Members willsellout Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 Yeah so when I originally levelled the frets, turns out that the neck had some relief in it and I ended up grinding down the first and last couple frets. I was having a lot of difficulty with the nut as well. So today I levelled the frets, knowing for certain the neck was straight as a board with this It's nice to know for sure the neck is straight. I ended up leveling for about an hour or so and took off a lot of fret material. The bass will need a refret in a few years for sure. Then I cut the nut slots lower, did a full setup and intonation and she plays like a dream. Action is right around .40 on all strings and it is pretty effortless to play. At least now I know I can do it right:D. I also noticed whilst doing this job that the SB2 has a lot of finish checking and a couple more dings and chips....I guess I'm part of the relic club:lol: Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members y-o-y Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 Yeah so when I originally levelled the frets, turns out that the neck had some relief in it and I ended up grinding down the first and last couple frets. I was having a lot of difficulty with the nut as well. So today I levelled the frets, knowing for certain the neck was straight as a board with this It's nice to know for sure the neck is straight. I ended up leveling for about an hour or so and took off a lot of fret material. The bass will need a refret in a few years for sure. Then I cut the nut slots lower, did a full setup and intonation and she plays like a dream. Action is right around .40 on all strings and it is pretty effortless to play. At least now I know I can do it right:D. I also noticed whilst doing this job that the SB2 has a lot of finish checking and a couple more dings and chips....I guess I'm part of the relic club:lol: Dan That looks nothing like an SB2... sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jazz Ad Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 Ouch.Fret crowning/levelling goes much further than basic maintenance.I wouldn't do it by myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members willsellout Posted January 20, 2008 Author Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 No I swear it is! It's a limited edition...very very rare. you've probably never seen one..nobody but me has...and...um....it was made by Leo with his bare hands. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members willsellout Posted January 20, 2008 Author Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 Ouch.Fret crowning/levelling goes much further than basic maintenance.I wouldn't do it by myself. Well there is a learning curve but it went much better this time around. I just got tired of paying other people to work on my basses. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jazz Ad Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 With the price of the tools alone I can get 2-3 levellings.If you have good frets in the first place, it's not an operation that needs to be done more than every over 4-5 years.Not worth it for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rowka Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 I've got basses I've been playing for over 15 years that show hardly any fret wear at all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thunderbroom Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 I'm very fortunate. I have Kindness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members willsellout Posted January 20, 2008 Author Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 With the price of the tools alone I can get 2-3 levellings.If you have good frets in the first place, it's not an operation that needs to be done more than every over 4-5 years.Not worth it for me. So far I've leveled three of my basses (the SB2 twice:D). That pays for the tools. Mike Lull charges 200 bucks for a leveling and some places I've gone to won't even do anything beyond a regular setup. Beyond convenience though, I find it fun to do and the way my basses play afterwards is wonderful. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members willsellout Posted January 20, 2008 Author Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 I've got basses I've been playing for over 15 years that show hardly any fret wear at all... The ten years was an estimation:D Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RIC N BACKER Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 I've got basses I've been playing for over 15 years that show hardly any fret wear at all... I think that everytime I see someone who has worn down their frets. I guess we just dont play enough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted January 20, 2008 Moderators Share Posted January 20, 2008 I think that everytime I see someone who has worn down their frets. I guess we just dont play enough That's me. I'm easy on my frets, but seriously I've seen my cousin wear out a guitar in a couple of years. Grooves 0.01" deep, which is really f'in deep in a fret. Time to practice some more.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members frankthomson Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 i would never have guessed you'd need a fretjob on a bass....i guess if you play hard.u use a pick? [sorry 4 the ignorant question, but i 'm a guitar player] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members willsellout Posted January 20, 2008 Author Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 Depending on how you play. I play nickels with a light touch so it will probably be a few years or more..eventually it will need a fretjob though. Some people play steels real hard..they could run through their frets I suppose. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rippin' Robin Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 What the heck are frets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Super Bass Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 That's me. I'm easy on my frets, but seriously I've seen my cousin wear out a guitar in a couple of years. Grooves 0.01" deep, which is really f'in deep in a fret. Time to practice some more.... I wore out the frets on my first bass within about 18 months. I'm much easier on the frets now though. I wouldn't dare touch them with tools without doing a course on it or something. I'd end up f'n it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members REMUS Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 Well i played my encore solely for about 4 years and still played it once a week over the other 7 years i've owned it and the frets are only showing signs of wear that might affect playing now. What bass was your first SB, must have had some monkey metal frets on it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Super Bass Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 It was a Washburn XB100, don't think I've ever posted it here. I still have the neck and body, I was gonna use the body for a new project but I'd have to widen the neck pocket. I can't be bothered. That's what it looked like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fretless Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 Yeah that's the high precision skilled luthier part , that and shaping nuts are left up to the pro . Now you got to pay one to do a fret job . Even a so called "luthier" can screw it up . One of the hardest things to get done is a fret job on a Les Paul , shaping the fret ends into the binding like when it is Original . it takes many hours and a very skilled tech . One reason you see so many Les Paul refrets without this , just a minor detail but few have mastered it . I always gauge the skill of the tech on his fret work . Sadly there are few guys around here , in fact now that Rick Turner moved north and his helper Bill Asher closed shop , there is only one guy around here http://www.bestfrets.com/flash/index.htm and maybe if you like http://www.carruthersguitars.com/ or http://www.mccabes.com/ but you never know . I would probably send it out to Rick Turner or drive the 5 hours to get there or http://www.mikelull.com/welcome%20frames.htm but yeah :lol::poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NeonVomit Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 What the heck are frets? They're those things that give you a nice tone when you slap and tap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rippin' Robin Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 They're those things that give you a nice tone when you slap and tap. You must be confused - those are called Amplifiers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted January 20, 2008 Moderators Share Posted January 20, 2008 Yeah that's the high precision skilled luthier part , that and shaping nuts are left up to the pro . Now you got to pay one to do a fret job . Even a so called "luthier" can screw it up . One of the hardest things to get done is a fret job on a Les Paul , shaping the fret ends into the binding like when it is Original . it takes many hours and a very skilled tech . One reason you see so many Les Paul refrets without this , just a minor detail but few have mastered it . I always gauge the skill of the tech on his fret work . Sadly there are few guys around here , in fact now that Rick Turner moved north and his helper Bill Asher closed shop , there is only one guy around here http://www.bestfrets.com/flash/index.htm and maybe if you like http://www.carruthersguitars.com/ or http://www.mccabes.com/ but you never know . I would probably send it out to Rick Turner or drive the 5 hours to get there or http://www.mikelull.com/welcome%20frames.htm but yeah :lol::poke: Sad is right. The only extra step required is under cutting the fret tang to not interfere with the binding. That is trained monkey work. If you can't find someone capable of that, I wouldn't trust the people you find with ANY work. There is a reason to do this work yourself. Unless the tech is someone that gets paid to make custom instruments, it is rare to find someone with aptitude and not because it is difficult work to master. If we as musicians cared enough to pay more for this work it would draw more capable people. However, since it is easy enough to perform the work oneself at a very high level, those that care tend to learn and do it themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Super Bass Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 The guy that I bring my basses to get setup and work done on them does Gibson fretjobs properly. I've seen some of his own work too and its amazing. He's done some resto work on Gibsons that have been abused and its astonishing. I saw a pic of a jazzbox that he worked on, at some point it had a cutaway put into it. He put it back to non-cutaway and refin'd the top, it looked like it was original again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tlaloc Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 wow, this thread is crazy! I've been playing bass for 8 years and owned a total of 6 basses (and 2 guitars) over this period and I never gave something like a fret leveling job a single thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fretless Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 Sad is right. The only extra step required is under cutting the fret tang to not interfere with the binding. That is trained monkey work. If you can't find someone capable of that, I wouldn't trust the people you find with ANY work. There is a reason to do this work yourself. Unless the tech is someone that gets paid to make custom instruments, it is rare to find someone with aptitude and not because it is difficult work to master. If we as musicians cared enough to pay more for this work it would draw more capable people. However, since it is easy enough to perform the work oneself at a very high level, those that care tend to learn and do it themselves. for me it was never a question , my fretwork or Rick Turner's . Don't get me wrong I do all the setups and this and that to my instruments but I draw the line between my current skills and when there's at least 1 Master Luthier in town , I have no problem paying for their work . Funny thing I have not needed one in many many years , but 1 of these days my prized '96 Schecter will need a refret and I won't be doing it Current refret prices are 200 to 300 $ . But done right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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