Morning Trevor thanks for the replyOriginally Posted by Trevor Davies
I put a straight edge on the fret boards - it is really straight. Maybe a fraction of a millimetre gap between edge and fret at the head end, but apart from that - straight.
OK I'll put some strings on tonightand see how it goes!
1+ on TD's post.
FWIW I would put the strings on, and do a full set up (set the truss rod and the action) before doing anything else. Only shim or sand if you have to.
If it comes to that, you can put a veneer shim on the two holes on the nut side of the pocket to adjust the angle. Simpler than sanding ;-)
But I don't think it'll come to that.
It's reversible and much more accurate than sanding
Well, I got close.
A bit of a problem now.
Trevor was right, throw some strings on it - it actually came up really well. Almost perfectly flat and straight - maybe the slightest convex curve; very faint almost indiscernible.
What is a problem is one fret, the 12th. I had trouble with it earlier, it was slightly raised when I was starting to work on it.
Now, it's raised so playing anything lower than that fret on the E, A, D strings sticks on that fret and rattles. It's not too bad on the G, and not really noticeable on the top E and A. In fact though, playing the note just after the (lower) E where the fret is, then one note down, it's exactly the same note because of the height!
This model of guitar doesn't allow to adjust the action / height as far as I can tell (there're intonation screws which I'm leaving until I resolve the fret issue)
I trying carefully tapping on the fret with a nylon hammer - no luck.
The only three things I can think of doing are:
1. Trying to file a fair bit of the fret off, by loosening the strings and very gently with a needle file try to lower it.
2. I'm not sure if adjusting the neck screw will help (?)
3. Taking it to a guitar shop after his birthday and asking for them to replace the raised fret.
I've attached a pic. And one of the finished (almost) guitar. The wiring and everything is fine; it has a nice sound. No hum or anything - the ground wire etc went well. Downside - you can kind of only use 1/2 of the guitar....
I'm leaning toward option 1 until I can find someone to have a go on option 3.
Happy to try option 2 if anyone thinks it's worthwhile
Off to sleep now, the guitar has beaten me today. I'll check in tomorrow
Last edited by Barno; 12-02-2025 at 03:29 PM.
Hi Barno, it is looking great!
The neck should be slightly concave with the strings on. Also, have you gone through the process for setting the action (string height)? It is difficult to tell in the picture if the strings are at a good height.
Maybe the truss rod could be tightened to increase the concave curvature of the neck. The bridge may also be raised a bit using the screw in posts. These will raise the strings a bit!
As far as the 12th fret goes.
I'm not sure if it would need to be replaced - but It may need to be filed down a bit! Do you have a 12 inch radius block, fret rocker and fret file? I would not use a needle file. Maybe a small flat file could be used! The frets need to be rounded at the top - I use a fret file for this.
The neck screws should not need adjusting. Option 3 if needed!
PitBull Builds: FVB-4, LP-1SS, FBM-1, AG-2, TB-4, SSCM-1, TLA-1, TL-1TB, STA-1HT, DSCM-1 Truckster, ST-1, STA-1, MBM-1, MBM custom, GHR-1.
Scratch Builds: Pine Explorer, Axe Bass, Mr Scary, Scratchy Tele's.
The little voices in my head keep telling me "build more guitars"
I had the same reaction as TD, FWIW. You have tried the hammer trick. I would suggest doing some setup stuff...which needs to be done in a particular order.
First step: Take off the strings and set the truss rod so that the neck is as flat as you can get it. Easiest way to know if it is completely flat is to use a notched straight edge. You can get these cheap, or make one for even less. I saw this one on Temu for $7.50 USD.
Check the frets with a fret rocker.
You can get one cheaply (the one in the kit above from Temu is $11 USD). Lots of youtube on how to use it ;-)
Next step is to level. Most kit necks can use a bit of leveling. You can do this with a radius block as TD suggests. I use tend to use a leveling bar, which in my case is an inexpensive aluminum level bar (about 1m in length) with 320 grit sand paper glued to the bottom. Draw a line in the center of each fret with a sharpie. Slide the leveling bar back and forth over the frets until you can see a little shiny line on all of them at the top of the fret. You don't need to bear down on the bar. The weight of the bar is sufficient. Once you see the shiny line at the top of all the frets they will be perfectly flat.
Next step is to crown the flat spots off the fret tops. This you can do with a needle file or a crowning file, or the sand paper trick in the vid below. I use a Baroque Crowning file for this that I got for about $30 on Amazon... I just saw that Ali Express has them for half that.
Here's a video showing the whole process with, and without, a fret crowning file.
https://www.google.com/search?client...r0VR2CdQM,st:0
Next step is to put the strings back on, and do the set up.
The video above is one of four on doing a full set up. There are many of these set up videos, but I like the ones by John Carruthers as well as any. Do all steps in the order of the videos.
Once you have done all that, you should not have the problem with at the 12th fret...or anywhere else ;-)
Last edited by fender3x; 13-02-2025 at 12:11 AM.
Hi guys for your notes.
Just to recap what I've done (previously) - I did the sharpie marker, straight edge, and very gently sand any high frets - it seemed ok at that point. I had to do very little sanding. The little 12th fret b**std has kind of risen a bit.
I may have got my convex and concave slightly wrong - in fact I think I have. I attach a pic where I measured the gap between the string and the actual fretboard. At the head, it's 2.4mm, and the pickup end 2.7mm, on the 12th fret, 3.1mm. In the second pic, my guitar is like example 3, very very slight bow. So it's not too bad?
I won't be able to buy a special crowning file before Finn's birthday (Saturday) but I could use the technique in that video to see if I can take even 1/2 mm off. It should be just a few bits of masking tape and I have 400,600, 1000 sandpaper. (I have found an online store in NZ that actually sells 250mm length of frets so it might be possible to remove the old fret and replace).
So I've done the levelling already and the frets *were* pretty good.
I looked at all four of John's videos. I can do some of the things he's talking about, after filing a little bit.
1. I can (with strings on, I guess), turn the truss nut (using the allen key provided) 1/8th of a turn clockwise to get the last tiny bit of concave out of the neck.
2. My bridge doesn't allow for strings to be individually adjusted for height. I guess I could take the bridge off and pack it up with a thin washer on each side. This would just make the strings even higher?
3. Video 3 talks about filing through the neck nut - I don't think I'm brave enough to do that (I don't have feeler gauges, proper super-thin guitar files etc)
4. Intonation I can do - Pit Bull had a video explaining how to adjust using open strings then on the 12th fret.
Hey Barno
That axe is looking very cool, nice work!
That 12th fret looks like it has become "unstuck" so I think it will probably keep moving about over time through playing and environmental changes etc. (in my limited amateur opinion). I'd say it probably needs to come out and be replaced or reset. If it has been filed to level it before and then is reset, it will probably then be sitting too low compared to its neighbors.
If it were my guitar, I'd take it to Rob Matthews guitar repair in Wellington. He's a great luthier and a top bloke, I highly recommend him. I believe he is operating out of the CBD. You should be able to find him on Facebook to make contact.
I hope that helps!
Hi Moparnut,Hey Barno
That axe is looking very cool, nice work!
That 12th fret looks like it has become "unstuck" so I think it will probably keep moving about over time through playing and environmental changes etc. (in my limited amateur opinion). I'd say it probably needs to come out and be replaced or reset. If it has been filed to level it before and then is reset, it will probably then be sitting too low compared to its neighbors.
If it were my guitar, I'd take it to Rob Matthews guitar repair in Wellington. He's a great luthier and a top bloke, I highly recommend him. I believe he is operating out of the CBD. You should be able to find him on Facebook to make contact.
I hope that helps!
that indeed might be a plan.
My son's birthday is tomorrow, I can give him the guitar with a caveat that it will go for a trip into the CBD for a minor final task.
He's only going to have the guitar for five minutes tomorrow as he and his mates are then likely to get tanked for his birthday. I can just imagine after 18 pints of lager them fooling around with it in the backyard and damaging it.
cheers
Well, the guitar is as done as it can be before the birthday tomorrow. Finn will see to see the guitar then I'll take it off him as he and his mates begin their afternoon-evening etc drinks
In the post above, there's a guy in my city who can just rectify that annoying fret properly, so that's worth doing.
I've learned a load of really interesting useful things in this build process, and might even end up buying a left-hand hollow body kit one day for me. I can use the things I've learned to make it even better.
So, from me now - THANKS! I've really appreciated the advice and patience of people who have posted to my comments and questions, especially Trevor D and fender3x.
Hopefully I'll be on the board again in time!!
Barney
@onekickduck
www.onekickduck.nz
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote