# fret leveling



## TonyD (Jan 11, 2010)

After trying to level and dress frets of my Hagstrom re-issue using a stew-mac bar. it seems i'm getting a consistant buzz accross all the frets once I string it up and reset the action. Can anyone provide some insight as to why?kkjq


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## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

did you round or "crown" the top of your frets


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## TonyD (Jan 11, 2010)

I do have crowning files but just did the sandpaper method and 'bumped' each fret with finer and finer grits until they were rounded. I could probably get the frets rounder with the crowning file plus smooth it out with sandpaper but do you think it would make that much of a difference?


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## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

i tryed that one time using the sand paper instead of crowning & it looked good untill i started playing there was buzzes everywhere just like yourself .the sandpaper works good when there is very little leveling


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## TonyD (Jan 11, 2010)

wow, interesting. I'll crown with the fret files, polish the frets and report back. thanks! It's frustrating 'cause I've been checking the neck before and after leveling with feeler gauges for straightness. applying .011" of relief on the truss rod once it's stringed up and setting the bridge based on the nut height and relief so i think I'm doing everything right. I'm trying to support the neck so there is no flexing while leveling however I don't have a fancy neck setting jig. It's definately a delicate process.


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## TonyD (Jan 11, 2010)

so the crowning and dressing helped somewhat but not enough. I'm going to try bracing the neck so there is no deflection what so ever during the leveling process. Here's to hoping!


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

OK..this will sound like a weird question..but who knows. When you did your leveling, you did straigten the neck using a long ruler to make sure it was perfectly straight right?


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## TonyD (Jan 11, 2010)

no, that's a good question. I do have a Stew-Mac machined straight edge and I am checking for any gaps with a .004" feeler gauge or a piece of aluminum foil. I have not tried using light being the straight edge to check for gaps - perhaps that is better. It's very puzzling! At this point it may be the way I crown and dress the frets or not bracing the neck enough as I'm levelling so the neck is flexing as I run the abrasive bar along the frets.


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## House Guitars (Jan 4, 2010)

I've found the notched straight edge from stewmac to be really helpful when doing fretwork. You can make sure the board is dead straight before you touch the frets. Another step that I think some people forget is to radius the frets after levelling them. Depending on how you level and how much material you remove from the frets you can change the radius on the frets so that it no longer matches the board. I level with a diamond stone and then go back with a radius block and 400 grit to ensure that the radius on the frets stays consitent with the board. Then you can recrown and polish. Another helpful tip is to mark the top of each fret with permanent marker before each step. That way you can easily see what frets are being worked and how much material you are removing.


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