ryeisnotcool2 Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 so ive started fretting, i did one guitar so far and am working on the second as i speek, my first question is- are you supposed to used the radius block to level the frets after they are pressed in? i leveled the fret board before i pressed the frets in but fterwards a few were not perfectly level with the rest. and secondly- is it nescecary to recrown the frets? or can i just leave them flat like on some of the old les pauls, i know some people say that there will be intonation problems but i never noticed them when ive played some older guitars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted July 16, 2003 Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 You can use a straight block to do the leveling after they are pressed in, it shouldn't be necessary to use the radius block for it. To crown them (round the tops) you need a file......... Personally flat frets never bothered me but some people seem to think they do to much damage to the strings to quickly as apposed to crowned frets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryeisnotcool2 Posted July 16, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 woo hooo !!! someone finaly answered me!! thanks bri, well i didnt crown the frets, i personally love the feel and the look of flat frets! ive already gotten a nice complement from my bass player tonight! he love the look of flat frets also. i guess im gonna just keep doin them flat unless a customer wants crownd frets. its only my second fret job and it looks great! its as good or maybe better than my prs! ive been useing my radious block to level them out, then i use a peice of 1/4 x 2 x 10 corion to finish them. the corion is nice cuase it is really flat and i use the spray adhesive on it and can usually get four peices of paper to stick befor i have to re spray it. after i file the edges ever so lightly i hit every thing with 1500 paper and it brings it to a beutiful shine! if needed i use 000 steel wool to buff up the sides of the frets, but if they are ok i just leave em. i also bevel the edges of the fret board a tiny bit like you did in your tutorial to make it feel nice and "vintage" or broken in but i like the term "vintage" thanks for your tutorial it helped me alot!i realy like the beveler block you made, i made mine out of a piece of hickory it works great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted July 16, 2003 Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 well i have really acidic sweat so i kill strings in about an hour, and if i'm playing on my old strat that had really really flat frets the strings are dead 2 days latter, cause what will actually happen with me is i press pretty hard (long live hard rock ) the frets will carve dents into the strings that will affect intonation and make bends unsmooth, this will happen faster the wider the surface area of the fret touching the string is.... so it's something to keep in mind.... i like dressing frets almost to a sharp edge, mmmm percision... but what ever works for u Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryeisnotcool2 Posted July 16, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 i guess i will just have to experiment, i always thought that with the sharper edge it would kinda "cut" the srting, and it seems to make bends feel smoother to me. maybe im just a wierdo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted July 16, 2003 Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 actually now that i think about it.... hmm i duno, i got my head all in a knot.... sharp will make a quicker initial dent on the bottom of the string, but the flat frets will make a bigger dent sooner then the pointier ones.... hmm... i think that's right... anyone else familiar with this denting on the back of the strings from frets? or have i gone completely fretty? in any case, i try to buy the tallest and thinest frets i can find for the best price.. (similar to the dunlop 6105's) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted July 16, 2003 Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 I really don't know how the hell you're denting your strings on the frets unless you play with an absolute death grip. Anyway, advantages to crowned frets are: More accurate intonation (assuming the crown is right and directly over the fret slot) Crisper string tone with no buzzing (due to the very small contact point) smoother bending (due to less contact area therefore less resistance) Cons: Frets wear to flat quickly Advantages to flat frets: Don't wear as quickly as they are already flat cons: Fret life is reduced overall as you probably had to level your frets to get them flat thus reducing the overall height. Feels already worn down (personal opinion) stands to be less accurate in intonation stability More resistance inplaying during bends Due to larger surface contact it can dampen the string making them sound more dead even when brand new. I level and then crown all frets, if your fretjob is done well you shouldn't even have to level them (assuming your fretboard was dead on and you seated all frets correctly) I usually can just press and polish and they are dead on for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted July 16, 2003 Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 I have a fret leveling tool (from stew-mac - again) that is a fairly long bar of metal. I forget how long it is (maybe 12""?). I was wondering if anyone knows how this will affect a compound radius fretboard? If I am placing it from fret 1 to 7?? will I be ruining the radius of the higher frets since it will tend to follow the more contoured lower frets? I honestly don't know if my fretboard has a compound radius. I bought it from Warmoth and they have a lot of info on their compound radiused fretboards. When I ordered it, there was something about "10" radius only" - I don't know if that means I had to have the neck made by them to get the compound radius or if all of their fretboards have it. Would it be obvious by looking at it? Thanks, Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted July 16, 2003 Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 I usually can just press and polish and they are dead on for me Same here, occasionally I have a neck that needs a little attention after fretting but not very often, and I fret about 6-10 necks a weeks on average Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryeisnotcool2 Posted July 16, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 hmm.... well i guess i'll just polish em next time thats if they are all perfectly level. but i think my radius block is not accurate, because when i radiusd the fret board and then checked it with the press cawl it was not the same? they are both 12 radiuses but there is always an even amount of light on each edge of the board. i even resanded the board down very carefully making sure i didnt tilt the block, but it is still the same, so im thinkin the block is off a little bit. ohwell i guess i'll have to crown these two guitars i really love the feel and the look though. and i really dont wan to spend 55$ on a stinkin fret crowning file! it was bad enough talking my wife into letting me get the fretting press cawl and an arbor press! wich i love!! it works great! so much cleaner and more accurate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted July 16, 2003 Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 ....i really love the feel and the look though. and i really dont wan to spend 55$ on a stinkin fret crowning file!.... i can get u one for about 17$ not to sure about the quality though i'm getting 2, the medium and large fret files from a supplier in japan, but i haven't placed the order yet... LGM, i'll see if i can get my friend to come over with his Digcam next time i change strings and i'll show u the dents i'm talking about, they're quite visible if i don't change the strings for a month like right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryeisnotcool2 Posted July 16, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 hey krazy, are they diamond crowning files or are they the bur type? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted July 16, 2003 Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 The burr type work fine, they just require a little more elbow grease in polishing. I like the stew mac offset burrs, but I love the diamond files, if you can find good offset diamond files for $55 let me know please, I want a couple, I'm tired of paying $80 for them LOL!!! Anyway, it regards to a compound radius, if you look down the fretboard from the nut side it should be blantantly obvious, your fret ends will appear lower towards the nut than the last fret. You can still use your levelling bar, just don't push to horribly hard (which you shouldn't do anyway, I let the weight of the bar do the work for me then you only take off what is needed. But don't do just a short section, and rememeber the bar is meant to be used over the frets lengthways on the board, not across the board, so do smooth straight runs from the 24th fret to the 1st, it will naturally follow the compound radius and just knock down the high frets. However, if they said 10" only, then it's not compound, compound will read something like 7.25" progressing to 12". As for crowning, you don't have to have a crowning file to do it, you can use a triangular file (probably find one for all of $5 at a hobby store or hardware store, then you can file the crown in by hand, this is tricky to do, but it's how I started, then I realized that $80 for a diamond crowning file wasn't such a bad idea LOL!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted July 16, 2003 Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 Thank you very much LGM. Your information is excellent and greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryeisnotcool2 Posted July 16, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 lgm, stew mac sells dual grit diamond files for 54.90 each or the set of thre,thin med wide, for 149.70, each file has 150 grit on one side and then flip it around and it has 300 grit on the other side. i see the offset ones, yeh they are 89.80, man stew mac is a frikin MONOPOLY!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted July 16, 2003 Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 Warmoth's Compound Radius is 10-16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulNeeds Posted July 16, 2003 Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 I too like the look and feel of flat frets, and I can't say that I've ever noticed any problems with intonation - that for me seems to have its roots more at overly high frets and too shallow nut slotting - especially with very thin strings. To date, I've always used 'engineers' or 'toolmaker' file sets, combined with a good polishing afterwards. seems to work for me, but I'm no pro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted July 16, 2003 Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 hey krazy, are they diamond crowning files or are they the bur type? doesn't say in the catalogue, so i'm assuming it's just a generic burr file with the concave slots on either side.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted July 16, 2003 Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 lgm, stew mac sells dual grit diamond files for 54.90 each or the set of thre,thin med wide, for 149.70, each file has 150 grit on one side and then flip it around and it has 300 grit on the other side. i see the offset ones, yeh they are 89.80, man stew mac is a frikin MONOPOLY!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I have a set of those $54 ones, I don't like the angle on them though, I prefer the feel of the offset ones that curve up on the end, better control and they work nicer for fret ends over a body on a set neck or acoustic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted July 16, 2003 Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 Yeah no kidding... Just look at the price difference in the "Make Your Own Electric Guitar Book".... Stewart Mac's Price... 27.50 http://www.stewmac.com/cgi-bin/hazel.cgi?a...ectric&sku=0532 Amazon.com's Price.... 19.25 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...PDKIKX0DER&st=* Oh wait.. you could buy 5 or more from Stew Mac.. then it wouldn't be such a rip off.. lol... only a dollar or so more then.. not as bad as $8.25 more... Yikes... But I'm not trying to slam Stew Mac.. I just think that they could come down on some of their prices a bit.. But I still buy stuff from Stew Mac all the time.. cause they have about anything you could ever think of.... and have great service also... Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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