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Well it finally happened. A fretted 3 string that's off...now what

. I've made several fretted 3 strings and not one came out off fret wise. I must have measured the fret spacing wrong. The guitar is completely done and works ok with slide. Tone wise it's great... but playing with fingers/frets.. it's off. What should I do? Rip out the frets and re-sand...re-fret...refinish etc? It's kinda hard to decide..

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Permalink Reply by Sawbones on July 3, 2014 at 7:32pm

Yup

Dunno if the Kid is wise beyond his years,or the years have taken the Kid!

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Permalink Reply by Jon Leslie/Runaway Veal Music on July 1, 2014 at 11:12am

Thanks for helping.

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Permalink Reply by Sawbones on July 3, 2014 at 7:45pm

Yeah I have that dilemma too.

I try to let the box and wood dictate the flow.Sounds hippy,dippy,artsy,fartsy but it works for me.

Do you have a fretting scale?

I got one from Gitty and it made everything easier.

My first was just measuered from a cheap lap slide and a pencil.

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Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on July 4, 2014 at 3:11am

One of the things about responses to this question (glad it go resolved!) was the "leveling of frets" after installation. Why not level the fretboard before fret grooves are cut and frets are installed? I have beed doing this since after my first fretted CBG was a mess and have not had to dress a single fret since. (about 200 fretted builds later).

It's simple to do. find a level surface. cut a sanding belt and glue down. After fretboard is install on neck, cross hatch with pencil. turn upside down and sand, checking frequently. continue sanding until cross hatching is gone. Finish neck, cut fret grooves and install frets..... simple, excellent results.

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Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on July 4, 2014 at 5:55am

wayfinder,

If you level the neck/fretboard as I outlined... and if you install them uniformly (I use a drill press and a block of hardwood as a caul), then you ought to be able to get consistant results. Fret wire is highly consistant. If you need more personal coaching, email me and I'll shoot you my phone # and talk you through it....

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Permalink Reply by BustdKnuklz on July 20, 2014 at 11:29pm

I'm waiting on fret wire to arrive & had planned on using a brass headed hammer to knock it in. Using my drill press as a fret press is genius, thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on July 21, 2014 at 4:14am

A little trick is to take a piece of 1/4X2 hardwood (fretboard stock) about 4inches long as your "caul". Retract the "fingers" in the chuck until flush with the mouth of the chuck. start the fret wire in the slot. place the piece of wood over the fretwire and press. As you go down the line, let the hard wood overlap previous frets. When all frets are in, go back down the down the neck, pressing the middle of the piece of hard wood so that you are pressing several frets at a time. This distrubutes the pressure evenly, seating the frets evenly.

Assuming you have started with a level neck and fretboard, this will produce a set of frets that are level and require no adjustment.