Leveling frets

[Michael Tulloch]

I've just built my first acoustic guitar, and due to some fret buzz....I need to go back and do a better job of leveling the frets. Does the neck need to be flat (no relief) to do this properly....or can one do this with a slight relief in the neck?

[Ronnie Nichols]

The little triangular fret spanner that Frank Ford mentions is a great little tool for finding high frets. (I think Stewart Macdonald sells them and maybe LMI too). I made my own. I suppose you could use different lengths of any straight edge as long as it is the proper length to cover 3 frets. When this tool is used it covers 3 frets and if it doesn't rock, you're ok. You might want to read some of the stuff Frets.com says about this matter. Applying some CA glue can help stabilize frets that aren't firmly seated.
Ronnie Nichols

[Michael Tulloch]

Thanks Ronnie...I'm deep in the frets.com site. And I plan to get the fret spanner tool from stew.mac This all makes alot of sense to me. It's the theory surroundiing a procedure I want to grasp first....rather than a source saying "do this". That's why God made Frank. .

Thank you all!

Michael

[Karl Dahlman]

I have used my own fret rocker by using a 3 inch machinists square, It has a edge that works great for the first 4 or 5 frets spanning just three to find the high fret by the "rocking" motion over the culprit fret. As I move down the fretboard and the edge gets too long and starts to cover 4 frets I turn the square to the "base" ? side and it works for the rest of the frets that can be normally accessed on an acoustic guitar. If it has a deep cutaway or is an electric then the base gets a bit long for the spacing above 15th or 16th frets. I am not sure that the tool that Stewmac sells gets those tight ones. But at Menards the tool is a great stocking stuffer suggestion! Not a great tool for a square though. Mine is 3 yrs old and is about 2 degrees off. So it is my permanent high fret finder and no longer a square! Good luck.

[FRANK]

take a trip down to your window shop buy a 1/4 inch piece of glass 3m77 supper grip spray double stick 220 sand paper to one side and 320 to the other sand frets till all are the same height take a marker mark each fret with a black marker when you sand the frets down by marking the top of the frets you will see a witness line emerging make each fret top even then re crown the fret and polish out CHEERS check out Frank Ford if you can find him doing it and follow this procedure step by step and you will have great results

[FRANK]

sorry a piece of glass 1/4 inch thick and 3 inches wide 11 inches long 3 m supper 77 adhesive spray plus sand paper