Anyone have any tips on the neck straightness. I am assuming this is a critical point in playability and needs to be dead on for fret leveling.
Yes, the truss rod needs to be adjusted such that the fretboard is "flat". The best to tell is with "notched straight edge". You can buy one (from numerous places) and you can even make your own with an 18" (45cm) steel rule. (google it and you'll find tutorials on making one)
There's also a sticky thread on Levelling Frets in the "How to build your Pit Bull Guitar" forum.