Mornats Posted December 1, 2014 Posted December 1, 2014 Earlier this year a few of us on here went down to see Ben Crowe from Crimson Guitars down in Dorset. Ben had offered to give us a class on bass setups. Most of that class was taken up with Ben and his team showing us how to level the frets on our basses. I've just bought some fret levelling tools from them and decided to check the frets on all four of my basses with the fret-level-tester thing (not its real name) that came in the set. Overwater by Tanglewood classic jazz: nice and level, however this was after Ben had trained me to level frets using this very bass. Beforehand it was "the most disappointing bass in terms of the condition of the frets vs. the name on the head". Squier VM Jazz: needs work, 5-8 uneven frets. To be expected at this price range. This is why I bought the tools though. Yamaha TRBX 504: pretty good actually, one or two slightly uneven frets. Not sure if I'd bother as it plays really well. 1995 SGC Nanyo Bass Collection SB320: Perfect. Every fret flat and even. Has low action and plays like a dream. They don't make them like this any more... So I'll be doing the Squier first and will let you know how I get on... Quote
Thunderbird Posted December 1, 2014 Posted December 1, 2014 Awesome stuff do you have a link to the tools you purchased please as I am after some new gear myself Quote
Woodinblack Posted December 1, 2014 Posted December 1, 2014 http://crimsonguitars.com/shop/ I have done a few guitars, but I noticed my ibanez needs doing now! Quote
Mornats Posted December 1, 2014 Author Posted December 1, 2014 (edited) Also check out Ben's tips page here: [url="http://crimsonguitars.com/workshop-diary/clarity-level-new-guitars-frets"]http://crimsonguitar...w-guitars-frets[/url] Sign up for their newsletter for a 15% discount too. They're really busy at the moment (flat out actually) so it may be worth calling them first to check they can get the order out in time for you. Edited December 1, 2014 by Mornats Quote
icecream Posted December 2, 2014 Posted December 2, 2014 Just bought the kit from them myself, have levelled up my Hohner B2A, vast improvement. I would highly recommend Crimson, watch as many of Ben's videos as you can (he sometimes goes off on a tangent, but you learn stuff this way). Cheers, Garry Quote
Dazed Posted December 5, 2014 Posted December 5, 2014 (edited) Looks good! How easy is it to destroy a neck? Slightly dubious of my own abilities. Edited December 5, 2014 by Dazed Quote
Mornats Posted December 5, 2014 Author Posted December 5, 2014 [quote name='Dazed' timestamp='1417816019' post='2624367'] Looks good! How easy is it to destroy a neck? Slightly dubious of my own abilities. [/quote] I plan to do my jazz tomorrow so I'll let you know Quote
Mornats Posted December 6, 2014 Author Posted December 6, 2014 Well that went pretty well I thought. I followed Ben's video and remembered my Jedi training. Filed the frets down no problem, got the crowned and polished. I put everything back together (that neck socket on the Squier is a perfect snug fit, I'm well impressed) and set it up. The set up is the bit I hate as I can never get it right. I followed the instructions on Fender's site, knocked the action up a little more, tweaked the truss in very tiny increments (that's the trick - tiny tiny movements) and all done. Plays very nicely and no buzz anywhere. I had a little trouble with the pickup height as the Entwistle JBXN pups are very tall. In fact if I dig in on the E string they'll get caught by the pickup and can touch it. I might look at swapping them out for some more vintage-sounding ones anyway. They're nice, but the neo magnets with them a more hi-fi feel than I like. Quote
Mornats Posted January 16, 2015 Author Posted January 16, 2015 Hmm, turns out I didn't quite get one of the frets level. It's the 17th or 18th fret. So, my options are to strip it down and do the fret levelling all over again or try and spot-level one fret. Any recommendations on which way to go? It's a 3-4 hour job to do the whole thing and I don't want to file the frets down too many times but neither do I want to mess up by doing a half-arsed job and trying to do just one fret! Quote
PlungerModerno Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 [quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1421435184' post='2661282'] Hmm, turns out I didn't quite get one of the frets level. It's the 17th or 18th fret. So, my options are to strip it down and do the fret levelling all over again or try and spot-level one fret. Any recommendations on which way to go? It's a 3-4 hour job to do the whole thing and I don't want to file the frets down too many times but neither do I want to mess up by doing a half-arsed job and trying to do just one fret! [/quote] Is it a high fret, a high area on a fret, or a couple of high frets / areas? It may also only appear under string tension... I'd try to just fret rock with and without string tension - then level a high fret carefully (without taking material from other crowns) until it passes the rocker test on all strings. Then a crown, polish, and done Quote
Mornats Posted January 17, 2015 Author Posted January 17, 2015 It's just the one fret that's high and it seems to be the whole fret. Not really sure how I managed to level the whole fretboard and miss that one. So I'd guess it appeared under string tension as I had the neck perfectly straight when I levelled them (I've got a notched straight edge specifically made for the job). I may give it a little shaving with the file as my fret rocker only rocks a little bit. It's perfect on all other frets and this one bugs me Quote
Andyjr1515 Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 If it's clearly rocking on that one fret and not on the others then yes, it is that specific fret. Double check it's fully seated but, if so, just use your crowning file to bring the highspots down a touch. Andy Quote
PlungerModerno Posted January 18, 2015 Posted January 18, 2015 [quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1421529533' post='2662431'] If it's clearly rocking on that one fret and not on the others then yes, it is that specific fret. Double check it's fully seated but, if so, just use your crowning file to bring the highspots down a touch. Andy [/quote] +1 - use a fret rocker - if you don't have a metal one a wooden or plastic one can work just fine (as long as the edges are straight!). Quote
Vinny Posted January 18, 2015 Posted January 18, 2015 [quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1421435184' post='2661282'] Hmm, turns out I didn't quite get one of the frets level. It's the 17th or 18th fret. So, my options are to strip it down and do the fret levelling all over again or try and spot-level one fret. Any recommendations on which way to go? It's a 3-4 hour job to do the whole thing and I don't want to file the frets down too many times but neither do I want to mess up by doing a half-arsed job and trying to do just one fret! [/quote] Haven't got a VM, but have a look if the neck bolts are behind the fret in question. I had a cheapy P copy a few years ago with a similar-sounding problem, one of the neck bolts was distorting the fretboard from behind. I just filed one of the threads off and it was fine after. Quote
BruceBass3901 Posted January 20, 2015 Posted January 20, 2015 I have recently got some tools from Ben at Crimson Guitars after meeting him a couple of years ago at a craft/wood fair including the levelling files, crowing files and end dressing files as well as a fret rocker, fret rubbers and a notched straightedge and have been shocked by what I have found out about some of the instruments in my house! Some of my basses will be getting a treatment in the very near future. I don't think my dad would forgive me if I had a crack at the high frets on his Epi Sheraton 2 All of the tools are beautiful and very well made. His videos are great as well! I can't wait for the bass nut files to be released from these guys Quote
Mornats Posted February 7, 2015 Author Posted February 7, 2015 I've got the tools from Crimson Guitars and they're lovely. And today I decided to spot level a few frets that I'd shoddedly missed on my first fret level. So I took the neck off, masking taped the frets I wasn't levelling and filed the others down. And now? It's one the best basses I've ever played. The action is medium low I'd say and it's just very very playable with no buzz. I can't believe I've got such a top class instrument for £246 new. Quote
cameltoe Posted February 7, 2015 Posted February 7, 2015 (edited) I would love to learn how to level frets myself. Almost all of my basses go to my luthier once I get them to have the frets taken down a touch and levelled. Makes a bass so much more playable. Edited February 7, 2015 by cameltoe Quote
Mornats Posted February 7, 2015 Author Posted February 7, 2015 Here's Ben's video on how to do it (Ben is the guys who taught us how to level frets): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uflkxIgPr1c I'm usually terrified of taking a tool to anything but I'm quite happy doing this now. Quote
pfretrock Posted February 8, 2015 Posted February 8, 2015 Got some tools from Crimson a few months back. I had bought a short scale Harley Benton PB with a plan to make a short scale FenderBird (HarleyBird?). There was a lot of buzz on the rounds that came with it. I decided to try levelling. Don't think I would have done this without Ben's videos, which seem to be more detailed than some I've seen. If you take your time, it is not so hard. Incidentally, the neck is very good, can't complain for £50, its like a P bass in width (~62mm at heel and ~42mm at the short end). Have put a spare set of flats on it now and it sounds a lot better than you would expect for the money - I'm almost losing interest in routing out a scaled down tbird body now! Quote
Mornats Posted February 8, 2015 Author Posted February 8, 2015 Ben's videos are great. I have them just playing in a long playlist in the background when I'm working on a bass, even if they're not covering the work I'm doing. They just kinda get you in the mood (ooer!) Quote
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