Going to tackle high frets

[BRENTrocks]

I was thinking about taking my Heritage H137 Custom to Sweetwater’s for a PLEK job. $300 plus shipping costs.

I can’t get the action as low as I think it should be. So I checked the frets last night with a fret rocker I have several high frets above the 12th!!

I have files, crowned, leveled and polished frets before. I’m no pro. Lol. I was just thinking PLEK because I was being lazy. But a couple hours out of my Saturday vs $350….its a no brainer.

Well…wish me luck

 

[BRENTrocks]

The problem is high frets above the 12th fret. I went over it with a fret rocker. The 13th is high. The 15th is high. The 19th is high.

The bridge has plenty of adjustability

The neck angle is good.

The question of the hour is….can I knock down those high frets and accomplish what I set out to do?

I have filed, dressed, crowned and polished frets before. It really hurts my hands but I can do it.

I think I’m gonna go for it.

It’s a good Saturday project.

 

[grimmchaos]

You should be able to. Just take your time and only remove the material you absolutely need to. If other frets pop up as low after then you’d be better off just doing a full fret level.

 

[cardinal]

I do spot leveling all the time. If it's truly all high frets, it shouldn't be much of an issue; just time consuming.

First thing is to see whether it's frets just lifting from the slot. You should be able to see it and probably feel it. For those, I'd get a clamp (use a piece of wood or rubber against the fret) and wick in thin superglue to reseat it.

If the frets are seated and still high, then you just need to knock them down. I actually do this with the strings on and the action/relief set to where I want, so it's going to buzz at each specific problem spot.

I use a bent paper clip to push the strings out of the way. Use a micromesh stick (800 or so) and slide tape under the strings for either side of the fret to protect the board. I try to work the stick across the fret at the specific spot where it's buzzing, to maintain the crown.

After 30 seconds or so of sanding with the mesh stick, pull out the paper clip and slide out the tape to check if still buzzes. Once "no", then polish up the fret.

 

[BRENTrocks]

 

[CoreyW]

The Stewmac fret kisser is an amazing tool for taking care of the random high fret.

https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-too...sser?queryid=b6948b4297033c6ea038643971999c33

 

[RedPlated]

Did you level the frets or just re-crown them with the Z file? The Z file isn’t going to level anything.

Get the short leveling beam from Stewmac and just level from the 12th fret up.

Personally I like doing all the frets at once, if feasible.

Just did my Historic Makeovers R9 the other day. It plays like butter now.

 

[BRENTrocks]

Did you level the frets or just re-crown them with the Z file? The Z file isn’t going to level anything.

Get the short leveling beam from Stewmac and just level from the 12th fret up.

Personally I like doing all the frets at once, if feasible.

Just did my Historic Makeovers R9 the other day. It plays like butter now.

View attachment 430541

I have a 12 inch radius block, but this particular fretboard was a 14 inch radius so I had to level each Fret individual individually with the fret rocker tool, but it turned out great and I was very happy that I was able to do it myself

 

[BeZo]

I just sent mine to a guy.

 

[RedPlated]

I have a 12 inch radius block, but this particular fretboard was a 14 inch radius so I had to level each Fret individual individually with the fret rocker tool, but it turned out great and I was very happy that I was able to do it myself

Well, that’s all that matters. As long as it works.

 

[HellraiserJohnny]

Yeah, I was confused when I saw only the crowning tool. I would have leveled with a flat file and checked first then re-crown but hey, you made it work!!
Nice Job, good feel!

 

[marl3y]

Well, that’s all that matters. As long as it works.

I only use radius blocks when sanding/shaping the fingerboard. To level the frets I use a 24" straight edge (and of course flat) that's about 1" wide with 400 grit sandpaper adhered to it. With the next dead flat, iIf you slide that up and down the frets you'll level them all pretty quickly. Use the Shapie trick to see that you touch them all. This works for pretty much any radius as it's always tangent to the frets. Hope that makes sense. Once that's done you can recrown if needed. I've been doing this over the last couple years practicing refretting my old guitars with stainless steel.

 

[johnny q]

Same here, gonna tackle my own high frets from now on. The guitar repair guys near me charge way to much money for EVERYTHING. Stewmac Fret Rocker, Fret Kisser, Z file and Lizard Spit fret polishing system. I'll do it myself!!

 

[BRENTrocks]

Yeah. I’m pretty happy with the results. Thanks fellas!!!

 

[phillybhatesme]

Great job! I just did a fret job for the first time on a Les Paul recently and am super pleased with the results. Feel like a fucking luthier now lol.

 

[johnny q]

Great job! I just did a fret job for the first time on a Les Paul recently and am super pleased with the results. Feel like a fucking luthier now lol.

And you probably feel like a millionaire as well, all the money you are saving!

 

[phillybhatesme]

And you probably feel like a millionaire as well, all the money you are saving!

No joke. Last time I had this guy do fretwork, it cost about $200.

 

[johnny q]

No joke. Last time I had this guy do fretwork, it cost about $200.

Yes, exactly. I paid a little more than that to have a few high frets and some fret sprout taken care of - ridiculous.

 

[BRENTrocks]

Nothing is cheap anymore