Fretboard Questions

[meltedbuzzbox]

I recently took my parker to a luthier to have the frets levelled, crowned and polished.

He did an OK job although it is going back for him to remove some fret buzz that he missed.

There are a few things that have raised a few concerns and I was hoping those with some knowledge could give me their opinions.

1. He has used wire wool on the fret board to clean it - fine, I have no problem with this. However he hasn't worked with the grain (up and down the neck) he has gone across the radius. Now from what I have read you should always work with the grain, is this right? (I can tell from the scratch marks across the fretboard)
2. There are quite a lot of bits left from the wire wool on my pickups. Will these cause damage? I haven't plugged it in yet just in case. (any tips for removing these?)
3. My fret board feels "scratchy" on some frets. I cant find the words to explain it properly but it feels rough when I bend strings and its very audible that the string is scraping across the wood. Its like when you play a nasty cheap guitar the wood on the fretboard feels unfinished.

I feel reluctant to return the guitar at present but I feel he should do the job properly so almost out of principle I am returning it.

Can you guys shed any light on my 3 points?

Thanks in advance

[IanCorps]

Sounds as though you need to find a new fella to set your guitars up , the wire wool is easily removed with rolling blu-tak over the tops of the pickups . The scratchiness will subside after its been played awhile , although I normally buff frets up with a little cutting compound to get that mirror sheen and slinkiness . If its a rosewood board Parker , try dressing a little lemon oil in , although anybody worth their salt would do this as a matter of course , this will hide some of the cross-grain scuffing .
Hope thats of some help and reassurance

[Wonks]

Sounds like a poor job to me. The frets should be smooth and very polished and not scratchy, so more work is required there. Use the sticky side of some sticky tape or masking tape to pull off the wire wool fragments. They wont do any damage but they are unsightly and they do mess up the pickup's magnetic field slightly.

Rubbing across the grain is a quick way to get rid of any ridges, but after that the direction should have been fairly random and there shouldn't be any scratch marks left. It's more like he didn't mask the board when polishing the frets.

[Adam_MD]

Do you know anyone else who has work done by this guy in the past? That way you'll know what the standard of his work is usually like in case this was a one off. If so I'd give him a chance to fix it. If you don't I'd be wary of going to him again and would probably go to someone else with a good reputation.

[meltedbuzzbox]

Yeah to be honest I was sold on the £45 price and with hind sight it was a bad move.

Sorry I wasn't clear about the scratchy feel. Its the actual section of board between the frets feels scratchy

It will go back and hopefully he will sort it out but to be honest if its anything less than showroom quality I wont go back.
Having done a fret level, crowning and polish myself previously on a course I know its not the most difficult thing in the world, just needs some care and a bit of time

I really wanted to do the job myself but I cant get the fret file, levelling block and other pieces I need from Stew Mac at anything like £45.

[IanCorps]

He must have been very heavy handed to scratch the fretboard in that way one technique to tighten/close the grain and therefore reduce " scratchiness" is to use a craft razorblade and follow the grain with the sharp edge to "flatten" the wood

[ICBM]

You do actually want the polishing of the fingerboard done across the grain, not with it - that way it feels much smoother to bend, because the scratches are in the direction your fingers will be pushing in - but if the scratches are visible, they're too coarse and it needs re-doing. But, unless the fingerboard was badly worn or had raised grain, it shouldn't have been done anyway.

The frets themselves should be mirror-smooth - finished with metal polish after the last abrasive, and never feel scratchy.

Wire wool on the pickups is unacceptable.

He shouldn't have "missed" any fret buzz - if the job is done properly, the frets will end up perfectly level with respect to each other, and all properly crowned.

I would find someone that knows what they're doing to do it again, and pay the proper rate. Put the £45 down to experience. Having the same person do it again isn't really a good idea since he clearly doesn't know what he's doing wrong, or he wouldn't have left it like that.

Or if you have the skills, buy the proper tools - it's a worthwhile investment. I'm surprised it would cost as much as £45 for a fret file, that's really the only specialist tool you need. (Its a while since I bought mine, but I don't think they were that much.) The rest - large flat file for initial levelling, several grades of wet-and-dry paper, wire wool, metal polish and masking tape - I don't think I've forgotten anything! - doesn't cost much.

[meltedbuzzbox]

I am about to take the plunge on this little set

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting...tting_Kit.html

I was originally looking at a diamond file from stew mac which costs as good as £53

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting...Fret_File.html

I have already told him I am looking to take it back to him.
I kind of feel I should tell him whats wrong so even if I dont return he will sort it out for anyone else that ends up employing his services. Hopefully anyway.

[WezV]

Or if you have the skills, buy the proper tools - it's a worthwhile investment. I'm surprised it would cost as much as £45 for a fret file, that's really the only specialist tool you need.

i would disagree in that a fret file is just another labour saving device, all be it a very handy one

when i was learning i really did not get on well with my first 2 fret files - a gurian 3 in 1 and a quarter round file. i got much better results reprofiling each fret with a triangle file. took time but good results can be had this way. i even think doing it this way for a while gave me a good understanding of what i wanted from my fretwork

although things are much easier now i have a fret file that works for me - i think i ended up trying every type on the market


anyway, my point is that reasonably good fretwork can be done without any specialist tools if needed.


....


£45 is probably right for a rushed half arsed job. but the fact he was willing to do a rushed half arsed job tells you what you need to know

[meltedbuzzbox]

I have used the stew mac tools and felt comfortable working with them. I dont like the idea of using a flat file as I feel it could leave me open to more mistakes. Dont get me wrong I am sure slowly done with care would yield good results, I would just like to minimise the risk of a cock up.

Yeah you are right about the half arsed job. I will see if he redeems himself whilst my new tools are crossing the atlantic.
If not I will be putting right his wrongs and possibly naming and shaming on this forum.