anyone here know how to work on guitar necks?

bmf5150 · Post by **bmf5150** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 5:34 pm

im looking to round off the edge of my frett board,i understand you can do it with the fretts in there,just want that broken in feeling,dont like sharp edges of the frett board..what would i use and how would i do it?

Bainzy · Post by **Bainzy** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 6:40 pm

I use a cylindrical metal rod - just rubbing that against the edges makes the wood give way in such a way that it would do to a player's fingers over time. You could try it with sandpaper but that's a bit time consuming and can end up pretty messy.

JD · Post by JD » Sat Feb 17, 2007 6:50 pm

Best to use a fine file and then work from 220 grit down to 800+ (depending if you want to respray it afterwards or not).

bmf5150 · Post by **bmf5150** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 9:02 pm

i would think you would have to use a file since you would be going over the frets and all,thanks for the advice guys!!!!

JD · Post by JD » Sat Feb 17, 2007 11:36 pm

http://www.stewmac.com has some good files and techniques for fret finishing on the website, might be worth a look.

rockstah · Post by **rockstah** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 11:42 pm

stan i used to build guitars in holly wood at perforance guitars. (we did work for vai and dweezle at the time.) anyway- u need a good set of files as recommened stewmac.com has them.
also you might first try on a neck that doesnt matter till you get to know your files and have some practice doing it.

figure if you took it to luthier they would charge you 100 to 150 bucks depending to do the job.

Bainzy · Post by **Bainzy** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 9:36 am

bmf5150 wrote:i would think you would have to use a file since you would be going over the frets and all,thanks for the advice guys!!!!

You don't have to go over the frets - when your frets were installed they should have been beveled at the edges to some degree anyway. Some guys do like to further round over the frets when doing this, but if you don't you can still get that same broken in feeling yet without losing any play area on the frets.

bluze81 · Post by **bluze81** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 9:58 am

Stan your best bet as mentioned get the files from stew mac, but try and practice first! get confedent before you do it to your guitar it doesnt take alot and check it many times as you go,I have done many necks , I worked for Wayne Charvel ,Fender, MusicMan so lots of experence not to toot horns just just wanted to give you some advice

bluze

zaphod777 · Post by **zaphod777** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 11:17 am

If your talking just the edge of the frets, This is the tool you need.
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_su ... Files.html

BashCoder · Post by **BashCoder** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 12:06 pm

Here's the file I bought to try to take some edge off the frets on my Custom Shop Firebird:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_su ... _File.html

I haven't tried it yet, though.