Learning to fret level was one of my goals during retirement. I have watched a lot of these videos over the last few years. Yours is the best paced, most thorough, with good troubleshooting tips that I have seen. Great job.
I used to watch your channel with a sense of bemusement as I am a long standing luthier. Watching this video really has shown me to be an old snob. This is an excellent video with really clever ideas on fret work, your process is 100% correct and your constant reevaluation of the fret heights with the rocker is wonderful to see. This is an excellent video and even an old dog like me learnt a few clever ideas here. BRAVO>
I work in maintenance for a contact lens manufacturer. We have literally acres of equipment running 24/7. Some is old, most is newer. The newest lines are huge and cost $55M each. When they go down, were have to diagnose and repair to get them back online. You'd be so good at it, I can tell, just from the ways you make tools and create your own methods and procedures to do a better job and do it faster. You're a genius Dan. Thank you for all you do, you're an inspiration!
Great video. I started off using masking tape on the whole neck and last time I just used the same pieces like you do and move them around. Saved me so much time and same end result!
YO!! IVE ONLY BEEN PLAYING 22 MONTHS, BUIL;T 16 GUITARS IN 1 YEAR, SOLD 7 AROUND THE WORLD SO FAR....AND I THOUGHT I WAS NUTS WHEN I TRIED THAT SHARPIE METHOD. THEN USED RED AND GREEM INSTEAD OF BLACK, AND BOOM!! AWESOME STUFF.THANK YOU!!! SORRY ALL CAPS, BUT IM EXCITED. LOL
Good solid video. Finally someone's talking about Fret Guru! I picked up my dagger 2.0 shortly after it was released a couple years ago for $30. That was a third of the price of a Z file and IMO, a better file. If you want to go the extra mile and have those nice ball end frets, they also have a sweet fret end file, and it still goes for about $30.
Long time follower, first time commenter here. (also a fellow "Arizonian"). Your videos are awesome! My guitars and i have benefited immensely from them! I love your frugalness and exploration of cost effectiveness... One suggestion that I have is to utilize the "scrap section" from a local steel/metal supplier before resorting to hardware stores for anything metal related.. like square and round tubing, i -beams, sheet and expanded metal, etc, etc... The steel supplier down the street from me (valley steel @75th Ave and Olive) has a huge yard full of scrap, and sell it for about $1/lb... Anywho, l hope this is helpful. Love the videos! Keep up the great work!
Spectacular Dan, this content is why I support you on Patreon. I’d encourage everyone to toss him anything at all to help him keep making theses vids. It adds up.
Thank You !! I have bought several Harley Benton cheap guitars and now I'm in the process of dressing the frets as they are quite sharp and with hi/low spots in them. The hardest thing that I have found to get rid of is the sprouts on the sides as they are so close to the wood . Thank you for the lessons sir !!
Nice Job, I built a Modern base from a kit. It came out awesome, now I am going to check it. So far no issues. I did an awesome finish, but need to do some shielding. I'm getting some feedback.
I'm not a big bass guy, but I love the looks of that bass. I need to watch more of your vids on fretwork, but even better I was so glad to hear you have a video on making your own neck. I would love to make my own Strat neck with stainless frets and with an Asymetrial curve.. Thanks again. Tim
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and being straight forward. It’s cool to see someone giving the average person info on this stuff without trying to sell you someone else’s over priced over engineered tools. Because as you probably know most of us musicians are working class living paycheck to paycheck and can not afford the high end tools or the cost of an overly priced egotistical luthier. You help us average Joe’s make our low end to mid grade guitars play and feel like high dollar instruments. And you seem to always be in a good mood. It’s refreshing watching your channel please keep doing what you are doing and keep those ideas coming!!!!!
Ha, I learned from a top skilled Luther and he showed me how to build most all of my tools at a fraction of what you guys here are throwing money at. Your not getting a top quality dress with this method.
Great video!! I was working on a Glarry, trying to get the frets leveled as I watched this…man, I wish I’d seen it before I got started. I still got some great tips. Thanks for all the help!!
I'm getting ready to do my first fret level for a guitar I'm putting together. This was by far the most common sense, informative video I've seen, not to mention it is chock full of great tips. I already have the Baroque crowning tool on your recommendation, but I still might plunk down for one of those Fret Guru tools. The ease of use and beautiful job looks astounding. BTW, if nothing else that tip on moving the masking tape up the neck was worth the price of admission alone!
Fret guru file is cheapest on their website would be 55.37 with shipping for me. Starting to get my tools together definetly appreciate all you've shown us.
Another great video Dan. I will confess I haven't done any fretwork on my kit builds, maybe its time to give it a shot. Given me some ideas on how to go.
Excellent video man. Great tips for getting pro results 👍. I'm planning to refret my guitar and this is a nice refresh video on fret leveling. Saved for that last step.
4:38 Yes! We used to sharpen the shop’s precision cutting bits under light and magnification. We found red colouration the easiest to see and witness contact and voids.
Stew Mac doesn't make tools for hobbyist builders looking to DIY a guitar and save. They make pro tools for pro luthiers and charge what the market will bear.
Stewmac has a membership that ranges between free (just last week) up to $ 50 - something per year. Even at the highest price, it beats the Amazon Prime price paid yearly, even in monthly increments. The main benefit of the SM membership is that you'll find they lower their prices for members. The customer service is stellar, the lifetime guarantee and promise to replace whatever doesn't work or breaks with standard use, is what makes it a game changer, if you order a ton of luthier materials as I do. They have a nice collection of wood. If you're a builder, or can offset/substantiate the cost, it makes all the difference. FYI - I DO read all of the worst reviews first. Folks posting the truth about their experience with an item you desire which they've purchased and taken the time to tell the truth about it is the key to not blowing funds unnecessarily. I hope this helps. Much success.
I made my fret rocker(s) from four cut lengths of polished 15mm hardened rod stock. Using those enables me to more accurately find the smaller imperfections in frets.I also use them to roll across frets to feel out irregularities that could affect string bends.
Hey Dan, Nice video. Appreciate your honesty. Here's an idea that may already exists. I fret file with the apex of the inside curve without grit. This would allow for fret metal to be removed up to that point but not removed at the very top of that fret curve. Let me know if this already exists and if it might be valuable. Thx for the content!
Great video man! Some super helpful tips in here, especially your description of establishing fallaway above the twelfth fret. One thought I wanted to share, especially for anyone working on a neck that might be a little less expensive, is that folks might want to check their neck for high frets before beginning leveling to ensure that they don’t have a fret that is not seated in the slot properly. A small dab of thin super glue will usually hold these down nicely. If unchecked early in the leveling process, they can turn into a real problem. You mentioned that on most necks you actually apply a few layers of finish, which will have a similar function to gluing the frets down, and is a great way to solve this problem.
I think when making sure the leveling bar is flat you should be moving it in a figure 8 motion. Going straight back and forth can induce some taper from your stroke. Figure 8 makes sure it is leveled from all directions.
Hey Dan, Happy New Year! Great video, as usual. Hope all is well with you & the fam? I often go back & watch your old videos, "for grins of corse!" Still learn something new. Thanks for the new methods. But you know me, I'm old school. I'm gonna stick to my old ways(timely). It just seems to work better for me! Have two Broque fret files, because of your suggestion & love them! Plus learned how to level, crown & polish from your channel. Haven't looked back since, doing cool things. Don't plan to change my method. But it's okay, I'll take that time. It's SO worth it! Peace be with you brother...
Nice fret ends for just a half round file and sandpaper rolling. These days with the onset of winter I find myself basically doing hemispherical fret ends with a fret end dressing file as it makes the guitar largely immune to fret sprout. I don't even bother with the 1/4 round and half round files anymore. I still use a half round for crowning, like you do. And yeah you do need that sandpaper rolling to get the sharp bit at the center of the fret end down by the fingerboard.
That was awesome fret work brother. I'll be grabbing that file for certain.. Thanks for sharing the new method..pretty much how I do mine. And beauty bass build..👍👍
I bought a 12" radius block so I can fret level my reverend, it works pretty well since its 12" everywhere and it helps keep the curve. I have a flat beam too thats better for my compound radius necks
Wow Dan. Really good time saving improvements in this one. You have come a long way in being one of the better guitar builders on RUclips. Very jazzy of you indeed.
Wow. Thanks Dan. I immediately ordered the dagger. This thing will be so useful. I did my neck the way you used to do it in your earlier videos with mostly DIY equipment. It was good but I want it to be perfect. Now with this new video and tool, I will be able to produce professional results. I've already worked on four guitars with what I've learned from you and I love it! I love music and guitars (and guns by the way) but my dreams of being a rock star have realistically faded away with time. These new skills give me a chance to stay involved with what I love. Thanks again for your inspiration.
Try the Fret Kisser by stewmac. Identify the high frets with a rocker and just do the high frets. You want to avoid taking material away as much as possible when you can.. The Fret Kisser achieves that.
Very useful, thanks! I got some chocking frets on my tele and it seems to me that the issue occurs after the 12th fret or so, as it looks that the part of the neck around the neck/body connection is raised slightly. I've got it pretty straight from the frets 2 - 10ish, but then the gap starts to appear, and the last notch of the straight edge sits back on the fretboard on the 21st fret, and it closes the gap. I was not sure what to do, should I risk with sanding down the fall away area, but this was encouraging, I believe I will try it.
During the tapering you actually masked the 8th fret, not the 9th one. And I'm interested if you mean that you can sand out Sharpie until the 12th fret or actually the 11th fret following the same logics?
Hey Dan, great job sharing your methods for fretwork! I have the Dagger 2.0, and can attest that it's an amazing tool! I found that you can also get a lot of tooling/scratches off by doing super light pressure strokes (feels like you're polishing with it)... Also, thanks for the other videos on your journey with CNCs. I'm headed down that path and hope to post some videos of my journey. Happy New Year!
Thanks for the idea of using a finger to index the Dagger fret file. It's a great file but it doesn't have the cool case that the Baroque one has. You can't have too many fret files.
I make 3 string cigar box guitars and even though a number of cbg builders are fine with rougher builds with rougher frets ("it's just a stick thru a cigar box, it's not supposed to be fancy!") I want my fretboards and frets to be the best possible! So far I concentrate on just dressing the fret ends, I don't level, recrown or polish ("too time consuming! Instead of $150 a cbg I'd have to raise them to $200!"), but your video has me rethinking the process!! Too time consuming? Maybe I should think of it as an investment into smoother, more playable fretboards!
Good ideas. One thing I don't understand is how you can end up with high frets AFTER doing the leveling with long straight beam. Is the beam bending while you sand?
In theory you are correct…in reality…idk why. Most of the time they are fine once you level them the first time, but sometimes they aren’t. I don’t know, I’m not a doctor.
Guy lost on backroad: hey buddy you know how to get back to the highway? Me: well there's the right way *lowers sunglasses* and there's the Dan Thompson way
I learn from Guns and Guitars, Dave's World of Fun Stuff, Boudreau Guitars, Dylan Talks Tone, Darrell Braun (you should see my Assassin Squier, it's nicer than his!), Texas Toast Guitars, The Bald Shredder, Gelvin, Brad Angove, Landon Bailey (He's a Hoot!), Six String Supplies, Rosa String Works, Matthew Scott, Sam Deeks (longest videos ever!) and StewMac vids. I get something from each of your videos, weather good or, not so good. I search a particular task I'm tackling from my favorite guitar builders/modders and meld the best bits from each, then do the task from what I learned from them and the work turns out to be Luthier-like! A bit of practice can produce excellence from what you guys have shared. I can now make super nice nuts and saddles, (I do cheat, using an inspection microscope along with using a jewelers saw with differing sizes of wound string pieces to get nicely, rounded slots!). Thank You and keep putting up the good stuff!
Question: Would double sided tape work to stick the sandpaper to the leveling beam? Question: What would be the standard for ascertaining a flat surface, a flat edge maybe? I have some granite countertops. Are they reliably flat? Digging your channel man. Lots of good tips for newbies at guitar setup like me. I have played many years but always payed for setups. Thanx
I bought a cheap short scale PJ bass made by Mitchell during the black Friday at Guitar Center. The pickups surprisingly have a lot of bark for a cheap little bass. And I'm really diggin' how easy and fast it is to play on a short scale bass. But the fret work was absolutely atrocious. They attempted to level the frets but didn't even both to crown them and the frets were still unlevel at a few spots. After I got everything perfectly level I used the Fret Guru to crown the frets in a jiffy. Now this little $100 bass plays perfectly. I can attest to how quickly Fret Guru can fix some truly mangled fret work. The crowns of the frets were almost 1 mm wide in some spots. Now got a little thin strip on top of a nicely beveled crown. I would definitely recommend the Fret Guru.
I love that bass but think visually I feel it would look better and tune easier if you space the tuners out just a little more. When I mean tune easier, I mean winding the new strings on the guitar. I feel you will bang into the other tuner next to it. Love the bass and really loved this video as the one thing I dread the most when building guitars is leveling frets but this was very helpful and well explained.
Thanks for the tips Dan. I am a 50+ Year Pro bass player and Retired now and I am finally starting to do my own set ups and maintenance on my guitars and basses. It always seemed that I never had time to do this kind of stuff before with work and family, etc. I've been watching a ton of RUclips videos on this stuff and I really like your channel and your tips. Good Job. .Keep up the good work please. One quick question for you if you don't mind. Do you feel that the 3M Vinyl masking tape works the best when working on your neck during a complete fret job..? I've looked at Frog Tape and just general Painters Tape as well as the 3M Vinyl tape but I'm not sure which one actually works the best so why not ask someone who knows. Thanks for answering my question Dan......I do Appreciate It. Doug Farwig
Hi Dan, have you ever had a fret low enough that you had to add solder to it or replace it? Or do you just knock the rest down to the lowest fret? I'd love to see one of your fret jobs setup and plotted on a plek machine. I bet your technique is better than a plek. There's a Sweetwater plek review video and the owner noticed that the crown is much different on the frets that needed to be knocked down more. I wonder if they have different tools for different crown shapes and the operator just forgot to check? But i didn't get a good feeling watching the whole process. It's basically a programmed touch coordinate measuring machine combined with a mill and modified for use on guitar necks. It seems that there's a lot of knowledge needed for the operator in order to get it right. They showed a couple totally mangled necks, mistakes they had made during training apparently. For the $300 they charge I'll just build a sanding plane like you built, and i already bought the file you use. Thank you:)
How do you keep fret dust from falling into the cracks of the fingerboard and leaving a black stain by not taping off the fingerboard? Is the fingerboard finished?
Brilliant video ,I'm going to try this out on a cheap bass I borrowed at a Jam night to see how good I can get it , At around 9:45 when you take the masking tape off to give it a quick sand with the beam , you now have a fall off on the fret board , are you just putting more Pressure on to sand the marks out at the fall off end knowing that the beam is completely flat ?
Picked up the Dagger on your suggestion. I know you said you're using a 36-in beam for bass guitar. What length would you suggest for six string? Thank you. *Edit - I guess using the StuMac scale then the guitar beam would be 18" and 9" for uke/mando/etc.
Hello sir. Great video.. Thank you for that. 2 questions. 1: Does this method work with stainless frets? I have a warmoth neck I just purchased that has 6100 jumbo frets which I like. I like tall frets at least and I wanted big frets because even if they need leveled they will have a lot of tallness left. 2: Is the falloff at the last few frets really needed ? I ask because I always thought I liked the neck almost as straight as I can get it .. I then adjust the nut and the bridge so that the strings are almost level or the same distance as much as possible from the frets as much as possible. Hope that made sense.. In other words, it allows me to get a really low action. I don't like too low of an action, and the test I use is if I can get a pinch harmonic. If not, I raise the action. Thanks again. Great stuff and great tools and wonderful information and video sir! Tim Have you seen the new Smith and Wesson 9mm carbine? It looks great.. I'm so glad gun companies are making these as I love carbines for home defense in pistol calibers because I can shoot so much more accurate with a rifle like anyone because of extra sight radius and or red dot, etc.. I realize there are reasons for a handgun and I have those too, but I've never been comfortable with a red dot on a handgun and it makes them hard to carry! Great channel and again thanks my friend.. Tim (Southern Central Indiana) The heartland! USA.
Learning to fret level was one of my goals during retirement. I have watched a lot of these videos over the last few years. Yours is the best paced, most thorough, with good troubleshooting tips that I have seen. Great job.
Thanks!
My 1st refret was on a $15. Harmony acoustic. I surprised myself how good it came out.
I've now done 3 refrets and a few level and crowns.
Thanks Dan.
I used to watch your channel with a sense of bemusement as I am a long standing luthier. Watching this video really has shown me to be an old snob. This is an excellent video with really clever ideas on fret work, your process is 100% correct and your constant reevaluation of the fret heights with the rocker is wonderful to see. This is an excellent video and even an old dog like me learnt a few clever ideas here. BRAVO>
Thank you for the encouragement! Made my day
I have been building Diy Kits for the past 8 years thanks to you. Every Diy Kit I get, your fret work method has worked like a charm.
Your tip for the 12th fret fall off, is amazing! I've used it on 2 necks, this week. You're doing a great service to the guitar community 🇺🇸👍🏼
I work in maintenance for a contact lens manufacturer. We have literally acres of equipment running 24/7. Some is old, most is newer. The newest lines are huge and cost $55M each. When they go down, were have to diagnose and repair to get them back online. You'd be so good at it, I can tell, just from the ways you make tools and create your own methods and procedures to do a better job and do it faster. You're a genius Dan. Thank you for all you do, you're an inspiration!
wholesome comment is wholesome
This is a weird comment but also really nice.
Moving the tape from fret to fret is simple genius lol! Thank you kindly 👍🏼🙏🏼👊🏼
Great video. I started off using masking tape on the whole neck and last time I just used the same pieces like you do and move them around. Saved me so much time and same end result!
YO!! IVE ONLY BEEN PLAYING 22 MONTHS, BUIL;T 16 GUITARS IN 1 YEAR, SOLD 7 AROUND THE WORLD SO FAR....AND I THOUGHT I WAS NUTS WHEN I TRIED THAT SHARPIE METHOD. THEN USED RED AND GREEM INSTEAD OF BLACK, AND BOOM!! AWESOME STUFF.THANK YOU!!! SORRY ALL CAPS, BUT IM EXCITED. LOL
Love those simple , cheap and effective tips.... makes life alot easier.... thanks Dan 🤘
Yeah, good info Man!!! Shortening jobs = good time management for the workers. Power to the people!!
Wow, thanks for this, I just did my first ever fret job….it turned out great, thanks to this video.
I followed this method on my cheap Squier, and now if feels really, really nice to play. Now I'm going to do on my other two guitars as well 🙂
Good solid video. Finally someone's talking about Fret Guru! I picked up my dagger 2.0 shortly after it was released a couple years ago for $30. That was a third of the price of a Z file and IMO, a better file. If you want to go the extra mile and have those nice ball end frets, they also have a sweet fret end file, and it still goes for about $30.
You are the Wizard of the Universe Man !! Thanks a lot for sharing all your wisdom. Cheers from Córdoba, Argentina.
Long time follower, first time commenter here. (also a fellow "Arizonian"). Your videos are awesome! My guitars and i have benefited immensely from them! I love your frugalness and exploration of cost effectiveness... One suggestion that I have is to utilize the "scrap section" from a local steel/metal supplier before resorting to hardware stores for anything metal related.. like square and round tubing, i -beams, sheet and expanded metal, etc, etc... The steel supplier down the street from me (valley steel @75th Ave and Olive) has a huge yard full of scrap, and sell it for about $1/lb... Anywho, l hope this is helpful. Love the videos! Keep up the great work!
Spectacular Dan, this content is why I support you on Patreon. I’d encourage everyone to toss him anything at all to help him keep making theses vids. It adds up.
Thanks so much for your support!
Thank You !! I have bought several Harley Benton cheap guitars and now I'm in the process of dressing the frets as they are quite sharp and with hi/low spots in them. The hardest thing that I have found to get rid of is the sprouts on the sides as they are so close to the wood . Thank you for the lessons sir !!
What an amazing end result. That bass looks and sounds fantastic, Dan.
Thank you!
Nice Job, I built a Modern base from a kit. It came out awesome, now I am going to check it. So far no issues. I did an awesome finish, but need to do some shielding. I'm getting some feedback.
I'm not a big bass guy, but I love the looks of that bass. I need to watch more of your vids on fretwork, but even better I was so glad to hear you have a video on making your own neck. I would love to make my own Strat neck with stainless frets and with an Asymetrial curve..
Thanks again.
Tim
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and being straight forward. It’s cool to see someone giving the average person info on this stuff without trying to sell you someone else’s over priced over engineered tools. Because as you probably know most of us musicians are working class living paycheck to paycheck and can not afford the high end tools or the cost of an overly priced egotistical luthier. You help us average Joe’s make our low end to mid grade guitars play and feel like high dollar instruments. And you seem to always be in a good mood. It’s refreshing watching your channel please keep doing what you are doing and keep those ideas coming!!!!!
Thank you so much for the kind words! I’m glad my videos bring that kind of value to you. That’s my goal!
Ha, I learned from a top skilled Luther and he showed me how to build most all of my tools at a fraction of what you guys here are throwing money at. Your not getting a top quality dress with this method.
Great video!! I was working on a Glarry, trying to get the frets leveled as I watched this…man, I wish I’d seen it before I got started. I still got some great tips. Thanks for all the help!!
Always, always, always so useful. Thanks Dan, so comprehensive !
Thanks hextray!
I'm getting ready to do my first fret level for a guitar I'm putting together. This was by far the most common sense, informative video I've seen, not to mention it is chock full of great tips. I already have the Baroque crowning tool on your recommendation, but I still might plunk down for one of those Fret Guru tools. The ease of use and beautiful job looks astounding.
BTW, if nothing else that tip on moving the masking tape up the neck was worth the price of admission alone!
A lot of really smart trade secrets in this video. Thanks for sharing.
Fret guru file is cheapest on their website would be 55.37 with shipping for me. Starting to get my tools together definetly appreciate all you've shown us.
Another great video Dan. I will confess I haven't done any fretwork on my kit builds, maybe its time to give it a shot. Given me some ideas on how to go.
Excellent video man. Great tips for getting pro results 👍. I'm planning to refret my guitar and this is a nice refresh video on fret leveling. Saved for that last step.
4:38 Yes! We used to sharpen the shop’s precision cutting bits under light and magnification. We found red colouration the easiest to see and witness contact and voids.
Dude dude dude....thank you so much. Rock on bro.
Rock on!
I use the fret guru sanding beam and fret guru file, they work awesome! Great ideas here GnG!
Thank you for providing alternatives to StewMac. It blows my mind that they charge so much for a hobby that’s meant to save money
Nothing wrong with stew mac, they are just geared more for professionals. If there’s a cheaper alternative for hobbyist I’ll find it!
Stew Mac doesn't make tools for hobbyist builders looking to DIY a guitar and save. They make pro tools for pro luthiers and charge what the market will bear.
Stewmac has a membership that ranges between free (just last week) up to $ 50 - something per year. Even at the highest price, it beats the Amazon Prime price paid yearly, even in monthly increments. The main benefit of the SM membership is that you'll find they lower their prices for members. The customer service is stellar, the lifetime guarantee and promise to replace whatever doesn't work or breaks with standard use, is what makes it a game changer, if you order a ton of luthier materials as I do. They have a nice collection of wood. If you're a builder, or can offset/substantiate the cost, it makes all the difference.
FYI - I DO read all of the worst reviews first. Folks posting the truth about their experience with an item you desire which they've purchased and taken the time to tell the truth about it is the key to not blowing funds unnecessarily.
I hope this helps. Much success.
I made my fret rocker(s) from four cut lengths of polished 15mm hardened rod stock. Using those enables me to more accurately find the smaller imperfections in frets.I also use them to roll across frets to feel out irregularities that could affect string bends.
Hey Dan, Nice video. Appreciate your honesty. Here's an idea that may already exists. I fret file with the apex of the inside curve without grit. This would allow for fret metal to be removed up to that point but not removed at the very top of that fret curve. Let me know if this already exists and if it might be valuable. Thx for the content!
Still a so nice inspiration from you, Dan.
Several frets leveling and refretting I've done, following your advices.
Greeting from France.
Great video man! Some super helpful tips in here, especially your description of establishing fallaway above the twelfth fret.
One thought I wanted to share, especially for anyone working on a neck that might be a little less expensive, is that folks might want to check their neck for high frets before beginning leveling to ensure that they don’t have a fret that is not seated in the slot properly. A small dab of thin super glue will usually hold these down nicely. If unchecked early in the leveling process, they can turn into a real problem.
You mentioned that on most necks you actually apply a few layers of finish, which will have a similar function to gluing the frets down, and is a great way to solve this problem.
Thanks for adding this tip!
I have a new cheap neck for my first guitar project arriving soon, could you elaborate on what you mean by a high fret, and how would I repair it?
I really like the stuff you do! You should check out Warmoth or Allparts for necks. You building nice basses put some necks on them that you'll love.
Thanks for the tips Dan. 100% agree with coloured sharpie. I use blue.
Thank you for the awesome tips ! Will be looking for known flat surface's to make that tool! Great work !
I think when making sure the leveling bar is flat you should be moving it in a figure 8 motion. Going straight back and forth can induce some taper from your stroke. Figure 8 makes sure it is leveled from all directions.
Really appreciate these videos All my cheap guitars play great now
That 3 foot bar is really interesting for fret leveling. I'll have to think about something like that soon.
Excellent video, man. Really appreciate this info.
Hey Dan, Happy New Year! Great video, as usual. Hope all is well with you & the fam?
I often go back & watch your old videos, "for grins of corse!" Still learn something new.
Thanks for the new methods. But you know me, I'm old school. I'm gonna stick to my old ways(timely).
It just seems to work better for me! Have two Broque fret files, because of your suggestion & love them!
Plus learned how to level, crown & polish from your channel. Haven't looked back since, doing cool things.
Don't plan to change my method. But it's okay, I'll take that time. It's SO worth it! Peace be with you brother...
Dan, thank you very much for sharing this information. I think I'll get one of those Fret Guru files and give it a try on a problematic tele copy.
Another great video, Dan.
EXCELLENT how to!!!!!
LOL to the Bell curve
Nice fret ends for just a half round file and sandpaper rolling. These days with the onset of winter I find myself basically doing hemispherical fret ends with a fret end dressing file as it makes the guitar largely immune to fret sprout. I don't even bother with the 1/4 round and half round files anymore. I still use a half round for crowning, like you do. And yeah you do need that sandpaper rolling to get the sharp bit at the center of the fret end down by the fingerboard.
That was awesome fret work brother.
I'll be grabbing that file for certain..
Thanks for sharing the new method..pretty much how I do mine.
And beauty bass build..👍👍
Awesome, thank you!
Thx Dan, You’re the Best!
Thanks Dan, a lot of great info in this video.
Very informative. I wanna do this for my own guitars because getting it done is very expensive
Super cool man. Thanks for all the tips and whatnot!!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience! Awesome video!
Glad it was helpful!
I bought a 12" radius block so I can fret level my reverend, it works pretty well since its 12" everywhere and it helps keep the curve. I have a flat beam too thats better for my compound radius necks
a radius block is never a good idea for leveling. It takes more off the ends than the center.
This is a great! Thanks for posting this!
Thnx Dan from Arizona
Very good video. 🎉
Wow Dan. Really good time saving improvements in this one. You have come a long way in being one of the better guitar builders on RUclips. Very jazzy of you indeed.
Most excellent. Very useful info here.....
Wow. Thanks Dan. I immediately ordered the dagger. This thing will be so useful. I did my neck the way you used to do it in your earlier videos with mostly DIY equipment. It was good but I want it to be perfect. Now with this new video and tool, I will be able to produce professional results. I've already worked on four guitars with what I've learned from you and I love it! I love music and guitars (and guns by the way) but my dreams of being a rock star have realistically faded away with time. These new skills give me a chance to stay involved with what I love. Thanks again for your inspiration.
Got me wanting a Dan Thompson myself.
Try the Fret Kisser by stewmac. Identify the high frets with a rocker and just do the high frets. You want to avoid taking material away as much as possible when you can.. The Fret Kisser achieves that.
Nice idea thank you sir for sharing your idea
Grear video ! I play more guitar than bass and need to go through your other videos to see how you level much smaller guitar frets. Thanks, Dan!!!
The principle is the same wether bass, guitar, ukulele, any fretted instrument!
Watch the Dremel on the frets. If the fret gets hot they will lift. Thanks for video!
You’re right! I said that in the video 😉
I use a stew mac z-file and it works great but when that dies I'll be checking out the dagger
Thanks so much for this! Too bad I didn't see this video after many years of "sub-par" fret leveling.
Very useful, thanks! I got some chocking frets on my tele and it seems to me that the issue occurs after the 12th fret or so, as it looks that the part of the neck around the neck/body connection is raised slightly. I've got it pretty straight from the frets 2 - 10ish, but then the gap starts to appear, and the last notch of the straight edge sits back on the fretboard on the 21st fret, and it closes the gap. I was not sure what to do, should I risk with sanding down the fall away area, but this was encouraging, I believe I will try it.
During the tapering you actually masked the 8th fret, not the 9th one. And I'm interested if you mean that you can sand out Sharpie until the 12th fret or actually the 11th fret following the same logics?
Another great informative video as always ..
And by the way happy new year to the Gunns Family ..
From the FatBob Family in New Zealand...
✌😎👍
Happy new year!
Hey Dan, great job sharing your methods for fretwork! I have the Dagger 2.0, and can attest that it's an amazing tool! I found that you can also get a lot of tooling/scratches off by doing super light pressure strokes (feels like you're polishing with it)... Also, thanks for the other videos on your journey with CNCs. I'm headed down that path and hope to post some videos of my journey. Happy New Year!
Very cool!
Thanks for the idea of using a finger to index the Dagger fret file. It's a great file but it doesn't have the cool case that the Baroque one has. You can't have too many fret files.
Great work. Can't fault this technique. The other side of this particular coin is the nut slots, which I assume have been covered in a separate video.
The nut slots are part of the setup, not the fretwork. And yes I do have a video on how to setup your bass like a pro!
EXCELLENT...Thanks a lot!!!!!!!!!!
I like flat neck and flat radius and 1.5mm action
And that, Sirs, is how you make a great RUclips video.
Wow, thanks!
I make 3 string cigar box guitars and even though a number of cbg builders are fine with rougher builds with rougher frets ("it's just a stick thru a cigar box, it's not supposed to be fancy!") I want my fretboards and frets to be the best possible! So far I concentrate on just dressing the fret ends, I don't level, recrown or polish ("too time consuming! Instead of $150 a cbg I'd have to raise them to $200!"), but your video has me rethinking the process!! Too time consuming? Maybe I should think of it as an investment into smoother, more playable fretboards!
I love this channel
Good ideas. One thing I don't understand is how you can end up with high frets AFTER doing the leveling with long straight beam. Is the beam bending while you sand?
In theory you are correct…in reality…idk why. Most of the time they are fine once you level them the first time, but sometimes they aren’t. I don’t know, I’m not a doctor.
Guy lost on backroad: hey buddy you know how to get back to the highway?
Me: well there's the right way *lowers sunglasses* and there's the Dan Thompson way
I learn from Guns and Guitars, Dave's World of Fun Stuff, Boudreau Guitars, Dylan Talks Tone, Darrell Braun (you should see my Assassin Squier, it's nicer than his!), Texas Toast Guitars, The Bald Shredder, Gelvin, Brad Angove, Landon Bailey (He's a Hoot!), Six String Supplies, Rosa String Works, Matthew Scott, Sam Deeks (longest videos ever!) and StewMac vids.
I get something from each of your videos, weather good or, not so good.
I search a particular task I'm tackling from my favorite guitar builders/modders and
meld the best bits from each, then do the task from what I learned from them and
the work turns out to be Luthier-like!
A bit of practice can produce excellence from what you guys have shared.
I can now make super nice nuts and saddles, (I do cheat, using an inspection microscope along with using a jewelers saw with differing sizes of wound string pieces to get nicely, rounded slots!).
Thank You and keep putting up the good stuff!
Question: Would double sided tape work to stick the sandpaper to the leveling beam?
Question: What would be the standard for ascertaining a flat surface, a flat edge maybe? I have some granite countertops. Are they reliably flat?
Digging your channel man. Lots of good tips for newbies at guitar setup like me. I have played many years but always payed for setups. Thanx
Thanks for sharing some useful knowledge. And I'm going to visit FretGuru now. 🥂 cheers
Good stuff!!
I bought a cheap short scale PJ bass made by Mitchell during the black Friday at Guitar Center. The pickups surprisingly have a lot of bark for a cheap little bass. And I'm really diggin' how easy and fast it is to play on a short scale bass. But the fret work was absolutely atrocious. They attempted to level the frets but didn't even both to crown them and the frets were still unlevel at a few spots. After I got everything perfectly level I used the Fret Guru to crown the frets in a jiffy. Now this little $100 bass plays perfectly. I can attest to how quickly Fret Guru can fix some truly mangled fret work. The crowns of the frets were almost 1 mm wide in some spots. Now got a little thin strip on top of a nicely beveled crown. I would definitely recommend the Fret Guru.
Thanks for affirming my opinion!
Hello,That is a very clean beautiful low action bass,i wish i could have one someday.👌😅😂
I love that bass but think visually I feel it would look better and tune easier if you space the tuners out just a little more. When I mean tune easier, I mean winding the new strings on the guitar. I feel you will bang into the other tuner next to it. Love the bass and really loved this video as the one thing I dread the most when building guitars is leveling frets but this was very helpful and well explained.
Works well though
Love your videos, just curious if you knew there's no t in across?
Thanks for the tips Dan. I am a 50+ Year Pro bass player and Retired now and I am finally starting to do my own set ups and maintenance on my guitars and basses. It always seemed that I never had time to do this kind of stuff before with work and family, etc. I've been watching a ton of RUclips videos on this stuff and I really like your channel and your tips. Good Job. .Keep up the good work please. One quick question for you if you don't mind. Do you feel that the 3M Vinyl masking tape works the best when working on your neck during a complete fret job..? I've looked at Frog Tape and just general Painters Tape as well as the 3M Vinyl tape but I'm not sure which one actually works the best so why not ask someone who knows. Thanks for answering my question Dan......I do Appreciate It. Doug Farwig
Hi Dan, have you ever had a fret low enough that you had to add solder to it or replace it? Or do you just knock the rest down to the lowest fret?
I'd love to see one of your fret jobs setup and plotted on a plek machine. I bet your technique is better than a plek. There's a Sweetwater plek review video and the owner noticed that the crown is much different on the frets that needed to be knocked down more. I wonder if they have different tools for different crown shapes and the operator just forgot to check? But i didn't get a good feeling watching the whole process. It's basically a programmed touch coordinate measuring machine combined with a mill and modified for use on guitar necks. It seems that there's a lot of knowledge needed for the operator in order to get it right. They showed a couple totally mangled necks, mistakes they had made during training apparently. For the $300 they charge I'll just build a sanding plane like you built, and i already bought the file you use. Thank you:)
How do you keep fret dust from falling into the cracks of the fingerboard and leaving a black stain by not taping off the fingerboard? Is the fingerboard finished?
learned to fret level on a gibson tribute t. now I own more money in stew mac tools then I do the guitar lol. I radius tool is handy also.
Where would you tape on a 20 fret acoustic for it to taper off due to neck bow
Brilliant video ,I'm going to try this out on a cheap bass I borrowed at a Jam night to see how good I can get it , At around 9:45 when you take the masking tape off to give it a quick sand with the beam , you now have a fall off on the fret board , are you just putting more Pressure on to sand the marks out at the fall off end knowing that the beam is completely flat ?
Yes, kinda a rolling action as you transition from flat to fall off
Picked up the Dagger on your suggestion. I know you said you're using a 36-in beam for bass guitar. What length would you suggest for six string? Thank you.
*Edit - I guess using the StuMac scale then the guitar beam would be 18" and 9" for uke/mando/etc.
Hello sir.
Great video.. Thank you for that.
2 questions.
1: Does this method work with stainless frets? I have a warmoth neck I just purchased that has 6100 jumbo frets which I like. I like tall frets at least and I wanted big frets because even if they need leveled they will have a lot of tallness left.
2: Is the falloff at the last few frets really needed ? I ask because I always thought I liked the neck almost as straight as I can get it .. I then adjust the nut and the bridge so that the strings are almost level or the same distance as much as possible from the frets as much as possible. Hope that made sense.. In other words, it allows me to get a really low action. I don't like too low of an action, and the test I use is if I can get a pinch harmonic. If not, I raise the action.
Thanks again. Great stuff and great tools and wonderful information and video sir!
Tim
Have you seen the new Smith and Wesson 9mm carbine? It looks great.. I'm so glad gun companies are making these as I love carbines for home defense in pistol calibers because I can shoot so much more accurate with a rifle like anyone because of extra sight radius and or red dot, etc.. I realize there are reasons for a handgun and I have those too, but I've never been comfortable with a red dot on a handgun and it makes them hard to carry!
Great channel and again thanks my friend..
Tim (Southern Central Indiana) The heartland! USA.
Does the metal wool scratch the fret after polishing ?