Fret Leveling Question

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by murrmac123

I have seen this whole "press the fret ends down and wick superglue in " so many times and have refrained from commenting ... but the fact is that if the fret ends are lifting, then the fret wasn't properly radiused in the first place .

That is one possible cause, yes, and one possible solution.

Like Steve, I've found that fret ends that I've glued down have stayed down for the life for the frets. Removing glued-in frets, when needed, isn't a problem.

[redir]

I like the fret rocker myself but you are right, if you get one that is high for example then you cannot accurately measure the one after it, at that spot. But it's usually not a problem. I've found that gluing fret ends down works well enough too but what I will do is use the fret rocker, or some straight edge that will go across 3 frets, to hold the bad fret down. Use the straight edge so that the bad fret is in the middle as you press hard down on the two good frets for and aft. That way the fret will be the exact same height.

[ChrisN]

Originally Posted by redir

I like the fret rocker myself but you are right, if you get one that is high for example then you cannot accurately measure the one after it, at that spot. But it's usually not a problem. I've found that gluing fret ends down works well enough too but what I will do is use the fret rocker, or some straight edge that will go across 3 frets, to hold the bad fret down. Use the straight edge so that the bad fret is in the middle as you press hard down on the two good frets for and aft. That way the fret will be the exact same height.

Ahhhh - I thought I might be losing my grip. Good info.

[ChrisN]

Originally Posted by mirwa

Like most things in the guitar world, do not overthink it.

Remove strings and carry out fret level to remove any worn divots / humps etc.

String guitar up and carry out setup, note shape of fretboard and neck will now change, the amount is dependant on the thickness of the neck, the gauge of the strings,whether it was flat sawn to quarter sawn, whether its mahogany or maple, the size of the truss rod, frets being compression fitted or not, these all contribute to how a neck changes its shape and geometry under tension.

Test play, any noted buzzes, check those areas with a fret rocker, identify the high spots that are causing the issue, de-string and lower those areas only

As far as not gluing frets down, these are comments I see from people who do not know, gluing frets down is perfectly fine and will last the lifetime of the guitar or until it needs refretting again

Steve

I do tend to overthink this stuff, but that "quality" really came in handy on that Conn neck reset with the weird sliding mortise/tenon joint. I agonized for months, sought tons of input, took it slowly, tested often, and it came out perfectly. I'll try to dial it back a bit for the fret work, but I'm more than a little paranoid about ruining one or more frets, which would drive me to a pro to replace. Thanks for that tutorial!