I picked up one of the p-bass guitar kits sold by Solo in Canada. It's now assembled and I'm looking for its flaws (and fixing them, I hope) before I attempt to paint it. One obvious problem has cropped up: fret buzz due to uneven fret heights ( e.g. 9th fret slightly higher than 8th). Can anyone point me to a good resource (or resources) that explains how to level frets and the tools required? I didn't expect that I'd need to do this, but part of the reason I'm assembling this kit is as a learning exercise, and so I might as well learn this, too. Thanks for your help!
bookmarking this. interested to know as i have this similar prob on my 2nd last fret of the G string of my P
There's a guy on YouTube (that sounds like Ray Romano) and others that can give you a visual grasp on it. Try the Stewart MacDonald website also because there are a ton of videos there for every kind of fix.
Ron Kirn has a photo guide that seems pretty comprehensive: http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-technical/201556-fret-leveling-yer-tele-101-a.html
Thanks, Immigrant. Are you referring to this video? http://youtu.be/KP1G_LS0weQ Looks straightforward. I noticed that this other guy does it with standard (non-luthier) tools: http://youtu.be/c527_CtazOQ Don't know if this latter technique is recommended, or not, but it certainly would be less expensive (from a specialized tool perspective), although perhaps a bit nerve wracking. I was also wondering if it would make sense to first gently bump the fret with a soft-headed hammer, just to make sure it's properly seated, or if this would be a bad idea?
The TDPRI site is a great resource, as is Project Guitar. The Dan Erlewine fretting book is very good, I think it's called Step By Step. The only tool that I've found indispensable is the fret rocker. Most of the other tools are interchangable. I've built many of my own tools, including fret pullers and nippers and a bender.