Official Luthiers Forum!

When you fret a new build, and assuming all the fretwire is uniform, and my fretboard in nice and true, is there any need to level out the frets, or should they already be level? I suppose I can check them after its fretted, but just thought I would see what the norm is. I hear it's TYPICAL for the neck to bow back a bit when you install the frets, so I assume you adjust the truss rod to make it perfectly straight and then check for inconsistencies in the fret heights?

In case you can't tell, it's my first build

I think it's fair to say there will probably be some leveling required, although some (not me) say they don't need to. A fret rocker is invaluable.

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Dave
Milton, ON

Yup - they should be identical.
But I always check anyway, and assume I will have to level a bit.
So I am always pleased when it plays nicely without having to do extra work.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

What they said. If you get the fretboard perfect, and seat every fret exactly the same, then you may not need to level the frets. There are those on here that are that good, but after about 18 necks I'm still not one of them.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

thanks for the quick responses guys, greatly appreciated! I'll count on having to level them out, as I'm sure my first neck won't be 100% perfect.
On a side note, I'm trying to decide between the jescar evo gold fretwire, and nickel/silver, both of which I already have, but I've only got a cheapy mill file to level with, would that give me any issues with the Evo stuff?

The EVO stuff can be worked with the same tools as the conventional fret wire. I happen to love the EVO wire.

Don't be intimidated by the idea of leveling and crowning. It's not one of the terribly difficult procedures - it just sounds tricky!

I should say that having the right tools makes it easy.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Make sure the mill file is flat. Many aren't.

+1

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Much depends on how the frets are installed. If they are tapped in with a hammer--even gently--they are likely to pick up a few dings and flats from the hammer blows. If they are pressed in with an arbor press, they are likely to be more uniform. But you must also consider the condition of the fret wire. It might have picked up a few nicks or dents in packing and shipping (hopefully not, but it can happen). You might actually bend a flat into it when you uncoil it. There are lots of situations which might require a little leveling and re-crowning. Plan on doing it. If you are very careful and lucky, you might not have to do much of it--or any at all.

Patrick

thanks again! I've got an old school raw hide hammer to tap my frets in, which so far in my refrets I've done hasn't left much in the way of marks and dings, so hopefully that will be fine. I plan to invest in some fret cauls for my drill press in the not-to-distant future. As for my mill file, it certainly appears to be flat, but I might go pick up a quality one from Lee Valley next time I'm nearby. it's about a three hour drive....
I've done a bit of fretwork in the past, and this file has seemed to work well for levelling, I've only really done partial refrets, so I wasn't 100% sure about whether it needed to be done on all new fretwire. Luckily, when I bought it, it was already radiused to somewhere around 12", so that will save me some grief. I've never enjoyed hand bending my frets, lol

You've all been a great help, stand by for finishing questions!

Leveling, recrowning, and polishing frets is fun - I pretend I'm an old-world craftsman using hand tools.
It's just another step in the building process.

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

I actually made out pretty good here, I had two fret thats were sitting above all the rest after i adjusted the neck straight again.
Wish I had an actual bevelling file, it's hard to make them all the same angle when your eyeballing it. and i realized AFTER all my frets were in, that I had forgotten to snip the tang away from where the edge of the fretboard would be. so I can now feel every single fret when I run my hand up along the edges. Will I be able to file these away to the point of not being able to feel them, or should i pull the back out and snip the tang away?

You should be able to file or sand the fret tangs. I'd sand them with fine grit paper level with the edge of the fretboard. I fretted a guitar indoors and then applied the finish in the garage. After being in a dry environment for a month, the fretboard shrunk and I could feel the fret tangs - I knocked them down with paper and all is good.

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

I usually file the edges just until the metal shavings turn to sawdust, and then work up the fine grits of paper. That should take care of tangs.

You do know about dressing the beveled ends, right? That may be what you are feeling. I still can't seem to tell when enough is enough in that area. I just did a fretboard transplant/refret on one of my teles. It plays and sounds great now, but dammit if I don't still have to go back and do more fret dressing! I thought I got them all.

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"I'm not going to say that perfection has never been achieved. However, if it has, it probably went unnoticed due to it's lack of character."