I use Sam Deeks (Reloved guitars) method for fret levelling on everything, he uses a truss rod as his lvling beam. Amazing results and some of the lowest actions I have ever been able to achieve!
I would love to see a super closeup of the fret ends while you're filing some time. Then we can watch as the shape changes and see exactly what's happening.
I do a similar job to a lot of cheap instruments we sell at the store I work at. Most people can't say they bought an $80 uke or a $130 guitar with polished & rounded frets & fretboards. I also round off the front side of the nut at an angle towards where it almost meets the outter strings. It's kind of relaxing work imo
I do my fretboard a little wider, say a couple of mm. I do mine 43.5 at the nut and 57.5 at the bottom to compensate for the bevel, and I round one side of the frets first before installing them, preferably the bottom part. Sometimes I have to file one or two but for me it’s better than filing all frets. 🙂
Gorgeous looking thing, I have to admit. And the frets do look stunning. I have a tip for anyone who cares to hear it- albeit for a fret dress situation rather than installing new frets as here. I've had a big run of fret dresses this spring, and I've been able to speed up my process, while keeping great results. On a masked up fretboard, once you've crowned your frets, instead of attending to the ends with a fret end file, take some 250, 400, 600 and 1000 grit wet and dry paper. Cut a 2" square of each grit and thoroughly polish each fret along its length with each grain, using your fingertips as the sanding block. It should take you about 20 minutes, and get dramatically faster as you go up the grains. Because your fingertip conforms to the shape of the fret, all your rounding gets done as you go. No need for the fret end file, and you polish as you go. When you're finished with the wet and dry paper, polish each fret with 0000 grade steel wool. Another ten minutes, and you should have a mirror shine making bends feel totally effortless. You can go as high as you like with the sandpaper grits, and then fetch out a buffer afterwards if you like, but really, you're good to go after the steel wool. Anyway, keep the videos coming. I love the way this guitar is shaping up.
The fret erasers are good too, but if you go with the steel wool make sure to tape off your pickups, or you'll probably have some steel wool sticking to them.
I've found that buffer polishing with compound beats all other polishing methods - steel wool, sandpaper, fret erasers, micro mesh, metal polishing pads - you name it. Before I recently discovered this type of fret rounding, I used to round-and-roll all at once similar to the way you describe. But with buffer polishing, you only have to go to 320 on the round-and-roll, and the buffer does the rest. Nowadays, on frets that have already been rounded and just need a little cleanup, I'll roll-and-round with 320, then buff. For new necks, I do the hemispherical ends method shown here.
@@normbarrows Can't argue that a buffer gets great results, but I don't have one, and sandpaper is about 50p a sheet for the good stuff. One day I'll have the cash spare.
100% correct Ben, there is always something new to learn it could be a trivial tip that just makes life easier but it's always interesting to see how others do it . Beautiful work as always 👏
Recently bought a cheap "lightning bug" guitar just b/c it looked like the guitar that a favorite foo plays. Was super happy with the rounded fret ends. I've wanted to try doing it to the frets on my other guitars b/c they just feel so nice. This tutorial is great! Thank you
Living in a very dry climate, I struggle with fret sprout on many of my guitars. I am a complete novice to anything related to luthiery, but I just bought the equipment to tackle the job myself, and after watching this I'm tempted to try rounding the edges (on my cheapest guitar first!) because i love the look and am always wanting a more comfortable fretboard. Great video!
Looks very elaborate, but the result is definitely stunning!! I need to get some fretwork done on a couple of my instruments, including one complete refret - and I've done a few things with tools bought on a budget. Not perfect, to say the least, but - like you, I suppose - I'm improving myself, ánd those frets 👍 And that indeed also means better tools... Very inspiring to watch, Ben! Thanks 🙏
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars Ben, I hope you believe that, cause you're as to me, as to many, an inspirational person and luthier. Thanks a lot for your videos.
I have an old Eko acoustic with what must be Bronze frets, it`d been played by goodness knows how many before I bought it 25 years ago & it has zero wear on any of the frets, so that must be the answer (I`d always wondered-thanks Ben)! & wouldn`t it make more sense to run a single 2 1/2" (or 3") piece if masking tape the length of the fretboard & then simply cut around each fret wire? OH, & if you`re gonna mask it this way, here`s a tip that does work, simply run a strip of masking tape down each edge first, then grab the the ends of each when removing, pull on those & they`ll lift all the strips of tape with them!
I did this on a recent build. The frets came out looking just like yours - best frets I've ever done. I used a 1/4 round file in addition to the fret end dressing file to round the sides - it speeds things up slightly. I used a concave 1/2 round fret crowning file to round the tops one at a time. Using a fret leveling file or beam as shown here to do them all at once is more efficient.
Edit:: after this comment my oroduct was shipped the next day. Glad to see Crimson Guitars are attempting to improve customer service. Thank you @Crimson Custom Guitars Great channel, terrible customer service on the shop side of things.
We've had a really hard few months but as of this morning I have made some sweeping changes and am now personally keeping track of the shop. We should have almost all tools in stock within 10 days. In the meantime please accept my apologies, we are going to do better. Would you mind emailing me through stream@crimsonguitars.com to let me know what happened, that's the best way I can find out what to fix. Thank you in advance, Ben
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars Hi, I understand things have been tough on all of us lately, I already sent an email through the site and even sent a message via your facebook page, this is in fact the first response i have had.
I hope this channel continues to grow more and more, so that they can upgrade the cameras ! Ben's work is outstanding but the image quality from the little Canons really don't do justice to its work
Great video - far too many people try and overcomplicate this job, perhaps to put others off doing it for some sense of superiority lol... anyone can do It with simple good quality tools and bit of time and it makes all the difference to almost any guitar at any price point
Great fret work tutorial as ever, lovely guitar and tools (I have a few). Interested by the choice of sponsor though. Vertex have a range named MP45, a popular machine gun in the '40's! do they have one thousand years warrantee? 🤪
Awesome video!! Beautiful work! I wish I'd watched it literally 24 hours earlier, because I just did fretwork on my latest baritone build's neck last night, and I could have used the refresher... (Also, there's a typo in the video title: "Hemishperical" should be Hemispherical.)
I ran into some trouble doing something like that on an acoustic, where a third of the frets are over the body. Verrrry easy to slip and damage the (already finished) soundboard...
Looking good. I have mixed feelings about semi-hemi fret ends. I don't really like the way they look. I prefer the rounded chamfer look. Rounded and smooth enough to be comfortable but not more.
As a player for 43 years, and a hobbyist builder for 3 years, I never really thought about the look before I tried it on a build. But as soon as I touched it - OH MY GOD! Without a doubt, the best fretboard I've ever held in my hands. I have about 70 guitars now, but only one with frets like this. Even if I didn't like the look as much, I'd take these frets EVERY time. Functionality is 1st, Ergonomics is 2nd, Aesthetics is 3rd. These tie or win on functionality (the amount of usable fret top preserved), and win on ergonomics (you have to feel it to believe it). So the aesthetics are basically irrelevant from a performance point of view. IE: PICTURES are for looking at, GUITARS are for PLAYING! Hemispherical fret ends may look unusual, but they feel AWESOME!
I just had a product idea for you. Not sure if it’s been done or not. But what about pre cut fret board masking. Is the fret spacing consistent enough on different manufacturers using the same scale length that you could make a kit with precut fretboard protectors?
I’ve always had fights with fret ends and never even thought of the semi hemispherical approach. Once again Ben, you have opened my eyes to a different approach. I will be trying this in about 30 mins. Wish me luck aha 😁
You've stopped putting 2 strips of masking tape along the neck sides first to make removing the lateral tapes easier? I always found that a useful tip.
Looks really cool. What scale length is it, and what tuning are you going for? Amazing fretwork and it has inspired me to try and improve my fretwork! Thanks.
What grit is the sandpaper on the beam for levelling, Ben? Thanks for another great video, I love the edge technique, will definitely try that on my next build.
Question about the fretboard cleaner and restorative: In the video you used the cleaner then the restorative, however the instructions on the cleaner bottle say to use the restorative first, so... What's the proper order to use these products?
Quick question brother, do i need to level my frets after refretting? When checked it seems the difference is very very low, like the rocker is barely moving.
Any movement at all in the fret rocker is bad, yes, you will have to level.. it does sound like you did a REALLY good job at the refret though. Nice one!
