad all over (I've only ever seen this once with a cheap squier neck) then I'd tape it all off, straighten the neck as best as I can and go over the entire fretboard, using my 6" diamond file.

    After the frets are level, if a fret has been touched I'd recrown either using a diamond fret crowning file or just sandpaper and my finger, depending on the severity of the flat top.

    In general I keep the use of files to a minimum as they tend to chatter the fret and it takes a lot of sanding to get rid of the gouges.

    Finally I polish using increasing grits of sandpaper (600 - 1200) and optionally you can buff to a shine with a Dremel.

    To answer your question, I would say the minimum tools you'll need to do a fret leveling are:

    Fret rocker
    Sandpaper (280-1200 grit)
    Masking tape
    Marker pen

    With optionally:

    Short fret file (~6")
    Fret crowning file


    As you can see, you don't actually need much. I've done many expensive guitars with just a fret rocker and sandpaper. Usually the better the guitar, the less work they actually need doing, and doing a whole fret level on them is usually not necessary unless you're trying to get rid of gauges caused by fret wear. 
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71956
    I really like to do a 'taper dress' - born out of laziness originally, but I discovered it gives the best of all worlds…

    Essentially you take off the absolute minimum amount of metal consistent with keeping all the fret tops perfectly in a straight line and (just) removing the deepest dent. This means that you will take off a lot on the lower frets (the deepest dent is usually D on the B string, or similar) and none on the very top fret, with all the ones in between rising in height consistently from the nut to the top end.

    What you end up with is low frets for easy in-tune chording at the low end, and tall frets for easy bending at the high end… kind of like a compound radius board, but in fret height.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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