Guitar frets leveling polishing and crowning DIY

Tools You Need

Why do I need to polish or level frets? The frets on the guitar (as well as on any other stringed or plucked instrument (except fretless ones, of course) must be strictly the same height. Otherwise, the string will cling and rattle beyond the protruding, even a fraction of a millimeter fret.

The strings buzzing on frets because:

The frets have worn out over time and characteristic grooves have formed (see photo), and since certain frets are played more often than others, the grooves in places have different depths.
The guitar is new and the frets were not properly aligned and polished when it was made.
The guitar was made from underseasoned wood, and over time, bumps appeared on the fretboard. Often on acoustic guitars, the 12th or 14th fret will protrude (adjacent to the edge of the body)

The 4-minute video below briefly and clearly, without empty chatter, shows step by step how it's done. Type of guide: "How to level, grind and polish the frets of an electric guitar yourself at home."

Further, a text instruction with pictures for those who prefer reading or did not understand something from the video (video from YouTube without comments).

Ringing and rattling of the strings on the frets can be eliminated by grinding, or in extreme cases, by replacing the frets (when replacing the frets, it is possible to grind the overlay itself and give it a perfectly flat surface). Some guitarists, finding a protruding fret, take a nail file from their girlfriends and try to undermine it.

But ideally, you need to level the frets all at the same time. After removing the strings, the overlay between the frets is sealed with paper masking tape so as not to spoil it (ordinary transparent tape will leave a lot of sticky mass on the wood). Next, with the help of an anchor, the neck is leveled (here a special skill and a good eye are required, since it is necessary to take into account the depth of wear of the frets and possibly also the unevenness of the lining).

In the process of grinding (especially when you have to grind a lot), it will not be superfluous to check the neck bend again.

The frets are polished with sandpaper attached to a bar with a necessarily perfectly flat working surface (checked with a bench ruler). In the process, it is desirable to change the paper grain from medium (P500-P600) to the finest. Although there is one point: in the process of wear, the graininess of the sandpaper decreases by itself and, say, P800 quickly turns into conditionally P1000.

After the last deepest hole has disappeared, you can start rolling the frets. Why do you need a sunset? As you can see in the photo, after grinding, the frets acquired a trapezoidal shape. You can fix it with the help of a special tool-zakatka

After the frets have acquired a semicircular shape, they begin to polish them. Polishing usually takes place in several stages with the change of abrasive. After the finest sandpaper, it is best to use abrasive felt (2000-2500 grit)

Each fret is individually processed lengthwise until all the marks left by rough grinding disappear. After the last final polishing with a cloth with GOI paste, the frets acquire a perfectly smooth and shiny surface.