DIY Fret leveling advice

[Clint 55]

Go with a radius block rather than a flat tool for the leveling if you have a straight radius neck. It guarantees a perfect axis horizontally for the radius and all you have to do is focus on leveling vertically nut to heel. Instead of guessing with the radius.. No point. Also, for those jagged ends, use a quarter round file.

[ErikH]

I have a crowning file, some polishing erasers, a notched level and have a leveling beam on the way. Last night I took care of a high fret on my Warmoth. It was the 21st fret that was just a tick high, enough that bends on 18 through 20 on the low E would fret out doing full step bends. I was able to take care of it with the crowning file as it only needed a tiny amount removed. Verified it with a credit card that it was level (fret rocker is on the way too) and polished it with the erasers. When that looked good I polished the rest of the frets which smoothed them out too (400 then 1000). It plays like butter at the action I like with no fretting out on bends.

Once I have the leveling beam and rocker, I've got a Silvertone Strat that could use a level/crown/polish and a cheap acoustic with nasty sharp frets that definitely needs work. Those two will be my practice beds, starting with that acoustic.

This is a skill I've wanted to learn but have been either too intimidated to get in to or didn't have the money to get the right tools necessary. Now I feel better about it. My favorite local tech showed me how he does it and actually let me level one on one of my own necks when he was doing a level/crown/polish on it some years back. Nice guy and does fantastic work. If I botch any of my players, I know he can fix them up.

[Top-L]

To the OP...

I learned how to level/crown my guitars about ten years ago. I wish I had learned 20 years ago.

Its an important "life skill" for any guitarist who is buying guitars on ebay.

I bought a leveling beam on amazon along with a set of fret files. I crown the frets with files, not the shaping tool. (Although I will go over them with that after the majority of work is done with files.) You will also need a perfect straight edge, and a notched edge to measure the board.

A radiusing block is generally used to radius the fingerboard without frets. That is something you need if refretting.

I can turn consistent results without buzzing that is considered "very low" action. However, I am always looking to improve my process, I think I can do even better. I am sure there are luthiers out there who have done hundreds/thousands of guitars that can do "next level" work. But I also know that luthiers are working on the clock and I have had some jobs done that I consider short cuts. I trust my ability to do a better job than a busy luthier who is just trying to do as many jobs in as little time as possible.

Its one of those "attention to detail" activities. Its not hard to run a leveling beam across any guitar, get the frets level and playable to an 8/10. I think if you take your time on your first guitar you can do 8/10 work that you are happy with. It will be better than almost all guitars that you buy new.

[GuitarStv]

Wait a minute... You are complaining about an acoustic buzz that does NOT go through the amp? You are the kind of customer I would order to leave. Acoustic buzz on an electric is a non-problem.

Responses like this reveal why going to a guitar tech should usually be a last resort. Many of them have huge egos and prefer to set up guitars to their own tastes rather than listening to what a customer wants.

[ICTGoober]

As far as I can tell, it doesn't come through the amp

Wait a minute... You are complaining about an acoustic buzz that does NOT go through the amp? You are the kind of customer I would order to leave. Acoustic buzz on an electric is a non-problem.

[Birdman642]

To be honest, this doesn't quite add up in my head... How do you get a dead spot if your frets are level?

A few other things that come to mind:

- Are you sure the buzz comes from the frets? you mentioned it has not locking nut so I guess the bridge is some sort of TOM. Those may have rattling parts in them.
- What about the nut? Are the strings seated properly?
- Wouldbe cool to know what kind of"not low enough" action are we talking about? If you're shooting for <1 mm, that ain't gonna happen I'm afraid...
- Does the buzz come through the amp or is it just acoustic? If it's not audible through the amp, than it's OK with an electric. They are not meant to play unplugged

The bridge is a Floyd Rose. I blocked it though as I’m not a huge trem user.
As far as I can tell, it doesn’t come through the amp. So I may just have to bite the bullet and deal with it

[ICTGoober]

To the OP - Your "tech" is just that. What you really need is a luthier. And if you went to Guitar Center, you're a fool.

[nexion218]

I brought my guitar in to a local tech the other day. (...) He said they were all level (...) I do now have a dead spot on the 18th fret on the high E. My tech recommended I get a fret crowning file and gently go over that spot with the file. I’ll give that a shot and see what happens.

To be honest, this doesn't quite add up in my head... How do you get a dead spot if your frets are level?

A few other things that come to mind:

- Are you sure the buzz comes from the frets? you mentioned it has not locking nut so I guess the bridge is some sort of TOM. Those may have rattling parts in them.
- What about the nut? Are the strings seated properly?
- Wouldbe cool to know what kind of"not low enough" action are we talking about? If you're shooting for <1 mm, that ain't gonna happen I'm afraid...
- Does the buzz come through the amp or is it just acoustic? If it's not audible through the amp, than it's OK with an electric. They are not meant to play unplugged

[Clint 55]

If you eliminate the possibility of a contour problem, basically the bow coming back up. If the set up all looks correct and it's buzzing with regular action then yes it needs a level.

[Birdman642]

Not very good advice. I play 10s in D standard and every note plays perfectly because I level my frets well and set up my guitars well. With a good fret job, you can take the action down pretty low and have no buzz.

However that can be true that if the neck isn't seated well and/or there's too much bow, it can create a hill for the frets to get over and cause buzz.

So is this sounding to you like I need a leveling?

[nexion218]

Please share.

My tech told me he that he hangs up the neck, frets facing down (at least this is how I underatood him) The two "ropes" (in lack of better words) are fixed at the heel and the nut, their length matching the desired radius. Thus when you start "swinging" the neck, the plane of the board will move along the nappe of a cone, precisely matching the desired compound radius. The abrasive material is fixed underneath and he just lowers the swinging fixture until the frets touch the surface . Obviously not a DIY solution, but undoubtedly yields better results than eyeballing Iguess. I hope the explanation makes sense, I feel like my English is deteriorating..:/

[Clint 55]

Not very good advice. I play 10s in D standard and every note plays perfectly because I level my frets well and set up my guitars well. With a good fret job, you can take the action down pretty low and have no buzz.

However that can be true that if the neck isn't seated well and/or there's too much bow, it can create a hill for the frets to get over and cause buzz.

[Birdman642]

I brought my guitar in to a local tech the other day. He checked the frets with a Stew-Mac level. He said they were all level and I had a good amount of relief on the neck.
He recommended that I try to seat the neck better in the pocket and switch to heavier gauge strings. I had it tuned down to D-standard with a 10-46 set. He recommended I go up to 11-48. I have yet to change the string gauge though, as it’s a new set of strings and I want to get some use out of them before I change them.
I reseated the neck in the pocket. It helped the buzz on the higher strings (It still buzzes pretty badly on the lower ones though). I do now have a dead spot on the 18th fret on the high E. My tech recommended I get a fret crowning file and gently go over that spot with the file. I’ll give that a shot and see what happens.

[Ewizard]

If you have a set of Allen wrench keys, you can use those to gauge where you are at. Most metric sets have a 1mm and a 1.5mm. If you fret the guitar at the first fret and you can't fit a 1mm Allen wrench between the 12th fret and the string, you are lower than 1mm obviously.

As to finding out if your nut cut is good. Fret the guitar at the third fret. Now, look at the first fret. Each guitar string should just float above the first fret. And when I say just float above the first fret, I mean that they should just about be touching it. You do want a little bit of air, but literally just enough to say that the string isn't touching. If you can place a credit card, or a thin pick between the first fret and the string when fretted at the third fret, the nut cut is not deep enough. Conversely, if the string rests on the first fret ( no gap at all ) then the nut cut is too deep.

If the nut cut is too deep, you will generally get buzzing on open strings. This also tends to make action too high as you compensate for that by raising it.

The neck relief is also a factor. If you fret the f1st and 12th or 15th fret, you should have an ever so slight of air between the strings and the 7th fret. Much like the nut cut, it should just float above it. If the 7th fret is touching the string, you have a back bow, or not enough relief. This will cause buzzing when you fret the upper frets ( 1st through the 5th ). If you have too much relief, the action in the middle of the neck becomes high and you get buzzing in the higher frets ( 18th - 24th etc. ) as you lower the action to compensate.

There is an amount of flavor that can be applied to each of these things. Some people like high action, so having the nut cut depth spot on is of little need or consequence. With high action, neck relief becomes less critical. If you must have low action, then each of these things becomes very important. Getting the nut cut and the relief right are top priorities to getting lower action. Fret buzz at one or two spots on the neck is pretty easy to deal with. If you have several all over the place, it becomes a job.

[Clint 55]

More precise ways to level compound.

Please share.