Question for those who build their own necks (fret install)

Install the frets first. Otherwise the fret ends wont have a level surface to sit tight onto. Then roll the fretboard after the frets are in. That's how they'd wear naturally, right? They aren't "rolled" at the fret ends, because the fret wears a lot slower than the wood.

 

for clarity, allow me to man-splain' install frets, carefully crown the edge of the fingerboard and frets from the neck shaft to the fingerboard surface, add fret edge bevel- carefully!, then dress fret edges to suit.

the reason to do the bevel carefully will be evident when you suddenly loose too much playing surface from careless filing. i nearly did this once to great shame. they make special files for this but i do it by hand and check with a protractor.

 

It’s probably worth a mention that Bruce Johnson’s combi-flap wheel method might work for you.

I started this thread a bit back (it has the wrong subject name, regardless I think it’s worth a read):

Perfectly Rounded Fret ends

 

The combi-flap is fantastic.

 

There's a big difference between a guitar and an electric bass. Most guitarists prefer the edges of the fingerboard to be pretty sharp; only a tiny radius on the edge of the wood. On guitars, leave the fingerboard edges sharp, press in the frets, and then very slightly round the edge of the wood as you are rounding and polishing the ends of the frets.

The bass is different. Most bassists prefer a moderate roundover to the edge of the fingerboard. In this case, it's better to round the edge of the fingerboard to get it pretty close to the final radius you want, before installing the frets. Put in the frets, and then carefully file the ends of the frets to the depth and angle to fit that radius. Then do the final smoothing to blend them together and polish the fret ends.

If you don't radius the fingerboard before installing the frets, and try to file the fingerboard edge and fret ends at the same time, there's much more chance that you are going to gouge the fingerboard deeper than you want. In my experience, anyway.

Yes, my technique with the Combi-Flap wheel is a simple effective way to do the final blending and polishing. Read all about it on that thread.