Just a little quirk with the fret rocker: Usually with guitars we only care about high frets, and if a fret is actually low, we just call the ones around it high, so when spot checking and repairing frets it's good to keep that in mind if someone is new to this. If someone has to "spot" repair the frets in every register of the neck, it probably needs a full levelling and spot repairing most likely won't make it perfect. That strat was a great example of where spot levelling works well. Only a few spots around the edges with minimal work needed. It's also good to check if the fret is seated properly before doing any levelling, because sometimes a fret it just a little but out of the slot and that's all the problem is. I love how this video seems to give a lot more people confidence to work on their guitars. It's a whole lot of fun!
I'm not one inclined to comment on posts, but this video is fantastic. I've been dealing with a few bad frets; needlessly to say, I followed Dylan's instructions to the letter and now my Warlock, my youth, will make its way through one of Kirk's solos without fretting out. Thank you for your video. Wow. Super grateful.
It would have been interesting to see if you could have just tapped those high frets in with a fret Hammer. I've had the same thing and just a few light whacks and it was fine. Nice video.
This was the exact advice I needed! I have a newer Fender Pro and I've been fine tuning it but the G string was sounding very tinny and lack luster. So, it seems like its fretting out the sound from the higher frets. Guess the preliminary work I've been doing has come to crossroads here... I just needed the knowledge … Thanks for posting!
I need to do a polish job, fret end filing and probably a fret level check on my new Epiphone Explorer. Neck and frets seem pretty level now, but I haven't put my preferred gauge strings on yet, which is going to increase the relief. Upper frets sound like sandpaper on bends.
I JUST posted a video on my FB page (Indio by Monoprice but really any electric guitars) about this yesterday! I also posted yours today....it's good to be backed up by a pro.
I just found out about a great tool from strewmac for this very thing, its called the fret kisser. It's basically a thick fret rocker with diamond abrasive on just the middle of every side, for leveling single frets without touching any of the other frets. I'm definitely gonna grab one asap
@@popsfereal Yeah but where else you gonna get a tool that does what it does. It levels single frets without leveling the ones around it. I look at it as an investment that will pay for its self very quickly. It cost about as but as getting fret work done once at a shop...
@@popsfereal That's the point I'm trying to make, except you still have to invest in the proper tools to do it yourself. Sandpaper or micro mess and tape are always going to be a cost to. I know, because I do my own work and I've spent about $2000 on tools. I've also grabbed the $20 tool instead of the $120 tool and sometimes found the $20 tool useless. Like the bumpy fret rock I cheaped out on, or the not straight notched straight edge I got, or the cheaper nut files that were unusable or the metal fretboard protectors that go around the frets that scratched the hell out on my fretboard... Sometime you just gotta get the Stewmac tool. But I will always try and find it at Philidalphia Luthier Supplies first, way better deals and shippings only a few bucks and over $50 free shipping
Spot on Dylan, as Dave's World of Fun Stuff says "their are no rules only guidelines" before i tried to do any work on my Mexican Strat and Jem Jr i bought a £70 Harley Benton Strat and practiced on that, i almost have it playing just as good as both of them so now i have the Confidence and no fear of working on any Guitar
I have a question for you, since you make your own pickups. What if you made a pickup with powerful rare earth magnets? Would that pickup even work? If so, what kind of characteristics might it have?
Very helpful vid but since I rarely do this job, hypothetically only once, instead of buying a notched straight edge, can't I use the guitar string? Can't I make my own sand block? Do I really need to spend $113 for a crowning to?
I have a couple cheapo guitars, one is a squire mini, the frets on the mini are so high it bends the string off key simply by pushing it harder or less, its bending over the fret to that point, is there any fixing it? Prob not worth the time. They were both super cheap so maybe I'll just sell them.
Do you recheck with the rocker after you’re finished crowning? I’m working on one now where I found a few tiny high spots after crowning so I’m going back and doing touch up now.
Before I finish watching this, it occurred to me: who and when first installed truss-rods in guitars? Did Lutes have them? And, as I completely rebuild one of my guitars thanks to you, I wonder if the straight-neck checker that has divots for the frets could be used to give a final check of fret-evenness by placing the part that would normally rest on the fret-board on the frets instead. With a straight neck and even fret-height there should be contact on all points, all frets.
Great video! Any tips for that last fret? Can't rock it how can you get a good reading? BTW that last fret is an issue for lots of guitars for some reason.
I saw a video on checking the 1st & last fret. You make sure the frets before the last fret are level. Then you place the fret rocker or straight edge flat on a couple of the frets before that last one. Then slowly slide the rocker towards the last fret keeping flat contact with those couple of lower frets. If the fret rocker hits that last fret & stops. Or has to go up to go over the last fret. It is high by that amount. If it goes over without even touching the last fret. That fret is low. Ideally you want it just level as it slides over the last fret. This also works for the 1st fret too. You might also look into filing a slope from about the 12th fret to the highest fret by putting a few layers of p as inters tape on top of the 12th fret. Then you mark with a sharpie all the frets above that. Then you sand just those frets. By resting the naked part of the sanding block on the taped fret, it creates an angle so that the highest fret will be the lowest when the sharpie marks are gone from the 13th fret. It creates a gradual slope on those frets which allows you to have lower action without fretting out on bends & just in general. There's a bunch of videos on here about doing it. Hope that helps. - JvM
And sometimes it will never be perfectly flat with the notched level.....the fingerboard maybe unlevel. Get it as close as you can and level the frets or pull the frets and level the fingerboard. I have numerous guitars that don't have a real level fingerboard but play reasonably well. (Not a super low action) Most of the time the real buzz problems come from a fingerboard that turns up at the end when it's strung up. You may be able to slope the last ten frets but better off pulling all the frets and sloping the fingerboard from about the 12th fret to the end....about a .015 slope to the end. If your guitar has a big slope up at the end of the neck you probably won't be able to get a real good action no matter what you do.....it may be acceptable but usually higher them normal. Check the slope at the end of neck first before you waste your time.
In that case you hope you have a bolt on neck and can put a small shim in there. Everyone is afraid to shim their necks but it can turn a horrible neck perfect.
@@somethingbl A shim doesn't always solve a turned up neck. I've got a couple that are shimmed and the ski slope is still there at the end....it helps some but doesn't clear it up completely especially with a bad turn up.. Using a sloped sanding beam clears it up. 5 or so pieces of masking tape at the 7th fret (frets pulled)....it raises the beam at the seventh fret and cause the neck to slope down as it moves towards the end of the neck. You really need about .015 at the end of neck...between the straight edge and the wood.
my 2 Cents....I like to Sharpie my Frets before I crown them too...that way I can see what I've done. FYI: Rubbing Alcohol removes Sharpie Ink...in case you get it on the Neck.... or your Face
I've done this job, I guess you have done it many times. AND I TELL YOU, YOU'VE DONE IT WRONG!!! Because I've watched so many videos about this job, so I MUST know better than you!! Edit: Bogus! I've never done this job! I forgot the most important word!
Don't call it a how to-video if you're not committed to show all steps. Of course people are going to get upset, and you just say you don't really care? That is so arrogant. When people call you out on it you just say you don't want to do the work? Stop pretending you're an expert dude.
Just a little quirk with the fret rocker: Usually with guitars we only care about high frets, and if a fret is actually low, we just call the ones around it high, so when spot checking and repairing frets it's good to keep that in mind if someone is new to this. If someone has to "spot" repair the frets in every register of the neck, it probably needs a full levelling and spot repairing most likely won't make it perfect. That strat was a great example of where spot levelling works well. Only a few spots around the edges with minimal work needed. It's also good to check if the fret is seated properly before doing any levelling, because sometimes a fret it just a little but out of the slot and that's all the problem is.
I love how this video seems to give a lot more people confidence to work on their guitars. It's a whole lot of fun!
I'm not one inclined to comment on posts, but this video is fantastic. I've been dealing with a few bad frets; needlessly to say, I followed Dylan's instructions to the letter and now my Warlock, my youth, will make its way through one of Kirk's solos without fretting out. Thank you for your video. Wow. Super grateful.
I like Dylan because he doesn't take any crap from the know-it-alls.
I generally avoid interacting with a lot of guitar players. A percentage of them are undesirable people
Perfect video for what I needed. I’ve got 1 fret the 10th that’s a little high and chokes out with the action set where I like it @ 4/64.
It would have been interesting to see if you could have just tapped those high frets in with a fret Hammer. I've had the same thing and just a few light whacks and it was fine. Nice video.
Yes. Using a little tack hammer and piece of soft pine (to protect the fret) works wonders on a slightly high fret
I think using a fret hammer first to set the frets back in the neck before any type of sanding is done should be the first step.
Good tip; thanks !
This was the exact advice I needed! I have a newer Fender Pro and I've been fine tuning it but the G string was sounding very tinny and lack luster. So, it seems like its fretting out the sound from the higher frets. Guess the preliminary work I've been doing has come to crossroads here... I just needed the knowledge … Thanks for posting!
I need to do a polish job, fret end filing and probably a fret level check on my new Epiphone Explorer. Neck and frets seem pretty level now, but I haven't put my preferred gauge strings on yet, which is going to increase the relief. Upper frets sound like sandpaper on bends.
I JUST posted a video on my FB page (Indio by Monoprice but really any electric guitars) about this yesterday! I also posted yours today....it's good to be backed up by a pro.
I just found out about a great tool from strewmac for this very thing, its called the fret kisser. It's basically a thick fret rocker with diamond abrasive on just the middle of every side, for leveling single frets without touching any of the other frets. I'm definitely gonna grab one asap
and cost a fortune.
@@popsfereal Yeah but where else you gonna get a tool that does what it does. It levels single frets without leveling the ones around it. I look at it as an investment that will pay for its self very quickly. It cost about as but as getting fret work done once at a shop...
@@justinpaquette224 If you learn to do it yourself, it doesn't cost anything.
@@popsfereal That's the point I'm trying to make, except you still have to invest in the proper tools to do it yourself. Sandpaper or micro mess and tape are always going to be a cost to. I know, because I do my own work and I've spent about $2000 on tools. I've also grabbed the $20 tool instead of the $120 tool and sometimes found the $20 tool useless. Like the bumpy fret rock I cheaped out on, or the not straight notched straight edge I got, or the cheaper nut files that were unusable or the metal fretboard protectors that go around the frets that scratched the hell out on my fretboard... Sometime you just gotta get the Stewmac tool. But I will always try and find it at Philidalphia Luthier Supplies first, way better deals and shippings only a few bucks and over $50 free shipping
.
My dot has a high 17th fret. This helps me get psyched up to fix it. Thanks!
Awesome! I'm doing a fret level and crown today as well. Iced in so not much else to do today.
Thanks Dylan !
Spot on Dylan, as Dave's World of Fun Stuff says "their are no rules only guidelines" before i tried to do any work on my Mexican Strat and Jem Jr i bought a £70 Harley Benton Strat and practiced on that, i almost have it playing just as good as both of them so now i have the Confidence and no fear of working on any Guitar
Awesome vid, gave me the confidence to fix one of my guitars.
Thanks, that was cool. Straight forward, clear and precise. Loved it!
Thanks for making this video Dylan. This is what I need.
This was a fantastic video, Thanks Dylan!
Great explanation.. Easy to follow. Thank you
The fret kisser from Stew Mac works wonders for spot leveling.
Super expensive and you still need to crown/polish.
@@somethingbl yes, but it comes in handy.
Luckily I got stash of junk guitars
Thanks for this video. It looks much easier than my attempts at complete refret and crowning
I use a 3 corner jewel file when I spot check my frets. Good video though 🎶🎸😎
Is it possible to reseat a lifted fret with just a brass hammer?
Or is super glue also required?
Great tips! Thanks.
I have a question for you, since you make your own pickups. What if you made a pickup with powerful rare earth magnets? Would that pickup even work? If so, what kind of characteristics might it have?
Should I worry about the shavings getting into the pickups? Thanks!
since a pickup is a magnet, id say yes. just tape them with painters tape if you are that worried
Very helpful vid but since I rarely do this job, hypothetically only once, instead of buying a notched straight edge, can't I use the guitar string? Can't I make my own sand block? Do I really need to spend $113 for a crowning to?
You might mention that high spots can be popped-up frets, and needs to be fixed first.
Excellent and useful video!👌
How do you round sharp fret ends?
The. Idea before this
I have a couple cheapo guitars, one is a squire mini, the frets on the mini are so high it bends the string off key simply by pushing it harder or less, its bending over the fret to that point, is there any fixing it? Prob not worth the time. They were both super cheap so maybe I'll just sell them.
Dylan, how do I get 24 inch scale neck flat?
Nice job!
Do you recheck with the rocker after you’re finished crowning? I’m working on one now where I found a few tiny high spots after crowning so I’m going back and doing touch up now.
Before I finish watching this, it occurred to me: who and when first installed truss-rods in guitars? Did Lutes have them? And, as I completely rebuild one of my guitars thanks to you, I wonder if the straight-neck checker that has divots for the frets could be used to give a final check of fret-evenness by placing the part that would normally rest on the fret-board on the frets instead. With a straight neck and even fret-height there should be contact on all points, all frets.
Great video! Any tips for that last fret? Can't rock it how can you get a good reading? BTW that last fret is an issue for lots of guitars for some reason.
I saw a video on checking the 1st & last fret. You make sure the frets before the last fret are level. Then you place the fret rocker or straight edge flat on a couple of the frets before that last one. Then slowly slide the rocker towards the last fret keeping flat contact with those couple of lower frets. If the fret rocker hits that last fret & stops. Or has to go up to go over the last fret. It is high by that amount. If it goes over without even touching the last fret. That fret is low. Ideally you want it just level as it slides over the last fret. This also works for the 1st fret too. You might also look into filing a slope from about the 12th fret to the highest fret by putting a few layers of p as inters tape on top of the 12th fret. Then you mark with a sharpie all the frets above that. Then you sand just those frets. By resting the naked part of the sanding block on the taped fret, it creates an angle so that the highest fret will be the lowest when the sharpie marks are gone from the 13th fret. It creates a gradual slope on those frets which allows you to have lower action without fretting out on bends & just in general. There's a bunch of videos on here about doing it. Hope that helps. - JvM
Really cool man, thank you ; )
Can you explain how to bias an npn transistor for a boost circuit?
With a resistor...
Good one! Thanks! :)
I bought a new Martin guitar... I changed the same gauge strings... now the high E, frets 12 to 15 will not ring out, what gives?
That crowning file is no longer available. Is there another one you like?
Can i use just crowning file to fix only a few high spots?
I also saw some people are using just brass hammer.
And sometimes it will never be perfectly flat with the notched level.....the fingerboard maybe unlevel. Get it as close as you can and level the frets or pull the frets and level the fingerboard. I have numerous guitars that don't have a real level fingerboard but play reasonably well. (Not a super low action)
Most of the time the real buzz problems come from a fingerboard that turns up at the end when it's strung up. You may be able to slope the last ten frets but better off pulling all the frets and sloping the fingerboard from about the 12th fret to the end....about a .015 slope to the end. If your guitar has a big slope up at the end of the neck you probably won't be able to get a real good action no matter what you do.....it may be acceptable but usually higher them normal. Check the slope at the end of neck first before you waste your time.
In that case you hope you have a bolt on neck and can put a small shim in there. Everyone is afraid to shim their necks but it can turn a horrible neck perfect.
@@somethingbl A shim doesn't always solve a turned up neck. I've got a couple that are shimmed and the ski slope is still there at the end....it helps some but doesn't clear it up completely especially with a bad turn up.. Using a sloped sanding beam clears it up. 5 or so pieces of masking tape at the 7th fret (frets pulled)....it raises the beam at the seventh fret and cause the neck to slope down as it moves towards the end of the neck. You really need about .015 at the end of neck...between the straight edge and the wood.
All my frets are high,,when playing a chord it puts it out of tune
Why didn’t you try hammering the frets first. You can’t undo a sanding.
my 2 Cents....I like to Sharpie my Frets before I crown them too...that way I can see what I've done.
FYI: Rubbing Alcohol removes Sharpie Ink...in case you get it on the Neck.... or your Face
I have no tools
I *am* the tool.
Improvise my friend
@@markpresquito7902 I spent too much on frets to improvise I need to go buy some tools
If it plays fine after the work WHO CARES???? it playing well is the idea
I've done this job, I guess you have done it many times.
AND I TELL YOU, YOU'VE DONE IT WRONG!!! Because I've watched so many videos about this job, so I MUST know better than you!!
Edit:
Bogus! I've never done this job! I forgot the most important word!
Lol , I use a sharpie on the high spot, nail file the ink off, recheck, rinse, repeat. Nice n slow
Don't call it a how to-video if you're not committed to show all steps. Of course people are going to get upset, and you just say you don't really care? That is so arrogant. When people call you out on it you just say you don't want to do the work? Stop pretending you're an expert dude.