I'd shy away from "eyeballing" a compound radius if I were you, especialy if you don't have any experience in doing fretwork. I am sure that there are many pro luthiers who could do a decent job by just eyeballing, but there are more precise ways to do it. But if you really want to learn, go by Clint's advice: get a couple of cheap necks, preferably with non-coumpound radius and I'd also get a guitar to put the neck on to gauge the quality of the work.
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DIY Fret leveling advice
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Originally posted by Birdman642 View Post
Did you get your crowning file from Stew-Mac or is there another place it’s available? 108 dollars is a little steep right now. I don’t think my girlfriend would be too happy about that purchase haha.Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!
Originally posted by Douglas AdamsThis planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.
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You can upload pics that are 2 mb or less. I've gotten around this by cropping my photos down until the file size is acceptable to the uploader.Originally posted by crusty philtrumAnyone who *sings* at me through their teeth deserves to have a bus drive through their face
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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.
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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.
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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.The things that you wanted
I bought them for you
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Originally posted by Clint 55 View Post
Please share.Last edited by nexion218; 02-25-2021, 09:49 PM.
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Originally posted by Clint 55 View PostNot 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.
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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.The things that you wanted
I bought them for you
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Originally posted by Birdman642 View PostI 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.
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
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Originally posted by nexion218 View Post
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
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
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As far as I can tell, it doesn't come through the amp
aka Chris Pile, formerly of Six String Fever
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Originally posted by ICTGoober View Post
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.Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!
Originally posted by Douglas AdamsThis planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.
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