Cleaning and dressing frets is important, but some of my cheapest guitars have had the best fret work out of the box. My Indonesian-made Affinity Squier had a way better fret job than my Mexican Fender. All that to say, you don't always get what you pay for, and sometimes you actually get more.
Touching up sharp fret ends is a one-time event if you do it in the driest time of the year for your location. The inexpensive Harbor Freight "rat tail file set" for $3ish is improved if you grind+polish your own "safety edges" into them, by hand with a knife sharpening stone plus high grit sandpaper to polish.
Looks like a nice bass for the money. I don't think PJs get enough love. They are my favorite four string bass pickup type for a warm tone that still has lots of attack. Some issues I've noticed with fairly cheap guitars (around $200-400 USD): 1) Nut slotting. I have had guitars with plastic nuts that buzz on open strings because the nuts are slotted incorrectly. I bought a late 00s Chinese made set neck tune-o-matic Hamer Scarab XT guitar that did this once I moved from 9s to 10s and tuned to E standard. Once I had the nut replaced, I put a Gibson 57 Classic Plus in the neck and a Gibson 498t in the bridge with push/pull coil split and ended up with one of my favorite non-Floyded guitars for rhythm tracking. It was one of the last mass produced Hamers before Fender bought Hamer and mostly ended the company. I find the XT line to be a great value if one knows how to do setups and electronics. 2) Truss rod issues. I have noticed cheaper, older instruments from the late 70s/early 80s can have truss rod issues. I have had lawsuit era P bass copies that have dead frets and concave neck profiles even when the truss rod is fully adjusted. The bass is playable but the action remains high. The higher action helps the tone somewhat but also requires more hand strength to play. It is a pity because the neck and fretboard are a beautiful maple butterscotch colored vintage stain. 3) Unless I am mistaken, Squires and Mexican Fenders often require Jazz pickups that are identical widths, whereas higher end versions have a narrower neck pickup and a wider bridge pickup. Going with a Squire or cheaper Fender can force the player to purchase two neck pickups, which means the bridge pickup voicing position may not be as the pickup designer intended when winding a set of J pickups with complimentary sounds. I have heard of brighter neck pickups and darker bridge pickups to *offset* the natural tone difference in those positions. I have also heard of warmer neck pickups and brighter bridge pickups to *accentuate* the tone of those positions. I think it is a case by case basis. The main thing to take away is if you are retrofitting a Squire Jazz bass a standard Jazz bass pickup set may not be a perfect fit and you made need J single coils of identical width. 4) For rosewood fretboards at least, I have always heard citrus oil of some kind is used to clean fretboards, but I wasn't sure about something that would condition them without leaving an oily residue. I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable trying citrus on maple or ebony. 5) As far as the nickel vs. stainless steel frets argument, I know stainless is popular now due to greater durability and smooth feel, but it is my understanding that stainless is also more expensive and difficult to fix than nickel. Just about all my guitars/basses are 90s/00s MIJ Jacksons, Charvels, BC Riches, ESP/LTDs, Kramers, and other 80s style rock and metal guitars. The fretboards are pretty furry/dirty, but even my guitars from 94-96 don't really need a refret despite having nickel frets. Then again, they often shipped with medium to jumbo frets. I also have between 50-60 guitars and basses (cheaper to mid tier used ones that I upgrade the pickups and hardware on), so no one guitar gets enough playing time to wear down the frets. Anything wood, nut, fretwire, or paint-related (especially polyurethane paint that is easy to chip on points and difficult to fix with drop fills) I take to a luthier. If it's replacing a Floyd (I know the ins and outs of those--Schallers, OFRs, Gotohs, even newer ones like Sophias or Tremolines) or rewiring pickups, I do pretty well. Any corrections or comments are appreciated. I also appreciated the help on cleaning frets and the fretboard. Are toothbrushes also acceptable for light cleaning? I have always heard of the mild steel wool trick but fear scratching the fretboard with wool and staining it with citrus oil. Thanks.
I use a 3500 grit polishing pad made for an orbital polisher. Cut a little piece off it and use it to buff the frets. Turns them bright and clean very quickly, but doesn't take a lot off the fret metal. Been doing it for a few years and it works great.
I haven't used this product but Lizard Spit string polish is a good product to extend the life of strings and cleaning rust off metal components. I am partial to their guitar polish.
+1 the Steel Wool fans just surprise me how they persist in every forum. Even if steel wool is super cheap, it's such a huge risk around guitars, just use automotive fine grade sandpaper like 1000+ grit.
So true, i bought a sigma acustic, solid top, who know what laminate back n sides on a 60% off sale for 80 bucks. Very surprised it was playable, but after I leveled and crowned the frets, dressed the fret ends, and replaced the nut (properly cut) and saddle sanded to my prefered action height the guitar plays really well. I know not everyone is going to level amd crown frets but just the end dressing and getting the nut slots right with the saddle hight right would be 90% there. I like low action (for an acoustic) so having level frets is a must. Now i have a knocl around guitar that plays well. If it gets scuff, or my 5yr messes it up its no loss!
What you should do with a budget guitar (without hardware upgrades and without a string setup): You don’t need a guitar polishing set; you need fine steel wool and a fret cover. Why don’t you use one? Do you even know what that polishing compound does to the wood? Oiling the fretboard: Purely cosmetic if you use junk like lemon oil. It’s not necessary at all because it won’t prevent wear or the typical indentations from playing. Fretboards can last for centuries (indoors). In terms of tone, the best thing is actually a dry fretboard. Fret ends: No filing without taping the wood! For small corrections, drugstore nail files are much better. You can grip them at the tip and have much more control. You should definitely unscrew the neck pocket and check if there are wood chips and drill dust inside. Most budget guitars aren’t cleaned properly in this area. That debris affects the neck alignment. Also, check whether the neck is properly seated sideways-meaning, if the string spacing to the fretboard edges is correct. The bass strings should have slightly more spacing than the treble strings. Then, tighten all screws, check if the bridge sits flat, test if the nut slots have the right depth (third fret paper test), adjust pickup heights, improve shielding-so much more…
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Cleaning and dressing frets is important, but some of my cheapest guitars have had the best fret work out of the box. My Indonesian-made Affinity Squier had a way better fret job than my Mexican Fender. All that to say, you don't always get what you pay for, and sometimes you actually get more.
Maybe the employee at the factory was in a good mood and married a beautiful lady
@@ramencurry6672 Indonesia baik!
I use the Lizard Spit polishing pads on my frets at every string change. Having smooth frets is a must for playability.
those things are great, ive had a bag of 20 of them for like 3 years, love them. worth the 12$ or whatever they are
Touching up sharp fret ends is a one-time event if you do it in the driest time of the year for your location. The inexpensive Harbor Freight "rat tail file set" for $3ish is improved if you grind+polish your own "safety edges" into them, by hand with a knife sharpening stone plus high grit sandpaper to polish.
Or don’t waste the time and buy the right tool and have a lifetime replacement warranty
Looks like a nice bass for the money. I don't think PJs get enough love. They are my favorite four string bass pickup type for a warm tone that still has lots of attack.
Some issues I've noticed with fairly cheap guitars (around $200-400 USD):
1) Nut slotting. I have had guitars with plastic nuts that buzz on open strings because the nuts are slotted incorrectly. I bought a late 00s Chinese made set neck tune-o-matic Hamer Scarab XT guitar that did this once I moved from 9s to 10s and tuned to E standard. Once I had the nut replaced, I put a Gibson 57 Classic Plus in the neck and a Gibson 498t in the bridge with push/pull coil split and ended up with one of my favorite non-Floyded guitars for rhythm tracking. It was one of the last mass produced Hamers before Fender bought Hamer and mostly ended the company. I find the XT line to be a great value if one knows how to do setups and electronics.
2) Truss rod issues. I have noticed cheaper, older instruments from the late 70s/early 80s can have truss rod issues. I have had lawsuit era P bass copies that have dead frets and concave neck profiles even when the truss rod is fully adjusted. The bass is playable but the action remains high. The higher action helps the tone somewhat but also requires more hand strength to play. It is a pity because the neck and fretboard are a beautiful maple butterscotch colored vintage stain.
3) Unless I am mistaken, Squires and Mexican Fenders often require Jazz pickups that are identical widths, whereas higher end versions have a narrower neck pickup and a wider bridge pickup. Going with a Squire or cheaper Fender can force the player to purchase two neck pickups, which means the bridge pickup voicing position may not be as the pickup designer intended when winding a set of J pickups with complimentary sounds.
I have heard of brighter neck pickups and darker bridge pickups to *offset* the natural tone difference in those positions. I have also heard of warmer neck pickups and brighter bridge pickups to *accentuate* the tone of those positions. I think it is a case by case basis.
The main thing to take away is if you are retrofitting a Squire Jazz bass a standard Jazz bass pickup set may not be a perfect fit and you made need J single coils of identical width.
4) For rosewood fretboards at least, I have always heard citrus oil of some kind is used to clean fretboards, but I wasn't sure about something that would condition them without leaving an oily residue. I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable trying citrus on maple or ebony.
5) As far as the nickel vs. stainless steel frets argument, I know stainless is popular now due to greater durability and smooth feel, but it is my understanding that stainless is also more expensive and difficult to fix than nickel.
Just about all my guitars/basses are 90s/00s MIJ Jacksons, Charvels, BC Riches, ESP/LTDs, Kramers, and other 80s style rock and metal guitars. The fretboards are pretty furry/dirty, but even my guitars from 94-96 don't really need a refret despite having nickel frets. Then again, they often shipped with medium to jumbo frets. I also have between 50-60 guitars and basses (cheaper to mid tier used ones that I upgrade the pickups and hardware on), so no one guitar gets enough playing time to wear down the frets.
Anything wood, nut, fretwire, or paint-related (especially polyurethane paint that is easy to chip on points and difficult to fix with drop fills) I take to a luthier. If it's replacing a Floyd (I know the ins and outs of those--Schallers, OFRs, Gotohs, even newer ones like Sophias or Tremolines) or rewiring pickups, I do pretty well.
Any corrections or comments are appreciated. I also appreciated the help on cleaning frets and the fretboard.
Are toothbrushes also acceptable for light cleaning? I have always heard of the mild steel wool trick but fear scratching the fretboard with wool and staining it with citrus oil.
Thanks.
I use a 3500 grit polishing pad made for an orbital polisher. Cut a little piece off it and use it to buff the frets. Turns them bright and clean very quickly, but doesn't take a lot off the fret metal. Been doing it for a few years and it works great.
All those products are good. I just use a paper towel and use Music Nomad brand fret cream and buff it hard
I'm just happy you're doing something on a bass
He’s been doing it for years though
I haven't used this product but Lizard Spit string polish is a good product to extend the life of strings and cleaning rust off metal components.
I am partial to their guitar polish.
+1 the Steel Wool fans just surprise me how they persist in every forum. Even if steel wool is super cheap, it's such a huge risk around guitars, just use automotive fine grade sandpaper like 1000+ grit.
So true, i bought a sigma acustic, solid top, who know what laminate back n sides on a 60% off sale for 80 bucks.
Very surprised it was playable, but after I leveled and crowned the frets, dressed the fret ends, and replaced the nut (properly cut) and saddle sanded to my prefered action height the guitar plays really well.
I know not everyone is going to level amd crown frets but just the end dressing and getting the nut slots right with the saddle hight right would be 90% there.
I like low action (for an acoustic) so having level frets is a must.
Now i have a knocl around guitar that plays well. If it gets scuff, or my 5yr messes it up its no loss!
Thanks, very helpful and the heads-up about not using steel wool.
What you should do with a budget guitar (without hardware upgrades and without a string setup):
You don’t need a guitar polishing set; you need fine steel wool and a fret cover. Why don’t you use one? Do you even know what that polishing compound does to the wood?
Oiling the fretboard: Purely cosmetic if you use junk like lemon oil. It’s not necessary at all because it won’t prevent wear or the typical indentations from playing. Fretboards can last for centuries (indoors). In terms of tone, the best thing is actually a dry fretboard.
Fret ends: No filing without taping the wood! For small corrections, drugstore nail files are much better. You can grip them at the tip and have much more control.
You should definitely unscrew the neck pocket and check if there are wood chips and drill dust inside. Most budget guitars aren’t cleaned properly in this area. That debris affects the neck alignment. Also, check whether the neck is properly seated sideways-meaning, if the string spacing to the fretboard edges is correct. The bass strings should have slightly more spacing than the treble strings.
Then, tighten all screws, check if the bridge sits flat, test if the nut slots have the right depth (third fret paper test), adjust pickup heights, improve shielding-so much more…
Yeah I do everything wrong. That’s how I get through life.
I missed the live but love these.
Cheap Guitars 🎸 🎸🎸?? #1 Put in some Dylan Talk Tones Pickup's!! Thanks For Sharing 🧠🎸🎶✌️
I think you forgot to change the crappiest part of this bass: The tuners .
I didn’t. The tuners work fine.
@@DylanTalksTone Thank you for your excellent information. Quality does not always have to be constant in this type of affordable instrument.
The tuners appear to be fine. I own a Squire bass and the tuners seem good. If I have any future issues I’d probably install Gotoh tuners
Tone Puppeh!
Did you notice if the Lizard Spit had any grit in it or was it just a special chemical?
doggo love the bass ,haha
👍🏼👍🏼 although I’m not a huge fan of Lizard Spit, I feel it’s too diluted or watered down to do any good
Maybe you can start your own line of product and call it Frog Saliva.
@ how bout “Guitar Semen”?
I always tell people my grandfather was in the Navy so I got a little seamen in my genes