Katana

[Rohan]

Hi guys,

I don't have a false sense about my own.skills but I bought a Katana guitar fret leveller for my first build because the main thing I wanted to do was build a playable guitar.

The problem is that I want a bass guitar as my second build but the bass katana seems permanently unavailable atm... Do you think I could use the guitar version for the bass or should I be looking at other options?

Cheers,
Rohan

[dingobass]

Oh Poo! The Bass Katana is the best in its class...
Fingers crossed it will be back in stock soon as there isn’t anything that comes close.
Now for the work around.
You can use the brass level saddles and substitute the katana with a spirit level.
Place the level doofalackies at the first, eighth and seventeenth frets, balance the spirit level on them and adjust the neck with the truss rod until there are no air gaps visible between the saddles and the level.
If you have self adhesive sandpaper, stick it to the level if not, grab some spray adhesive from your local art store and use this to stick the paper on.
Proceed as normal, but rather than back and forwards movements with the level go side to side, otherwise you will end up with flat spots.
Of course this has to be done without the strings on....
Hope this helps.

[Rohan]

Great workaround DB... If I can't get a hold of the Katana I will give that a shot!

Thanks a lot!

[stan]

wow, we need a DB tips and tricks page, set up in catagories....

[Gavin1393]

Stan, check out the Thread "how to build your Pitbull Guitar" there is plenty of material there.

[Rohan]

Hi Guys,

Was thinking about the Katana and I was not going to do any fret preparation prior to using the Katana. But then I started thinking maybe the Katana would work better on a pre-prepared surface in which case I would be skipping an important step.

So, the question is do I need to do any fret leveling prior to using the Katana or will it do the whole job?

Cheers,
Rohan.

[dingobass]

Hey Rohan,
The Katana will do the whole job for you except for re crowning the frets...

[Rohan]

Thanks DB!

I am now reassured