Fret Level, Crown, and Polish on a Fender Telecaster | Hazel #1 

Not entirely sure why there aren't several thousand more of us in here enjoying this channel. This is so fun!

I really enjoy your videos. Your playing in the end song was especially great. Keep up the great work.

Fretted friends, definitely borrowing that. Your passion is infectious nicely done!

My first electric guitar was an Ion strat with a pack in amp from Walmart. I’ve since replaced everything except for the body and the old bridge and trem. My baby and my favourite!

Great work!

You remain top ten best sisters, just in case the comments have gone quiet on that front. I've never really had an "only guitar" but I do have a long suffering mod platform too. We're currently learning pickup winding together, and we have been for like a year - so I also know the need to restore a beloved friend. Oh Steve. We'll get you playable again soon.

StewMac has some decent luthier's tools ro help with neck service and other things. However, I like how you improvised and made your own!👍😁

I just got a Aria Pro II ZZ Deluxe Explorer/Destroyer Style Matsumoku 1983 Blue Burst that will become my 1st truly way beyond factory spec guitar. She's unmolested as of now, but she's getting a brand new set of locking tuners, new strap knobs, and a set of GuitarHeads Mega Metal Blue Humbuckers to make her a true 80's Metal Machine!!

For my first project guitar I bought a squire strat. Didn't really know what I was doing but I work on electronics for a day job so I figured I'd be fine. I ended up going in super crazy with a coil split on the bridge, 2nd push pull to turn on the neck pickup, kill switch, and got a pickguard with an additional hole to add a bypass to output mod. I never thought to actually count pickup configurations but I think it's something similar to Hazel. I only found this channel a few days ago but it makes me smile seeing you get your close (guitar) friend back - even if it was a month ago

I keep watching your videos and I am just in absolute awe. You are so cool, please keep making videos.

Sweet! 😎

Every guitar player needs a "Hazel" to learn and experiment on as they learn to do their own work and mods. Gotta love ol' Leo Fender too, who had the foresight to make his designs modular, repairable and modifiable without any fancy tools, or skills. Just a bit of practice.

cant wait to watch this. was waiting for Hazel to be restored :) edit: just watched through the whole video and I LOVED IT. the demo especially was my favorite. it really had a math rock vibe to it which is probably my favorite genre. would love if you would officially release any of these arrangements.

Next time you might explain why you set the neck straight. I've never done a level 'n' crown either but you might just tell your audience for newbies Love this channel.

What a great video! So glad I found this. I recently picked up a Fender Modern Player Telecaster that's quite similar to yours. The neck is just about perfect and it plays really well, but the pickups needed a little bit more oomph. I went with a Seymour Duncan 59/Custom Hybrid in the bridge and have it wired up exactly like yours. Still trying out middle and neck pickups in it until I find the right ones. Thanks for all the hard work that went into making this video! Oh, and the tape on the drill bit to mark depth and blow away the sawdust? That's so smart!

Rad demo!

I love how you make your own tools 👍

I'm amazed that you can wire up a Hazel with 11 different tones (plus the other evolutionary weirdness you mentioned - a piezo too? Like How????) yet had not tackled a level/crown/polish before. It took me a bit to try and work out how the 11 tones are set, but I think I have it now - switch to turn the HB on (regardless of pickup selector), push/pull to split the HB, 5-way selector as "normal". The DIY slotted straight edge and leveling beam was unexpected. I've taken some tips myself for some DIY luthier tools, but ended up getting an aluminium slotted edge, leveling beam and fret rocker off eBay. I'm going to buy a longer leveling beam as I think it helps with the process. Probably worth having something under the middle part of the neck - just in case you push a little bit hard and make the neck bend as you run the levelling beam over it. I use piece of high density foam where I've cut a V into it to cradle the neck. I also do a little fall-away by putting a piece of tape on fret 17ish and doing a few extra strokes for those last few frets. For the process I tend to follow whatever new method Ben from Crimson Guitars is doing. He's refined it several times over the years to get both better and more efficient. things like folding the masking tape rather than cutting. I still mostly use sandpaper and finish off with a polishing wheel on the Dremel - but I will invest in some fret rubbers as they can be used for other things as well. While it's not my favorite job, I'm so much quicker at it now and there is immense satisfaction in ripping the tape off and feeling those slinky, mirror-polished frets under the fingers. Did you round over the fretboard edges too? I tend to do that just to mimic that played-in feel. The song you created to show off Hazel's range was great. Yes, I do have what will be my endless, project guitar - my kit guitar - where I learned and honed many of the skills I have now and where there was no major loss if I messed up. There is something about it that just feels "right" or like "home". While it is still pretty basic as an HH, I do have plans for a bridge/trem change, locking tuners, and more messing around with pickups. I really want to try a P90 in the neck position. I'm also considering ordering a neck that I can change the profile on - a hybrid V/Standberg-like Endure neck - to bolt onto it just to see if I like it or not.

I did almost exactly the same thing. My brother asked me to make a Telecaster for him like the one he had in the 1960’s. I was building it from scratch and I made 2 necks, neither of which were as perfect as I wanted for him. But I had a Tele that I made from a kit a few years ago and over time I had made the neck perfect. So I put that neck in his new one. And I ordered a new neck for my guitar that I could perfect at my leisure. How is it possible that you don’t have a Fender and Gibson scale notched straight edge? One of the first luthiers’ tools I got and I think it was around $12.

Loving the videos! Great work and groovy playing!

super fun and informative video - keep up the good job!

Loved the bloopers, too

Really enjoying your Channel, Thank you! 🎸

You are freaking awesome! I enjoy your channel and playing. Keep up the stellar work!

Seeing the smile on your face after you finished and started playing was wonderful! Keep it up! Always great seeing people who absolutely love music!

Your videos are great!

I've never been brave enough to tackle a neck, despite watching hundreds of videos, it's something I really should consider. I've recently got my guitar modifying mojo back and have done a few mods recently, your videos will spur me on to even more.

Great job and great playing.. you’re very talented

The bloopers make your videos more enjoyable. Cheers

Thanks for sharing 🎶🎵🎸🇬🇧

Great channel. Just discovered you from the wealth of videos I watch from RU-vid front page... I love modding, tinkering and repairing my guitars.. A full fret level/crown/polish is the one thing I have yet to dive into.

Great job. So glad to see you and Hazel making music again. My Mexican Strat (Jessica) has only 1 original part left, Her neck. I even replaced Her body as I prefer hard tails. Keep up the good work. Stacy

Hazel sound great. Love that humbucker + lipstick tone!

Girl, you got mad skillz!

Cannot believe your first video was only 3 months ago. Just discovered your channel today and I'm hooked. Awesome stuff!!!

Great job ....subscribed

love your videos

I totally get it, my main gigging strat had worn out frets just crying for some work but the problem was it's an 80's partso so it had an 80's flat radius and fairly skinny neck that I've grown out of, so I got a replacement neck for about the same price as pro refret, and did the levelling, crown and polish... feels amazing to have my workhorse ready to play

Amazing guitar, amazing vid!!! So cool to see your PUP combos over how you use them, your music is great!! Is Hazel named after the Gundam by chance? So much patience to do the whole fret leveling, I thought doing the polishing pads was hard enough!

Beautiful lady thank you for the vital info!!!!!

excellent 👍

I have a similar approach of "happy to try it on my guitar first!"

I thought Hazel looked familiar! My first guitar back into the music world ten years ago was a Modern player Tele, with the Honey Burst finish. It also was a scratch and dent. Because of the damage I eventually stripped off the finish (not recommended) and dyed the pine body underneath a British Racing Green and replaced the humbucker. It looked and sounded great...but, I eventually sold it off, then built a more traditional Nashville Tele in its honor two years later and added Brent Mason wiring. Really nice guitars to mod with, I'm glad to know that yours has a permanent home.

Girl you have mad skills in mods and playing. Kudos

Love it! I have a franken-strat that I never seem to be finished with. There's always "just one more mod...."

My Strat (Misato) is probably the oldest guitar in my collection. Started out as a standard white Mexican Strat. But recently, she's gotten some major changes. I've placed Lace Sensor Gold pickups, a Vega Trem VT1, new pickguard, back plate, and input jack plate. Next up is getting her a replacement neck with 22 frets in roasted maple and locking tuners. Love watching your videos! Can't wait to see more!

6:58 oh my God. I have to check this gif of a truss rod in action I have saved EVERY time I adjust one. Lol!

I have an HH tele that i’ve been meaning to get back together 1st brand new electric guitar that I bought in 2015, been through hell. But this video inspired me to actually start working on the Frets!

I just stumbled on your video and I'm hooked. I have a telecaster I'm putting together but I can't get the wiring right. 2 hum 1V 1T and 2 on/on/on/ switches for series,Parallel and split w/ 3way

My strat (Iris) has been waiting for some mods ever since I bought her. Reason why is because I was much too scared to try anything on my SG Standard (Maxine) and my first guitar, my tele classic vibe (Dominique) until I actually knew how to do mods. I’ve picked up a lot of the required skills for guitar modding from my dad but I’ve never tried my hand at actually doing it. But I just found your channel and suddenly I’m really inspired to really start trying and get over the first hurdle of actually giving it a go :))

I have parts Jaguar which is my #1 guitar. I build it as single bridge humbucker guitar with only volume pot. I had also push/push for coil split and low pass filter switch. After the pot stopped working in week or so before concert it devolved in to only 1 humbucker 1 pot guitar. Than I did couple of mods - Push/pull volume pot for parallel/series for humbucker, low pass filter, killswitch, switchable piezo disc. I recently performed makeover. Gave it little bit more classic look. Changed flat Jazzmaster-style pickguard for traditional Jag pickguard with chrome control plates. Now ti has Firebird pickup in bridge position and Lipstick pickup in neck, standard Jaguar wiring without rhythm circuit and stereo output jack for parallel paths for standard pickups and for piezo disc.

Dang that 11 way switch sounds amazing. I'm assuming it's a combination of two push/pull pots with one pot engaging the neck pickup like on a 7-way Strat wiring setup, and the other pot is the coil split for the bridge humbucker? At least that's how I would try to set it up, and now I really want to try this! Gotta get a humbucker to throw into my test Strat now!

more content please it's addicting

I learned how to do fret work by working on a bullet mustang I got in a trade with my sister. Its one of those things that takes SOOOO LONG but the amount of time you put into it is definitely worth it and is in my opinion what took a $160 guitar and made it feel like a $1000 guitar.

see you. Good luck and better knowledge about installing frets on a guitar neck. From all the RU-vid channels over the years I have observed the same thing. His mainstay is leveling and crowning, this shows that precise installation on the fretboard has not yet been mastered. Please search until you don't do that. so that the results are maximum, perfect and not detrimental to the height of the new frets. May it be a reflection. This time I only agree with polish. I have often done refretting without leveling and without crowning. Maybe because there were too many complaints, I finally found a very simple tool but the results were very inversely proportional. I still have to keep it a secret for now. If you want to see it, contact me in Indonesia.

Great video. You make it look easy. What supplies did you use? Would they be available at a hardware/craft store or would I need to invest in luthier tool sets?

If you want to be real lazy about leveling frets on a non-compound radius: get a 2 foot level, put sandpaper over its full length, and sand across the neck instead.

Been trying to learn more about pro level setup, can you recommend any good resources? Love your videos!

This video is awesome! What were the red sharpie marks for?

I'm curious what neck did you order? great video and the playing is fantastic!

Reminds me of my MIM '99 midnight blue (it's really dark purple) strat. Several necks, pickups, bridges, trem blocks, tuners, wiring, switches.. the only original parts left are the neck plate and body oh and the concave strat jack plate. It's had built-in boosts.. still has pushbutton switches, custom knobs, etc. Will it ever stay unmodified? Probably not.

love the bocchi guitar in the back lol i recently got something similar just this week

Haha! I was just considering the "guitar of Theseus" concept the other day, and came to the conclusion that the body itself is "the ship" in question. Arguably, it is the only part on the guitar which CANNOT be replaced -- placing the neck and all the hardware and electronics on another body means it's a new guitar, but the reverse doesn't hold true. However, I suppose one could still continue the thought exercise to ask "How much of the original body needs to remain for it to be the same body?" If you cut the "wings" off a body, and glue new ones on the sides to be recut in a radically different style (say, Tele to offset), is it still the same body and thus same guitar?

Nisebelle...I have an original 1982 made in Fullerton Fender Stratocaster. I've played a lot of gigs with this guitar. I just noticed how badly worn the frets are ground down on it. Poor baby! Fret jobs are SO expensive. But I know NOTHING about redoing them. The guy at the local shop says the rosewood is very thin on the fretboard. What to do? Buy a new neck and destroy the provenence/value of the guitar? Or redo the frets and retain the value? (I posted this vid so I can check back.)

11? I need one pickup with maybe a split coil, but I can’t even think of 11 different options.

What neck did you use? It looks like roasted maple but not the one Fender sells.

came for the tech tips, stayed for the sick midwest emo jams

Hey @nisebelle! I have an electric guitar that is very special to me that nobody has been able to help me fix/restore (first guy I asked to repair it in 2015 wound up gutting what made it unique & everyone ive taken it to in the years since has come up short 😢) -- could we chat about it sometime? ~ i feel like if anyone were able to help me it'd be you

That notched straight edge she built cannot be that accurate, can it?

don't get the board straight...for a job like this get the 5,6,7,8 frets not to rock in a majority . then level...because now the neck is as straight as ever .