Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on April 16, 2014 at 9:02am

I hardly ever have to level frets.  I take a lot of time to ensure the neck surface that receives the fret board is dead flat.  I use a cut 80 grit belt (36" long) spray glued down to a flat table.  I mark across the entire surface with pencil and sand until all the marks are gone.  Then I glue on the fret board and clamp overnight.  The next day I do the same thing with the fret board surface only with 120 grit.  To remove scratches, I block sand to the level I desire.  Anyway, if the fret board is dead flat and the neck is stout enough not to flex then there shouldn't be any need to level frets.  Also, I tend to cut my fret slots just a little too deep so they always fully seat in the slot.

I've also learned the hard way.  If you have trouble with several frets buzzing, it is a lot better to remove them all, redeck the fret board flat.  Really, really flat and then reinstall the frets.  It sounds like more work, but takes a lot less time than monkeying around trying to get even one or two to fall into line.

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Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on April 16, 2014 at 6:51pm

Agree with Eric, if I have ended up with a badly seated fret will replace it rather than file it down, though a tiny adjustment with a file may sometimes be necessary, generally if I need to file frets I get the feeling I blew it ! ;-)

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on April 16, 2014 at 5:58pm

I always do it, yep.
You can get the action lower if you do it in my experience/opinion
I just use a sharpening stone, it's dead easy and takes only seconds

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Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on April 16, 2014 at 7:15pm

Do you not need to re-crown the frets afterwards?

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on April 17, 2014 at 12:57am

If you file/level frets, crowning and polishing are the finishing steps to get it right. Crowning gets the center peak of the fret back to the proper position, and sanding/polishing removes grooves from the file and/or sanding paper...to reduce chance of frets nicking strings, which could lead to string breakage.

Lots of good how-to videos on Youtube for this process. Good luck

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Permalink Reply by jason fitzgibbons on April 17, 2014 at 5:47pm

I level crown and polish all my fret jobs. To be honest it probly doesn't matter unless your action is very low. However I always do it

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Permalink Reply by Dante on April 21, 2014 at 10:04am

thanks for all the comments guys.  I ended up giving it a go and levelled the lot. got no buzz at all now.  

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