Hello!
I’m new to building guitars…and only just bolting bits together naively so please excuse the basic question.
I’ve seen a few approaches to dealing with buzzy frets. Some seem to level the fretboard with a sanding bar and others seem to just approach individual uneven frets with a fret file.
My question is how you decide which approach to take and why? Do you do this at different stages of a build, or is it case dependant?
I have some buzzing on a guitar I’ve bolted together so I’m trying to work out what my order approach to maintenance should be. I get that there is a trade off with action and relief in the neck, but what happens next when you can’t get the relief you want, and the action you want, and no buzzes. Where do you start filing?
Thanks again.
Comments
My approach to new build is make the fretboard, that's radiused and slotted etc this gets glued on your tapered neck then I flat the fretboard and build it up on the neck, I'm simplifying it because it's different for different builds, generally bolt on necks are much easier.
(formerly customkits)
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
During the build the neck should be flat and level before the fret board is glued on and the fretboard should also be flat before the fret slots are cut. Radiusing the fretboard should also result in a fretboard which is straight, although curved from side to side. Consequently any uneven frets should result from one or more not being seated correctly. This could be because the fret was not pushed it until its base was level with the fretboard surface, or because the slot was not cut deep enough, or worst case that you’ve hit the fret much too hard and dented it. Before stringing up I’d run a fret rocker over the neck, looking for high frets. Your decision is then whether to tap the fret in further, or remove, deepen the slot, and put a new fret in.
If there are a lot of uneven frets, and they won’t tap down, then you’re faced with fret levelling using a sanding bar, and then re-profiling the crown of each levelled fret.
• Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@Goldeneraguitars
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once i had hand flattened it using 600 grit on known flat granite slab then the fret issues dissappeared
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