Episode 108 How I Spot Level, Recrown And Polish Guitar Frets 

Error!!!! Always all frets in one line!! Never individually!! This is crap, not serious work. Then I have to correct just such bungling. 🤦‍♂️

Excellent video! Exactly the way I was taught by a master luthier. The only nugget I might add is to tape off your pick-ups before leveling. The metal shavings have a way of finding the magnets. Another way to cut down on the fine metal particles is to use scotch-brite pads instead of steel wool. Again, awesome video. Thanks for the detailed information.

Thank you sir 🙏..... For your time and your knowledge.... Your appreciated !!!!

Good tip on the edges of the triangular file

This was the best video on this that I have been able to find, and I've been through a lot. Great attention to detail. I would also recommend that people be sure to apply a good bit of painters tape and completely cover your pickups beforehand or you'll have a fun long time trying to get the metal shavings and steel wool off of those magnets :)

This was great, but as a tool and die maker/ mold maker always clean between grits of steel wool or sand paper as to not drag heavy grit back into the lighter grit.

Easily the best video on this subject , he explained so well that even a idiot like me understood.

Hi Chris, I am a former orthopaedic specialist, so guitar builds are one of my favourite areas because there are a lot of similarities between both specialities which is the biomechanics and I have been watching your channel for a while and the reason is mainly the way you are thinking and explaining your thoughts. I really enjoying them please keep the good work and I know sometimes we have to understand that not all people are thinking the same and are so open to varieties of thoughts at the same time. However the results are the main proof of our practice and thoughts. Thank you again kind Regards from ENGLAND UK.👍

damn he the Bob Ross of fret leveling...great video!

This is such a nice video. Very detailed and I can tell that you’re mindful of the small details that us beginners wouldn’t know.

Loved the good tip for grinding off the sharp edges of files! ( Their ALL kissin the grinder!) I have changed the file for 400- 600 sandpapers wrapped on a piece of foam for spot levelling. Goin down slow! Great Video Cheers!

I'm so happy to explained what a crown really is. Other "tutors" had left me with the impression that it was a little ridge across the top.

Thank you for taking the time to get a good close up and focused shot with your camera.

Those 2 first minutes gave me the best advice to know if I have to recrown my frets. Thanks !

Perfect timing for me, I just finished a re-fret on a scalloped Brazilian rosewood fretboard. I found two spots about two strings wide a slight (barely noticeable) high spot after crowning and polishing. The scalloped board was chippy and I had to meticulously re-construct many fret slots. I leveled the board the way you checked for high spots with a rocker. Came close to perfect, but I want to level those 2 high spots, seeing as this isn't horseshoes or hand grenades. Thanks for the tutorial.

This is so encouraging...thankyou for sharing this flat file technique. Was always dis-couraged by people saying it was necessary to run the whole board....my common sense always disagreed....and the same with needing a $50-$100 crown file. Using a sharpie will help to visualize my efforts. I am encouraged to fix those two tiny spots that have bothered me....and if it goes easy (which I feel confident of now) ...ill check my other guitars.

Awesome video! Thanks for your straight, no fluff, process description and techniques. I am new to performing some.of these actions on my guitars and this video is precisely what I needed to become proficient.

I did this twice now and got great results!

Excellent ... Very informative, clear narrative and quality video.... Just what I needed! Cheers 😊

Thank you! Best explanation and demo I've been able to find.

good explanations of what you're doing and why combined with good camera placement makes this one of the best and most informative videos I have EVER seen on RU-vid. fine work, Chris! and thanks.

This really helped provide a lot of insight into what I should take care and pay attention to for my next mini guitar build project thank you so much.

Great tutorial, it feels like a proper class.

Thanks, I really enjoy your clear, detailed, descriptions of the way you approach every given build issue...

I really appreciate the clear explanations and up close detailed shots that you put in your videos.

Many thanks Chris, hugely helpful video. I appreciate the detail, pointers and hints all along the process--as well as the time it takes you to do these videos. This is an invaluable addition to the guitarist community's online library.

thank you...... a practical accurate process!!! your videos are wonderful!! i learned a lot. i will see the rest of them as soon as my time permits! thanks again!!

Just the video I needed today. I’ll approach it slowly. Thank you 👍

Exceptional Explanation!!💥🎯💯

Great teacher, explainer , and super knowledgeable

Excellent. Thank you very much. Wonderful instruction.

Great clear demo. I’ll give it a go.🎸🕊

I honestly don't believe I could talk and file at the same time as well as you do.. kudos

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience!

A most excellent tutorial as usual. This really helps newbie guitar luthiers like me

Absolutely practical and helpful. Thank you very much. Henry Bon Ruiz.

Excellent and relevant explanation, as for me , by watching the video, I noticed that I am just short with some of the tools to work on the crowning and leveling but you nailed the point of what I need to do next time....thanks.

Amazingly explained. Many many Thanks.

Thank you very much for taking all the time to explain every step, you are really helpfull, cheers, the best for you!

Thank you! I find your videos very helpful.

I bought an 30 year old guitar to refurbish. It was bought from a collector/songwriter and had several flat spots. As I was cheap and inexperienced I thought about the flat spots and decided to try just adding a bead of solder to the flat ones. Filed them down, crowned them. Works great. Probably not as durable but it still works.

Wonderful video sir you give me the confidence to do few Frets On My Guitar great performance keep it I watch all your videos they are sensational thank you for your time and dedication

So very helpful gave me the courage to work on my epiphones and Mexican strat . Subscribed

Awesome job! Took the time to inspect and fix the fret at the fret’s high spot.

Great instructional video ! I'm about to attempt fret leveling & crowning on my 83 Ibanez Roadstar2 for the first time ever , I've owned her for nearly 40 years since I bought her new , I need her to play to the best of her abilities , your video will help !

just ordered some of the tools in your links. thank you for posting this

Great video! Particularly appreciated the 3-minute mark where you actually walked through how to use a fret rocket and to only mark parts of the fret that seem to be high. A lot of other videos breeze through this stuff.

VERY CONCISE AND CLEAR SEQUENCE THANKS FOR SHARING

Thanks! Am building a stewmac Les Paul Jr. and found this to be a good step- by- step guide. Terry from OZ.

This is a really good video. For a refret..... I've been doing this after the initial beam leveling....going over the frets with the rocker and marking the high spots.....working them close (a sliver high) then going back to the full sanding beam. it's been the secret to removing a lot less metal from all the frets. I have to do a Les Paul I finished leveling a month ago.....went back over it a few days ago with the rocker and found two high areas just under the thin E at the 13th and 17th fret. They just popped up even though I glued in all the frets. I'll do what you did and then just recrown the fret. I believe this is the secret to a great fret job and not removing too much metal from all the frets. Most video's don't show you this. Everyone should thank you. This is one of those secrets most luthiars won't give up. Took me 7 or 8 years to figure it out. Actually I just figured it out this year. Most newbies will end up removing too much metal for many refrets. It's really a mess if they use .040 frets to begin with.....it's so easy to end up below .036 and start having problems. If you use the beam alone I've found the rule of thumb is if a fret is .002 high you'll take .004 off all the frets to get the frets perfectly level. Doing your method makes it much less.

cheers! been looking for this exact video for quite some time.

Very well done and thanks for this!!!

Excellent video and process Thanks for sharing

Thank you ,very informative ,and great detail ,easy to get small info too ,much appreciated, since I'm right there with my third attempt at installing frets ,and they look pretty level already ,but will purchase a fret rocker first to see if I'm five or less ,like your goal ,before buying the beam ,thank you ,have a great New Year ,God bless !!

Outstanding video, thank you!

Love this video. Thanks for all the detail!

Very helpful video! Thank you very much 😊😊

Superb explanation!

That's a fantastic video, great work!

Excellent content, thank you sir!

Yes...exactly what I needed to know! Thank you.

Very helpful tutorial, my friend. I find I must replace the first 7 frets on my old Flatiron mandolin due to wear and string grooves. I have a home made fret rocker tool that is perfectly flat on all four edges, and is very accurate, as it was used when I built two other mandos a few years ago. So thanks for this vid. Bob

The best video on this topic on RU-vid! One suggestion. SS frets are still a sort of mystery. You should put it in the title of this video. Some claim they are hard or impossible to level and crown and you did an amazing job!

Great video! For those reading, quality tools help as well!

your video helped a lot man thank you so much!!

thank yo so much. your vids are lots of help. would love to buy one of your guitars some day.

excellent instruction. thank you!

thank you for sharing the knowledge

if not on a hurry, better check all the frets with fret rocker tool. check neck straightness then start all over again to make sure all the frets are level then do the ffret crowning and polishing.

Great Video; Thanks!

these videos are great; thanks!

Thank you Chris this is an incredibly good explanation. Stew Mac has a crowning file that will crown both sides at once. It might be the better choice for a novice (like me). :)

This was great, thanks!

Thanks so much for this video, it gave me the confidence to correct some high frets on 2 of my guitars and I am quite happy with the results. I wanted to add that instead of using steel wool in the polishing phase, I've been using those 4-sided nail buffer blocks (normally used for manicures). I got that tip from an online guitar forum and I was quite surprised at how well the block does this job.

Thank you, best video I've seen !

Great video and explanation. I will be using your technique to fix a new epiphone with high fret in 2 spots. Checked with the rocker and otherwise it is perfect, but I have 2 trouble spots. I ordered a file and I am ready to go. It also has nut issues, which is frustrating. For fret polishing, I have discovered that micro-mesh pads are amazing. They shine up like a mirror in just a few minutes.

Very good, thank you! I leveled out few high spots of frets on my bass guitar, now the buzz is gone. I also noticed 1 fret was out a few tenth of mm from the fretboard and i carefully pushed that back in flush with a piece of hardwood and a light hammering.

Great video.

Oh good! So I have been doing it correctly. I loathe having to level sand the whole fretboard. I feel I am doing the guitar and it's owner an injustice! Thanks for another great bit of information!

That was Fabulous!!!

Very good video and process. I hate taking off more fret than I have to also. Have to agree with Steve (below), a fret rocker is a must.

Very helpful thankyou

Thank you for this video! At this point, fret leveling is my least favorite thing to do on a guitar. Ugh. But this helps. Thanks!

very interesting video.

Thanks, good info.

Nice Job!

You have just confirmed what I've thought for years: Wood moves, and save time by using a fret rocker.

nice informative video - thanks

I found myself blowing away the metal fragments as you filed! 😂

220 grit sandpaper seems a little rough/ .0 steel wool also when using a fine file. 400 grit paper on up to 1000 grit and finish off with.0000 steel wool is what I've always used. Course everyone does it different. I will give your approach a try. Good video.

Great stuff.

Awesome!!! Thank you!!!

AWESOME! THANK YOU.

Wow, learned a lot 👍 I own enough guitars, it would payoff to learn these tool and techniques 👍

An interesting video. I have a luthier's 3- corner file, but I find i seldom use it. When I find a high fret with my fret rocker, instead of my 3- corner file, I will use my recrowning file, frequently checking with the rocker, until the fret is level.

Very informative

I waited for this.

Thanks very much!

Thanks!

Excellent Chris! Thank you so very much for your video's, You are a great teacher, Do you have any books out that you wrote?