My little fret dressing adventure

[Bardolph]

I just recently got my SX PJ with some plans for modding and tweaking, and first on my list was to get a complete fret leveling. With some truss rod and bridge adjustment it played fairly well, but had lots of buzzing in the higher frets and one of the lower frets was actually visually higher than the others if you turned the neck sideways and looked closely. So I knew a fret job would make a pretty noticable difference. With my other two basses I've had my dad do the leveling, seeing as he is a music store owner and does all the guitar repairs and has done hundreds of fret dresses. This time with the SX I wanted to try it myself. I've seen the way he does it, so I got the leveling equipment from him and went to work. The tools:

A file similar to these, except with a diamond dust filing surface on one side, so no abrasive to attach.




Two fret crowning files, one finer than the other.



The procedure:
- Took of the strings and removed the neck.
- Got the nut off by scraping the seams with an X-acto knife and pushing it to the side
- Adjusted the neck so it was completely flat. Went and ate supper to make sure I gave it some time to set in
- Used a towel and some boards to give the length of the neck a flat surface to rest on so it wouldn't bow when pressed on
- Colored the frets with a red sharpie
- Rubbed the long file up and down the neck, moving gradually from side to side, until the areas of red and no red showed which frets were high
- Any frets that had been hit (had any red missing) were colored with a black sharpie
- Used the more coarse crowning file on those frets until the black had just barely disappeared
- Colored the filed frets red again
- Repeated the process of using the flat file followed by the crowning file until the disappearing red showed all frets being equally hit by the file (the 3rd pass in my case, but varies depending on how bad the frets are to begin with)
- Used the finer crowning file after the last pass with the flat file
- Gave the fret edges a little rounding with the crowning file
- Used some fine sand paper (not sure what grit) to smooth out the fret surfaces
- Glued the nut back (just used elmers, I don't want it in place with a death grip in case I need to remove it again), strung it up with some D'Addarios, set my relief and bridge height

And bam, she plays like butter. I can get stupid low action without any buzz. It's a bit of a lengthy process, but definitely worth it in my opinion. And if you do it slow and know what you're doing it's not terribly hard. If you're going to be having multiple basses that you want to have killer playability, I think it's worth the investment to get a few tools and just go for it. If you have even two basses that you want leveled you're already saving money.

Also, as a little side note, something that can make a big difference in playability is the nut. On almost every new bass or guitar, even the higher end ones, the height of the strings at the nut is higher than it has to be. Basically I don't even see height at the nut even being a thing of preference like high/low action is. If the nut is high it's hard to fret notes, if it's low it's easier to fret notes. As long as it's not so low that the string is hitting the first few frets, the nut action will not cause/prevent any buzz up and down the neck like relief and bridge height will, so the nut might as well be as low as it can be to make it easier for your left hand, especially on the lower frets. If all the strings are pretty high at the nut you can just take the whole nut off and sand it down little by little, setting the nut back into place to test it and gluing it when you get it where you like it. And for individual adjustment you can take a skinny metal file and file inside the slots, making sure not to widen them or use a file that will leave them rough.

So there's my story/tutorial-ish thing. As of now I have a $120 bass that plays better than some $1000+ basses. I definitely wouldn't own a bass that didn't go through this same procedure, cause even brand new instruments are gonna have uneven frets and unnecessarily high nuts. So who else here plays doctor with their basses?

[62bass]

Good for you man. You did it the right way and got results. I use similar tools and method. It's become simple after doing it for years. I routinely do a better job than most of the guys in the music stores around here. One reason is it's my instrument and I have a personal interest in doing it right. Also, I see my students basses that have been supposedly set up by the local music stores and they all still need work. It seems like most places don't really care.

When word gets around after you do a couple instruments for friends, you're going to become very popular.

[pkr2]

I love a story with a good ending!

Your experience with your SX is exactly the same as mine; poorly drssed FB and a nut that didn't even come close to fitting. I didn't go the full dress route (although I should have), opting to just spot dress a couple or three frets and fit the nut. My results were the same as yours. A great playing bass. The ultra cheap SX is now my main bass simply because it's FUN to play.

I wish I could come up with a good reason to order another one but my living room is starting to look like a pawn shop.

Someone should, and could, start a business of buying SX basses, setting them up to perfection, performing mods when requested and reselling them.

[vindy500]

Originally Posted by Bardolph

im having trouble finding this tool...

[ldervish]

- Adjusted the neck so it was completely flat. Went and ate supper to make sure I gave it some time to set in

Question: If you set a level on the fretboard when removing the relief, it would be resting on "unlevel" frets. While this might be ok for a rough guide, is it good enough to then proceed with the dressing operation or not? If not, how could you tell the neck was flat BEFORE you started dressing the frets? By sight?

[62bass]

Originally Posted by vindy500

im having trouble finding this tool...

Try the Stewat McDonald website. They have pretty near everything.

[Bardolph]

Originally Posted by ldervish

Question: If you set a level on the fretboard when removing the relief, it would be resting on "unlevel" frets. While this might be ok for a rough guide, is it good enough to then proceed with the dressing operation or not? If not, how could you tell the neck was flat BEFORE you started dressing the frets? By sight?

Now that, my friend, is the question. If the frets are not level it's hard to judge when it's flat. The neck itself could be perfectly flat and a few high frets would make the straight edge rock back and forth, which is what was happening. In that case I just had to kind of see the average space between the frets and the straight edge across the board by sliding pieces of paper inbetween and trying to make a good judgment from there. Also, I hold the neck up to my eye and look from the heel down to the headstock and it's fairly easy to tell if it's bowing that way. The inaccuracy caused by high frets is one of the reasons to use multiple passes with the file rather than just grind away until you hit all the frets. The first time with the file just hit the few high frets. After that it's a little easier to tell how flat the neck is, and if you find that you still need to adjust the rod a bit, you haven't taken so much off that you've screwed yourself.

Now this does make me wonder about the physics of the whole thing. Just hypothetically, if you leveled the frets on a neck with backward bow and then made the neck itself perfectly flat, would the frets form the same shape arc as if you leveled the frets on a perfectly flat neck and then put some forward bow in the neck? Sounds like an icky combination of math and statics.

[Bardolph]

Originally Posted by vindy500

im having trouble finding this tool...

Those are from stewmac.
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting.../Leveling.html

I just used it for a reference picture cause it was the closest looking thing I could find. That wasn't the exact file I used, the one I used already had a rough side on it, whereas the ones on stewmac are just smooth metal and you attach an abrasive. I think they do have metal files too though.

[PaleMelanesian]

Stew Mac sells straightedges with notches in them, to fit over the frets. With those, you're measuring the wood, not the frets themselves. Of course, you'd have to have one to match your scale length...

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting...ight_Edge.html

[Bardolph]

Oh that's cool. I figured something like that might exist.

[PilbaraBass]

If you follow Mr. Erlewine's instructions from an article in Bass Player magazine, you'll see that for a grinding tool, he uses carpet tape to stick 320 grit sandpaper to the side of a metal carpenter's level.

This is an easy and inexpensive alternative to the stewmac tools.

Interesting about the use of the crowning frets, it's actually quite a good way to do it...

THE most important thing in fret dressing is to take your time and go slowwwwwww....use your eyes, and know when to STOP!

you have to be the type that likes to pay attention to minute detail.

and by all means, please don't practice this on your $5000 Sadowsky...if you don't have a $100 bass, get one, they're great fun and great practice.

[Scott in Dallas]

Originally Posted by ldervish

Question: If you set a level on the fretboard when removing the relief, it would be resting on "unlevel" frets. While this might be ok for a rough guide, is it good enough to then proceed with the dressing operation or not? If not, how could you tell the neck was flat BEFORE you started dressing the frets? By sight?

I know this is an old thread, but if I found it doing a search, others will too. I tape dimes along the centerline of the fingerboard between the frets and then set the straightedge against them, as the dimes sit proud of the frets. I use four of them, evenly spaced. If you had super high frets you could use two stacked together; the same principle applies. Hope this helps.

[202dy]

Originally Posted by Scott in Dallas

I know this is an old thread, but if I found it doing a search, others will too. I tape dimes along the centerline of the fingerboard between the frets and then set the straightedge against them, as the dimes sit proud of the frets. I use four of them, evenly spaced. If you had super high frets you could use two stacked together; the same principle applies. Hope this helps.

Determining when the neck is flat is the trick, isn't it? Dimes used as shims are an interesting idea. The dedicated tool is a notched straight edge. These tools can be a bit expensive for the home shop. However, a home made straight edge can be fabricated from an inexpensive straight edge purchased from a hardware store or home center. This tool is especially helpful if determining the flatness of the neck while in the playing position is important to you.

[GlennW]

I have one of those crowning files - all I could do with it was make a mess. Seemed to gouge more than smooth.

[PilbaraBass]

Originally Posted by GlennW

I have one of those crowning files - all I could do with it was make a mess. Seemed to gouge more than smooth.

I've never used one, but I think a light touch is in order...

also, you can always buff out your work afterwards by going up and down the fretboard with some 800 grit wet/dry (dry).

[dhampshire]

Originally Posted by GlennW

I have one of those crowning files - all I could do with it was make a mess. Seemed to gouge more than smooth.

Check out Kindness's fret dressing guide here http://acapella.harmony-central.com/....php?t=1709179

It covers smoothing out the frets after using the crowning tool. Actually it covers the entire process in fantastic detail. It even has pictures for slow learners like me.

[202dy]

Originally Posted by GlennW

I have one of those crowning files - all I could do with it was make a mess. Seemed to gouge more than smooth.

Not a favorite. The best advice is to run the file through a block of wax (bee's wax works great, paraffin wax will work in a pinch) to cut down on drag and chatter. Diamonds and three corner files give finer results but there is a learning curve. It is not hard to learn to spin a three corner file but it takes some practice. Diamonds are quick. Diamonds also require care because it is easy to put scratches into the fret that cannot be polished out without altering level. Nothing is perfect.

[Scott in Dallas]

Originally Posted by 202dy

Determining when the neck is flat is the trick, isn't it? Dimes used as shims are an interesting idea. The dedicated tool is a notched straight edge. These tools can be a bit expensive for the home shop. However, a home made straight edge can be fabricated from an inexpensive straight edge purchased from a hardware store or home center. This tool is especially helpful if determining the flatness of the neck while in the playing position is important to you.

Mmmm...dedicated tools. If I had anything more than three dimes, I assure you I'd be buying lots of Stewmac stuff. Actually I invert the neck (with dimes taped up) and put it on my glass dining room table, checking for gaps with a flashlight. I'll know how well it works when I get my Peavey set up.

[202dy]

Originally Posted by Scott in Dallas

Mmmm...dedicated tools. If I had anything more than three dimes, I assure you I'd be buying lots of Stewmac stuff. Actually I invert the neck (with dimes taped up) and put it on my glass dining room table, checking for gaps with a flashlight. I'll know how well it works when I get my Peavey set up.

Tape on the dimes? Great idea. Putting in playing position makes all the difference. Strong lights and straight edges are key.

[Scott in Dallas]

The glass makes it easier because the reflection doubles the size of the gap, making it obvious. The bass turned out nice. I'm saving my pennies for one of those diamond leveling files and some shields. Taping the fingerboard was the most time consuming part of the job.