Fret Crowning Files...Baroque, FretGuru and others?
I have two purpose made fret crowning files, and thought I would post my impressions. Also found a couple of fairly comprehensive reviews, one on toothed files and one on diamond files that I thought might be of interest to others.
I have one diamond and one toothed and I had two necks to crown, so I thought I'd share my experience.
Here's what I was using for the two necks:
I put the meter/yard stick in the pic for perspective on size. It's also my home-notched made bass straight edge, which is why it has the ugly gouges on the metric side ;-)
From top to bottom:
"Chinese finger trap" that the Fret Guru file came in.
FretGuru Dagger 2.0 (toothed)
A small brass-wire brush
Baroque nylon mesh bag
3rd Generation Baroque crowning file. (Diamond)
In the YT reviews the Baroque file that is reviewed is a Gen 4, whereas I have the Gen 3. I have never used the Gen 4, but think that if I were purchasing one today I would still get the Gen 3. Both Gen 3 and Gen 4 have the same three sizes of crowning file. The Gen 4 is round, the Gen 4 is square and adds a flat file to one side. I think I would prefer the round shape. I know I prefer the price ($30 as opposed to $40), and I have plenty of flat files.
The video reviews show two FretGuru files. The Diamond file is shown on the website as "in development" and I am not sure how the YT reviewer got one, but it's the toothed file that I have seen reviewed elsewhere.
I have used a Baroque file on every neck I have done until the last two. I mostly used the FretGuru on the last two necks.
I had two necks to work with: The cheapest Jazz bass neck I could find on eBay, and a Pit Bull Tele neck.
This is not meant as a review of the necks, but FWIW I had to do a LOT more leveling on the bass neck than the Tele neck. That turns out to be a factor in the review, as well.
There is now no question in my mind that the Fret Guru file is the better file of the two. That is not to say the Baroque is bad. The Baroque file gets the job done, but it's not particularly fast. It's considerably easier to use for crowning than a flat file. It does require the use of a shield or tape on the fretboard so as not to mar the wood. That's not a big deal, and probably a good idea anyway. It is pretty smooth, and tape is enough to protect the wood. No real need for the shield (which is good because I hate using them).
Although it is a tooth file, the Fret Guru file went considerably faster. It's also very comfortable to use and makes the fret quite a nice shape. I had about 30 minutes and thought I would start in on my Pitbull neck. I ended up doing the whole thing in 25 min. That is a personal best for me!
It was slower on the bass neck--especially where the fret was pretty flat. I did a bit of side to side comparison, particularly at first. Where the fret was pretty flat, I initially thought the FretGuru and the Baroque were pretty evenly matched to start it. The FretGuru was better for most of the crowning, but I felt that the Baroque was a little better at finishing when I got close to the end. It may be because the fret was already pretty flat and the FretGuru file seems to have a bit tighter radius. On anything that was not super flat, the FretGuru file was more precise, even and faster.
I should note that there are two sizes FretGuru file, both with two cutting edges. Mine is Medium/Large on one side and Large/XL on the other. The other one they sell is Large/XL on one side XXL/Huge on the other side. They actually recommend the latter for newer guitars, although they say the Large will accommodate most users. It's possible that the larger file might have made the really flat frets a bit easier to deal with, but I am not sure. What I can say is that the Fret Guru was better on almost all frets on both necks.
Most of the best guitar files that I have are Japanese, and it looks to me like most of the American sellers, get their files from Japan. The FretGuru people contract with a European file maker. I asked them what country the files are made in, and they would only say "Europe." They told me that they are working on patenting their design and already have trouble with copy-cats. They wanted to keep the factory where these are made a "trade secret."
Looking at Amazon and eBay I don't think I blame them. There are a lot of knockoffs of the FretGuru file--and also the Baroque file which has gotten pretty popular. You want to make sure you know what you are buying before plunking your money down.
There is nothing wrong with the Baroque file, but I think mine had dulled a bit over time. That may be a characteristic of at least cheap diamond files. They work pretty well, but it's a coating and coatings wear out. That said, there is nothing that I have found which compares to it for the money, and it's really a beautiful file with the hardwood handle.
The FretGuru file by contrast has heft and is very comfortable to use. I really liked the feel of it. It looks and feels like a precision instrument. Although I don't know where it's from, It definitely seems to be on a par with my Japanese files. They say they their tools are "heirloom-quality," and I do think I will have this tool for a long time.
One last thing: The guy in the vids is right. Files can clog up. I found this to be more of an issue with the Baroque file. The The FretGuru seems to shed filings a bit better. However, about every one or two frets I brushed both with a small brass-wire brush. These are dirt cheap online if you can't find them at a hardware store.
One last, last thing: I did not use cutting oil, but the vid guy recommends it, and the FretGuru people also recomend some sort of oil to keep the tool from rusting. I asked FretGuru if the block oil that I use on fingerboards would work, and got a positive reply, although he recommended being a bit careful with citrus oils due to the acid content. I didn't use it to cut, however, since I thought it might wash off the sharpie mark that I use to see how I'm doing. I might have been inclined to use it on stainless steel...but on the frets I was cutting it was pretty fast anyway.
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