Katana Fret Leveling System - Anyone tried one of these?

[Andy_D]

Has anyone tried one of these? If so how do the result stack up against a traditional level or even against a PLEK? I must say it looks interesting.

http://rectifymaster.com/index.php?o...d=84&Itemid=98

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Does look interesting indeed.

I haven't used one.

As an engineer, the relatively easy DIYability makes it a moderate seller at best.

I didn't look through all the videos, but as far as I could see, crowning still has to be performed with the strings off, so unless the neck doesn't curve linearily with strings on, a "regular" fret levelling/crowning jig is still the better alternative. IMHO anyway.

Regards
Sam

[Andy_D]

From what I can gather the logic they are using is that your necks natural state is to have a little bit of relief and since all necks may not bend uniformly throughout their length their system is designed to make up for those anomalies. Sounds like solid reasoning. I'm not sure how it works in practice but they have at least 2 high profile luthiers as Endorsers. I'm looking at investing in some tools to do my own leveling and with 10 basses right now even being a little pricey works as good as they claim it could pay for itself after 2 or 3 jobs. Let's see if anyone else weighs in.

[JLS]

This is based on work done by Rick Turner and Bishop Cochran, who both came up with the idea of leveling frets with the strings on; Katana has taken this concept & run with it. I use this system as well, but with aluminum U-channel & PSA sandpaper, and can speak to the excellent playability this produces.

I just don't get Katana's Adjusta-Warp leveler, though. When I can get a neck to flatten out completely with the trussrod, I start with a long tool, to get the frets into the same plane; if the neck does not come to straight, that's what I deal with, on that neck, and use a shorter tool, one that will cover the plane of the first three frets.

The basic idea behind this method, is that you're dealing with the instrument dynamically, in the real world, rather than a, "virtual", one, when it's jigged up from behind. Don Teeter's method of checking neck relief with a dial indicator and a straightedge deserves mention here, as well.

[JLS]

necktool.

[cybersnyder]

Never tried it, but it looks interesting. Thanks for the link!