Viewing entries tagged
fret level

Fret level & dress :: 1989 Sadowsky Jazz Bass [8.8 lbs]

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Fret level & dress :: 1989 Sadowsky Jazz Bass [8.8 lbs]

This sweet 27 year old Sadowsky J-bass has been through the shop before and this time in for some high / loose frets.  Before leveling the frets, I glued and clamped down all of the frets to ensure they did not move.  On rosewood fingerboards my glue of choice is thin superglue.  This was a finished maple fingerboard so superglue can make a mess quickly.  I opted for slightly thinned down yellow glue to penetrate down into the slot and easily clean up.  Now the frets are ready to be leveled, crowned and polished.  This player prefers electric guitar action (ie low) so precise fretwork is critical.

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Fret level & recrown :: Fender Custom Telecaster HH

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Fret level & recrown :: Fender Custom Telecaster HH

A custom neck through Tele with dual humbuckers in for a fret dress.  Most fret levels that come through the shop are done to correct buzzing issues.  This player has a good ear and the flat spots in the jumbo frets were causing intonation issues for him.  With a wider fret, the fretted note's contact point gets pushed more towards the bridge as the fret looses it's crown when compared to narrow fret wire.  Leveling out the divots and recrowning restores the string's contact point to the center of the fret slot to provide improved intonation.

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Worn out frets :: 2010 Chubbuck Mousa 001

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Worn out frets :: 2010 Chubbuck Mousa 001

Six years of heavy daily playing has this guy back in the shop for new frets.  I love how well this guitar has held up over the years, especially with how heavily Andy Mowatt gigs.  Below you can see it's little brother Mousa 003 on the bench just before the neck was glued to the body.

Videos from the daily vlog of pulling the old frets and then leveling, crowning and fret end dressing of the new ones.

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Uneven frets :: 2015 Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II Pro/NA [6.9 lbs]

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Uneven frets :: 2015 Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II Pro/NA [6.9 lbs]

This Epiphone archtop came in for a setup along with a full fret level.  The fixed-top archtop bridge also needed to be properly compensated to keep the flatwound strings playing in tune.  During the final setup I found this annoying B note sympathetic vibration that was tracked down to the bridge tone cap physically vibrating against the pot.  This was a first for me!  Just glad I figured it out as rattles can drive you insane.

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