Following the Wudtone UTL purchase, I then got the Crimson crowning/profiling/dressing file and fret rubber.
These were ordered Saturday and arrived the Friday just gone.
The file feels a quality item, nice handle and the corners are smooth to try and help you not to chew up the fret board, although masking tape is still recommended.
I took the strings off, masked the board and put black marker on top of the frets. I've never done anything like this before, so just tried to crown the frets based to the fret job I had on my Tele. I lent the file on the board and tried to file in a fluid motion on both sides, once done, I used the fret rubber to polish up the fret. I then did this for the remaining frets
I'm happy with the results, with more experience etc.. I'm sure I could have done and even better job. Is it as good as the fret levels I've paid for in the past, probably not, but that's down to my inexperience rather than the file.
Overall, a well made tool that even someone like me with no experience can use and get good results. The rubber got the frets nice and smooth and shiny. It's certainly something I'll do again!
Some pictures:
And the finished article all strung up!
All I need now is a fret end file
Comments
Suffice to say I won't be going back.
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/61134/sarge/p1
Was wondering about these rubbers just the other day , couldn't you use an ink eraser to get the frets smooth and shiny ?
I haven't used one for years but I recall they are quite tough and quite gritty.
They're made from some sort of rubber (silicone, I assume) with varying grades of abrasive powder mixed in. Unlike things like Garryflex blocks, the Crimson ones are very stable - don't get gritty bits falling off, and they seem very resistant to wear. I got the set of four, and working up the grits to SF (super fine) gets a very good finish - borderline whether polishing paste is needed afterwards. Good shape for working with frets as well. One thing to note is that the thicknesses of mine vary a bit - all usable enough, but some more consistency would have been better.
Nomad
Nobody loves me but my mother... and she could be jivin' too...
£8.49 and it will last you a lifetime.