Fret Leveling

[J Posega]

I've got a $50 Squier neck on a project bass that's in desperate need of a fret leveling. There's not a luthier for miles that can do it for me, so I'm considering just buying the basic essentials.

I've seen that some folks prefer to use a flat beam for leveling, while others prefer a radiused sanding block. For a total beginner, do you think a radiused block would be a little more foolproof? How long of a sanding block should I get? A Google search brought up several options, but cheapest was a 7" long block at about $15 shipped. Is a 7" block long enough for doing the whole neck?

Basically, there's a horrifying ski jump starting at around the 14th fret, and then there's a couple of high or low frets below that which makes for playing anything above fret 5 impossible without wicked high action.

I see there's a lot of options as to where to get a crowing file from, and all of them cost a decent amount of money; what do you guys all use?

I'm sure there will be more questions, but I've got to go to work. Thanks in advance!

 

[Rickett Customs]

I use a 8" radius block, with 300 grit 3M "stikit" sandpaper (has an adhesive side, to stick to the block). Use a magic marker, to draw a line on each top of the fret before sanding.
Don't forget to get a fret crowning file and 0000 steel wool, to bring the fret back to normal use. Stew mac will have most of this, but there are several other places online too.

 

[testing1two]

For the various high and low frets, be sure that all frets are fully seated before you attempt any filing. For correcting ski jump, the ideal solution would be to pull the frets and plane the fingerboard to compensate (many builders actually incorporate a .030" falloff from the 12th fret to the end of the fingerboard). But this is much more work as it involves a partial or full re-fret and carefully deepening the affected fret slots. Again, touchy work and requires more tools.

For leveling, I actually prefer using a longer beam but it's just a matter of preference. I think mine is 16" (insert joke here). I find the weight of the longer beam gives me better control and the added length makes the process that much faster and more consistent. Nothing wrong with the shorter ones though (insert another joke here).

Final food for thought: you can buy a brand new Mighty Mite neck for $100 or spend $75+ for the basic tools & materials to file the frets.

 

[JLS]

I've got a $50 Squier neck on a project bass that's in desperate need of a fret leveling. There's not a luthier for miles that can do it for me, so I'm considering just buying the basic essentials.

I've seen that some folks prefer to use a flat beam for leveling, while others prefer a radiused sanding block. For a total beginner, do you think a radiused block would be a little more foolproof? How long of a sanding block should I get? A Google search brought up several options, but cheapest was a 7" long block at about $15 shipped. Is a 7" block long enough for doing the whole neck?

Basically, there's a horrifying ski jump starting at around the 14th fret, and then there's a couple of high or low frets below that which makes for playing anything above fret 5 impossible without wicked high action.

I see there's a lot of options as to where to get a crowing file from, and all of them cost a decent amount of money; what do you guys all use?

I'm sure there will be more questions, but I've got to go to work. Thanks in advance!

It's unlikely that leveling is going to fix the ski jump, if it's that bad. Unless you want to put a lot of time & energy, not to mention, money, into a disposa-neck, I'd suggest not throwing good money after bad, cut your losses, and get a better neck.

Second:

 

[walterw]

It's unlikely that leveling is going to fix the ski jump, if it's that bad. Unless you want to put a lot of time & energy, not to mention, money, into a disposa-neck, I'd suggest not throwing good money after bad, cut your losses, and get a better neck.

Second:

+1, but if you've got nothing but time, you can do it on the cheap with a 12" or longer aluminum level (2' wouldn't be bad) from the hardware store and some sticky-backed 120-grit sandpaper (or regular sandpaper stuck to the level with double-sided tape). going lengthwise, use it to knock off all the hills and bumps until you get a fairly straight row of fret tops. you may end up with almost no frets at the body end, but who cares if it's not playable now and not worth spending money on?

a 3-corner file with the corners ground smooth can then serve to narrow the flattened fret tops until they're close enough to round that you can smooth them out somewhat with 320, then 400, then 600-grit sandpaper, followed by polishing with #0000 steel wool.

it won't be pretty and it won't be that great, but it might work.

do a bunch of reading first and you might just make it playable.

 

[J Posega]

It's pretty playable from open strings to fret 12, and I guess one of the things I'm looking at here is that, yes it's a cheapo toss-out neck, but that means I can practice on it, learn from it, and have a skill that might come in handy down the road.

Thanks for the input everyone. I've been reading a lot about fretwork online, and now I've got some decisions to make.

 

[FunkMetalBass]

Make sure the neck is straight before you start doing any of this. Stewmac makes a tool (that you could feasibly make too, from a metal ruler and a dremel) that has chunks taken out for the frets, and it measures the straightness of the fretboard.