Hi Tim - thanks for your comment. I want to slightly dis-avow you on the matter of my all-round saintliness :-) I didn't set out just to help others out of the goodness of my heart... when I started doing this work I specifically wanted to provide a transparent record of the work I'd done to give customers confidence in what they'd paid me for and to give prospective customers the confidence to send their guitars to me. The videos have been paying me back in that respect with a steady flow of new customers from that time onwards... as planned. So I get back exactly what I wanted in the 'deal'. Don't get me wrong; I love to share information and I like to help people out wherever my experience can make a difference - but I'm not a saint. The only inconvenience for me is compiling the video chunks into a single file and finding somewhere with enough broadband capacity to upload to KZfaq. I never edit (my basic rule!) and I enjoy chatting to the camera anyway so it's not a lot more effort than the work I'm already doing on the guitars, if you see what I mean. Anyway, all that said it's a great ADDITIONAL pleasure that any of my videos help someone make their guitars play better :-)

Pleased to hear that Sam :-) Thanks for the comment

Thanks for that - I appreciate it v. much. One of the biggest problems we have today is that far too many people believe that disagreeing with something entitles them to be abusive. Very occasionally someone like that comments and I just mute their contributions to be honest. I'm happy for people to disagree or offer contrasting points of view but just like in my day to day life I expect unconditional basic politeness and respect just as I give it unconditionally.

Hey you're welcome Mark - thank YOU for taking the time to leave a nice message!

You're most welcome Sam! Most generous in sharing your hard won knowledge as well as time. I was just trying to find the rhynodry paper supply you mentioned at the end. I think I found the Portuguese company ('Guitarsandwoods' ?), but it seems they don't have that product anymore. Do you still use that product with your truss rod? Also checked the Katana product you mentioned: $249 now! Think I might go with the £6 truss rod!

Martyn - thanks for your comment (and for posing on my Facebook page). I get SO many emails from folks like yourself saying how great their guitars turned out using some of the advice I've shared - it hugely outweighs the tiny amount of (usually) unpleasant critical comments. Great to hear you revived your old Gibson SG - well done! :-)

Hi - great questions. My experience is that this approach does away with the 'need' for fallaway. I say 'need' because my experience suggests to me that 'fallaway' is not a very good solution to what I call the blade/handle joint in the 'sickle' shape that most LP necks particularly follow. The curved fret levelling method gently imposes the overall curve as much as it can into that 'sickle' shape. In reality, providing the relief is small the 'hump' where the blade joins the handle is tiny and this method takes a little more fret material at that point but results in a workable curve with no need for fallaway. Put another way, I've never done fallaway on any guitar and I get very low actions time after time.

Hi Mark - you're welcome. I've not bought the Rhynostick paper from Portugal for a while... it's probably simpler to buy a big roll of double-sided sticky tape and some good quality wet & dry and make your own. Just as good tbh and a lot cheaper.

Hi - I've not done a Jackson but I have done a vintage Electra with a compound radius. When it comes to a compound radius the narrower your fret levelling file the better - which is why I used the thin truss rod (around 5mm wide). Imagine looking down your neck in a thin strip 5mm wide. From that perspective you cannot see a difference in the radius because it's so small. As long as you keep your levelling to narrow strips then you will 'respect' the different radii. It's hard to explain in text; just avoid files wider than 5mm ie don't use a traditional fret levelling file and under no circumstances use a radius block.

Hi Greg - no, I wouldn't recommend doing any levelling on a curve (fully strung neck) with a straight file... Best bet would be to remove strings, flatten the neck with the truss rod and use your straight levelling tool. That way is about 1,000,000 times better than not doing it at all :-)

search brass dome nuts in ebay - there are loads of suppliers. I think they were M3

You're welcome... despite having used this method on 700+ set ups over the last 4 or 5 years, some KZfaq experts INSIST that it's "THE WRONG WAY" :-) Give it a go on a less important guitar, see what you think.

Hi - you can buy 'self adhesive' sandpaper on eBay - search for 'rhynostick' I think it's called

Thanks Simon. Sure, they're called 'Rhynostick' and I get them from a supplier on eBay called G&W in Portugal

Nope. You let yourself 'drift' side to side and this seems to retain a smooth, continuous radius.

Hi Pedro - thanks for buying my eBook :-) With my 'Banana' levelling method you're levelling a narrow section of the curved radius at a time. With a regular truss rod that section is about 5mm wide, so you're 'mapping' the radius in a series of 5mm steps from one end of the fret to the other. This method follows the radius much better than many regular fret levelling files which are both wide and flat. Levelling with a radius block can be effective but it can also be VERY costly in fret metal because you are imposing the block's radius onto the frets which almost certainly have a fractionally different radius (in reality). In addition, the radius block also can't level with the neck under load (and longitudinal compression) which means that, by definition, you tend to level until your fret rocker detects no more clicks. But this is MORE level than you actually need - and it takes more metal than you need. Because you can play the strings and hear what's improving, the Banana method lets you to stop as soon as you've made your chosen action play cleanly and you don't level past that point. I hope that makes sense? Cheers!

@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars thanks Sam for you kind reply! ( I know you are extremely busy!) Everything makes perfect sense. I will give it a try to my 339. By the way I can’t access your book videos as there is a message saying they are private. How can I access them ?

@@guatemala3d ah! Thanks for letting me know, I think KZfaq may have converted all ‘unlisted’ videos before a certain date to ‘private’… I saw a notification but didn’t think it applied to me. I will check later tonight and see what I can do! Thanks for letting me know!

Guitars and Woods in Portugal (via eBay) - it's called 'Rhynostick' I believe. But you could use some Klingspoor wet 'n dry 400 grit with double sided sticky tape.

Hi Phil - it's quite common to find a string like B choking out when bending over into the G string's territory - especially on a tight radius like a 7.25". It's hard to visualise why but it has to do with the fact that the B string is coming FROM and going on TO lower points on a (radius) curve than the G we're looking at and saying "but that plays ok..." The fact that the B's bridge saddle (whether a Fender style or Gibson bridge) is slightly lower than the G's saddle means that the departing B string - the string going away from the top of the fret where we've bent it to - is heading downwards quicker than the G string (if it was still undisturbed in the same 'track'). This *tiny* lowering of the string's end point takes away enough of the clearance to cause it to hit the next fret. The tighter the radius, the lower that B string's destination saddle will be relative to the actual part of the fret our bent B string is launching off. The bottom line is that the microscopic clearances necessary only work in a straight line (down each string's track). The minute we push the string into a diagonal across the radius we're messing up that clearance. You can get away with it on a flat radius - like a 16" Ibanez neck but it's always rearing its head on the really tight 7.25" vintage necks. Hope that's useful! Note to self: should do a whiteboard bit on this in an upcoming video.

I managed to fix the issue! I used the grades crowning tools "Bones" from Katana seller, then removed scratches with emery cloth, and did a final polishing... I also raised the action from .030" to .050" and that did it! I listened to what you said about saddle height and added that into the fix. Thanks for the input!

It's not a very precise exercise no matter how you level frets, LOL! Unless you go have it done on a Plek machine! It's tough to keep the perfect fret radius, for example. And nearly impossible on a compound radius neck, right?

Ok - it was £150 when I bought one, several years ago now. The 3 little things are brass domed nuts (can't recall whether they're M3, 4 or 5). Just have to be tall enough so that the top is above the strings but not so large they push the strings apart sideways.

Hi Magne, typically I aim for 1.5mm low E last fret across to 1.2mm high E last fret (and a 'gradient' in between for the other strings). Assuming you level the frets, his sort of low action on 12" or above allows all notes to play and all bends to sound cleanly. 9.5" radii can be a struggle - all the notes will play but some bends might just choke a little. 7.25" you'll get chokes on bends on this action - so you may have to raise the action slightly. It's due to the geometry involved in pushing strings vertically uphill in relation to their anchor points (down at the bottom of the hill). The measurement is top of fret to underside of string - although it's not exactly scientific or precise. I eyeball it with a string height gauge but there's plenty of room for error. The numbers are just a means to an end... the end being a decent low, playable action with no buzzes and no chokes on bends :-)

Hi again and thank you for the quick reply. I good understand what you mean about the smaller neck radius. But i mostly work on 12". However, even if it is not necessary to have the frets fall away from the strings towards the end of the fretboard. On a guitar that already have this fallaway it should not be needed to do something about this i guess...? But then have to set the action further down the neck, like around 15th or 12th fret... It is actually where i used to measure the action up till now. Have found and old trussrod and will try this method now. In my experience the gibson necks are never very uniform and will be bumpy when adjusted fully flat and will not have a consistent relief arc...

True - but I've found this technique gently 'scoops' out the hump... go very carefully with 600 - 400 grit and gain some experience, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised :-)

Hi Michel - good to hear. You're right, it takes some 'getting the hang of it' but once you've got it, you're away.

Hi - somewhere between 0.012" and 0.016". It'll play fine if it's 0.4mm (if you have that gauge). If not, it's worth getting them because above 0.5mm you'll find the notes start playing sharp and a couple of bucks for a new metric feeler gauge set is a tiny investment for a great playing action every time :-)

Hi Tony, thanks for your comment. The main reason I use this method is that it removes the minimum amount of fret material required to make the action I've chosen play. With the strings on I can level *just* until the notes free up, then stop. With a radius block you're cutting until...what? You've cut ALL the fret tops? Until your fret rocker stops clicking? In both cases you're judging it against an arbitrary absolute level...which you don't need to be aiming for. All you need is to level enough to make the action you've chosen play. There's the advantage of this method. A small bonus is that it's a little more accurate too...for long-winded reasons :-) Yes, you can go that low - and it's a mixture of the right relief and level enough frets. You can get great results with your low-end guitars using the basic techniques I do. If you want a step-by-step guide I'd be failing in my duty if I didn't recommend my eBook: facebook.com/relovedguitars/photos/a.1434485003475282.1073741832.1434242346832881/1831237983799980/?type=3&theater

the slightest discrepancy between the radius of your fingerboard and the radius block will cause it to take too much either at the corners of the frets or the middle of the fret, which will feel weird playing the guitar.. You can use the blocks, just in my experience pay attention what is happening with the first few strokes and the marks on the sandpaper.

Hi Tim; yes, I know this and I state it repeatedly on my videos. It's one (just one) of the reasons I don't use radius blocks to fret level.

Hi Oli, I use mostly a 46cm one. It's not as long as the entire neck but it's never been a problem. I've tried a bass guitar rod but it's just too flexible for my liking. I sometimes use a StewMac U-channel truss rod too - it's stiffer than the 46cm one. The downside is that thinner (or narrower) is better for the neck / levelling process but even the wider U-Channel one is still much narrower than most fret levelling files or beams.

@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars ok thanks pal, i'll let you know how it goes. I levelled my strat twice with a levelling file and still i'm getting loads of buzz on the g and d string around the 5th to 10th fret. I suspect I've got a bit of a hump around that spot where the neck is compressed horizontally, I think I can even see it. Hopefully under tension levelling is the cure. I love your channel mate, lots of good knowledge to be found here, keep up the good work.

Hi Joe, I mostly use one of 44cm even though it doesn't quite reach all the frets in one go. For that, you'd need a 46cm one. The reason I use the 44cm one is that it allows finer adjustment than the others (it just happens to be that way) and that matters to me more than reaching all the frets.

Thanks Sam much appreciated.

Hi Roland; ideally you need a truss rod that will lie flat and become controllably curved when you tighten the adjuster. Also also needs to be straight (i.e. not 's' shaped) as well as flat. If yours isn't flat or straight, don't use it and find another. Either buy one (they're only a few Euro / £ new) or find one from another spare neck. The 'legs' in my case are small brass domed nuts but it can be any 3 things so long as they are all the same, fit between strings and the tops are above the strings.

Thank you gentleman

Hi - I'm a bit busy right now so probably won't make a separate vid for that, but I can confirm what you're already thinking: the Stewmac file is quicker (3 x quicker) than using a 3 sided file, but less accurate. The speed thing isn't a massive issue - a whole neck takes me about 5 min with the Stewmac file and about 15-20 minutes at most with the 3-sided file. The Stewmac file also tends to hit the top of the fret as you imagine it would; however it's also not a major problem as long as you stop as soon as it does. By contrast the 3 sided file NEVER hits the top of the fret so is slightly more precise. I bought (and use) the Stewmac file because I do so many setups that the time saving adds up for me. It's was worth the investment - and although it expensive, I hear that Stewmac's customer service is excellent so any problems they sort it out. If you're only doing a couple of fret jobs, I'd say stay with the 3 sided file. The two set ups I show in my eBook are done with the 3 sided file. Hope that's useful, cheers, Sam

Hey, that's perfect! Thanks for the response.

it's pretty hard to tell how well the radius is cut into all of them (I have all stewmac files) and sometimes you end up making too much rounding or to steep of side.... I still prefer the three corner file which is one of the best for crowning, and after doing it a couple of times, you will be faster than radiused diamond.

Hi Jonathan - the Arbor press is indeed from Clarke and a very useful, dependable study device it is too. I use it in conjunction with a bungee cord to hold the caul down on the fret for 10-20 seconds (using superglue) so I can move along pretty quickly these days. The caul and brass inserts were from StewMac I think but you can find the same kind of thing from G&W in Portugal.

I see they do a slightly smaller one 1/2 ton for about £33. Any advise about the size? The 1 ton press is about £60

I think mine is 'overkill' but I always end up going for heavy / solid / over-engineered :-)

You’re welcome! Yes, I can get those bends at that action with precision fret levelling (which I do on all my setups). The only guitars where you can’t get those bends out of that action are where the radius is very tight ie 7.25”. Anything below 9.5” radius requires a progressive compromise meaning a fractionally higher playing action the tighter the radius gets. It’s a purely geometric limitation resulting from the curvature of the board and the vertical disparity between the start and end points of the string and it’s position at full bend. Think if it as pushing a string uphill while it’s anchor points remain down in the valley…

@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars Sam thank you for responding and doing so in such detail. Great stuff 👍 Good luck with the channel (just came across it today), all the best 🏆

You're welcome Mike - that's good to hear!

Hi, thanks for the kind feedback. A re-fret is essential when the frets are substantially worn down (i.e. nearly flat) or very damaged. A re-fret can be preferable when you've bought a guitar that you love and want to keep but the frets are (for example) 1/2 way through their life AND uneven / worn. Occasionally when a customer sends a guitar for a full set up including fret levelling I will tell them that the frets are so low that it doesn't make good economic sense to level those and make them lower. For another 100% of the fee they can have a complete re-fret if they prefer which includes full set up and precision fret levelling. That way the guitar gets anther 30 years of life. Some customers ask me to re-fret new or nearly-new guitars just because they don't like the gauge of frets on the guitar. That's fine if the customer wants it :-)

@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars I believe your answer covered it all ! Thank you very much for the detailed explanation ! I will stick around to learn more from your channel . Keep it up !

Hi NotMark :-) I'm in Devon - but do most of my setups via courier; drop me an email at samdeeks@gmail.com if you want to discuss - thanks!

I need the same information ;)

Thanks, hope it made sense & was useful!

+Robert Johnson III Hi Robert. It's an interesting point... I've never noticed any damage from doing it. When you use your vibrato the way it was designed, it's also under extreme load - metal edge to circular post. When you turn the post, you are moving the post while the edge of the pivot stays in the same place but the loading is the same, just the movement is different. The argument about damaging the mechanism assumes there is some mechanical reason why that horizontal turning motion of the post surface against the blade edge is more destructive than a single-point up and down pivoting point motion. I'm not saying there isn't such a reason, just that I can't see why it would be so..?

+Sam Deeks Hi Sam, it was mentioned on the web somewhere… You are probably right. I always loosen the strings, just to be sure. I can imagine that a horizontal turning motion of the post surface against the blade edge could engrain something in post surface. Maybe only if it is a bridge of bad quality and then the use of the vibrato would damage it also.

Great idea Mark... usually we have one of those bean bags somewhere around the house, but we're currently out of stock lol. I'll suggest one for the Mrs. and then it might just vanish a few months later :-)

LOL, multifunction kit keeps everything cool ;) Haven't done it yet but might this weekend, is the bag of rice and a long sock, might have some good Desiccant properties too. ;)

You're overthinking it. I've done somewhere around 1000 set ups this way if not more. It works well enough to keep on using this method. If it didn't, I wouldn't believe me :-)

Sam Deeks My eBay truss rod arrived today 👍!

Well...funny you should say that. A few years ago I worked with CEOs of companies around the world to help them find credible ways to communicate change to the people in the business... A mix of all the things you said :-)

+parttroll1 Good point... I didn't cover if / when you might use a shim on the neck. Another video sometime - although I'm no 'expert' in shimming; I just do it when I have to!

I'm sure you'll be fine at doing it. Ben Crowe from Crimson Guitars did a video on it not long ago.

I bought the actual, original Katana from the seller / inventor. For reasons I've talked about many times in the past, I stopped using it. But I was convinced about the logic of levelling frets that way so I made my own improvised version from old truss rods and have been using it ever since. The one I use most these days is a StewMac 'U-Channel' truss rod, I also think Martin guitars use that kind.

@@SamDeeksRelovedGuitars thank you. I just ordered a truss rod from StewMac to try it out. Any idea where to get the feet?

@@Mega_trav I'm sure you have found them by now but for future queries Amazon has them!

I have one too, and I may have buggered up the radius on one of my favourite guitars because I wasn't paying attention to the feel of the radius and may have flattened it out too much. Live and learn!

You're welcome Adam, thanks for the comment. Nice to meet another 'curved leveller' :-)

Don't feel too bad Phil - I saw a StewMac video once where the legendary Dan recommended using a diamond-coated chisel sharpening plate / block to level frets. That thing was literally as wide as the entire fingerboard...I couldn't believe it, or imagine what it would have done to any curvature in the radius. I've erred on the 'thin' side ever since - although I've been switching between a 10mm wide and my original 5mm wide truss rods these last few set ups. The wider one is less respectful of the radius but slightly stiffer and holds the curve better.

Thanks for that - plenty of people have mentioned this so it's useful to know. Mechanically / physically I'm not convinced about this...yet so I'd like to do some practical research on some old guitar that I don't care about :-)

Sam Deeks I can assure you any rotation immediately damages the knife edges and cuts severely into the posts and the the trem cannot return to perfect pitch. Recently I bought a Ibanez RG and had to replace the posts with the newer shallow bevel type and I also reground the knife edges slightly, also I profiled the edge as described by a guy at Ibanez rules who recommends feeling the knife edge and if they are overly sharp they will cut into the posts and loose stability and so gently taking off the sharpness with 1500grit until they feel like they will not cut into your skin easily means they will be very stable in operation. After doing all this to my Ibanez I now have a trem that will not got out of tune no mater how hard I divebomb and pull up and It will do very long warbles showing me there is minimal friction going on. Hope this helps and I really enjoyed your video with Morris. Btw I'm ordering a Fender trussrod to try your method and usually I create fallaway around the 15 to highest fret where the fretboard is rising upwards to get the lowest action possible. Without doing this I usually find the highest notes don't ring loud and clear.

Thanks for your experience Mickeyislowd, useful info for sure. My jury is considering all the evidence lol but your views really help. Regarding the 'fallaway' business - try out the truss rod method and let me know if you still find you need 'fallaway'... personally, I don't but very interested in what you find out!

Sam Deeks Cheers, I will get back to you as and when I have tested out the trussrod method:)

Cheers Scott but be warned, 38 'thumbs down' disagree with ya :-)

You're welcome!

I've not seen or touched a Vigier... As a rule 5 main inter-related variables are at play in your guitar action and will dictate whether you get what I call 'string slap' and / or fret buzz: • 1st fret action • last fret action • how hard you hit the strings • levelness of frets • amount of relief. The lower you want the action, the more level you typically need the frets to be. If you want a very flat neck and a low action, you may need to hit the strings less hard... By reputation I would expect the Vigier to have a very precisely-made neck, very level frets and a low action... but physically there still HAS to be enough room for the strings to rotate / flap about when struck, however that room is created (playing action or neck relief...). A further variable is probably the gauge and tension of the strings; heavier gauge may not move about as much as 'looser' thin gauge, requiring slightly less room... Lots of things at play :-)

Technically yes... although I don't see any advantage in doing that. You'd still need the string on for the tension - systems I've seen with jigs appear just to 'push' the neck into a curve without the component of compression that seems to make a small - but valuable - difference. Since it's every bit as cheap and easy to use a truss rod tuned to the curve as it is to put sandpaper on a beam...why not keep it exactly in 'as-played' configuration?

Sam Deeks not sure I made my question clear. adjust the neck straight under tension then level with a straight tool. then put relief back in the neck with the trussrod for playing. after all the crowning and smoothing of course. eliminating the need for matching the curve.

Yes, I understood the first time and my answer is the same: technically, yes, but I don't see any advantage in doing it that way.

To me the advantage is you don't have to mess with matching the curve eliminating part of the procedure that could cause problems. Never having done a fret leveling It is just my conjecture.

I am just trying to understand the reason for doing it with a curve/relief. from what I have found out it is the variables created when working in a real environment with wood,metal and tensions and I am sure a host of unseen items to me. So it makes sense to do it with strings tuned to pitch/tension. I appreciate your taking the time to share your experience and knowledge.

+John Johnstone John you're forgiven :-) I don't take it personally - I'm saying mostly the same things again and again. The videos are primarily for people considering buying a particular guitar from me and if they're useful to anyone else then that's a bonus. Your question is a good one. The frets DO follow the fretboard radius and ideally when you level them, you try to also follow the radius in your passes down the line of frets. For that reason my first home-made 'tune-able' tool (a Squier strat basic truss rod) was probably idea in that it's only about 5mm wide max. This means that you're levelling in about 5 or 6 slices across the radius, preserving the radius curve as best you can. The wider the tool, the less it 'respects' the radius. This is why I was quite astonished to see Dan Erlewine of StewMac suggesting on a video somewhere that you could use one of those chisel-sharpening steel plates (with the diamond grit on them). The one he showed was about as wide as the fingerboard and risked flattening the radius off!! The Katana is as wide as the StewMac truss rod I'm currently using i.e. about 12mm. Just as you pointed out, I'm conscious as I'm using it that unless I 'roll' it as I use it I could be in danger of flattening out the radius to 3 or 4 passes. Equally the Crimson Guitars fret levelling file is nearly an inch wide and could cover the whole radius in 2 1/2 passes REALLY flattening off the curve to (theoretically) a triangular peak! In practice I've found I'm getting great results with my current 10-12mm StewMac truss rod. Now and then I'm tempted to go back to the narrow one for added precision but what it gains in narrowness it loses in that its a bit too flexible. Good questions! And yes I could use that other tool when I'm not taping and for a few weeks I did - but I'm mostly taping and I'm now used to the other one. It's barely any more trouble.

+Sam Deeks Thanks for taking the time to explain Sam. Over the width of the board the larger radius wouldnt be affected so much, but still, I was puzzled as to why you wouldnt be following the radius. Seems odd they sell tools that almost cover the whole width of board! I wont bother you, but will now try to find out why its radiused in the first place. I expect its something along the same lines as to why you need the relief, for string vibration. Thanks again.

Ooo - more interesting questions! Why is the neck radiused...? And classical guitars seem to be the opposite - concave? I would guess (and I mean it's only a guess) that it has to do with the physiology of the hand...

+Sam Deeks Think for the most part you are correct!

+Sam Deeks Boy, just thought of something else. Are bridges made to correspond with neck radius? Im sure theyre not. Hmmm...Im thinking too much about this..LOL

Thanks GM - appreciate it. I try not to get into that too much these days :-)

No doubt. You obviously have more interesting things to do. No thanks necessary. Your videos are more than enough. Actually I have been binge watching them....but please don't let on.. ;-).

It's never been a problem Mick. I cover them when I'm sanding the frets (as it gets very messy and dusty then).

Hi Adam, I'm not sure what you mean here. All I can say is that it works very well the way I do it so far but I'm happy if I find ways to improve it.

Hi Ryan.. the basic problem is that there's not enough fret to the outside of the E. This can be a) because the frets are cut too short, b) because the nut slot is cut too far to the edge and / or c) because the frets have been bevelled at too 'oblique' and angle, eating into the playable length of the fret. Occasionally there's a d) the saddle spacing is too wide for the neck so the E strings start falling off the fret board nearer the body-end of the guitar (it's rare but happens for example when you put a regular modern Strat-style bridge on an Indian-made Sunn Mustang or Indian-made Encore strat copy. Lastly e) the neck is so far out of alignment with the bridge / body centreline that the strings end up leaving the confines of the fretboard at some point. Of all the above is most likely a, b or c but you'd have to work out which you think it is. Hope that's useful!

Thanks so much for the detailed reply ....I think it could be a combination of A,B and C...lol. When I get some cash together,would you consider working on it? It's a Mexican Fender Tele. Although I do understand you must have a backlog of guitars to work on.

Thanks for your detailed answer , I did reply to it but it's disappeared can you let me know if you got it, when you get the chance please.

Hey Ryan, sure I'd be happy to. If you can email me 'samdeeks@gmail.com' we can go from there - cheers!

Hi Simezra.. the tool can be set flat, or with any amount of curve that the neck has. How flat or curved the tool is when I use it is determined by the amount of relief I put into the neck. Most of the time I set the neck to have a little relief (something like 0.2-0.3mm) and go from there. If you specifically don't want any relief to suit your style, then that's fine - I can level with a perfectly flat truss rod tool. I won't 'guess' that it's flat, I'll still use the brass nuts to make sure it's exactly as flat as the neck. The only thing about setting zero relief is that you tend to find you have to have a slightly higher last fret action than if you had a little relief because the strings are more likely to 'slap' on the frets when you hit them.

i think i got it, thanks for make it clearer

I know I whinge on about the weather... but I'm not really complaining :-) The return of spring in the UK with the resurgence of new life and greenery is wonderful... and would mean nothing without the contrast of the grey, dreary wet winter months as a counterpoint. I've lived in the Caribbean and Florida and while I LOVE the warmth and golden sun... eventually I craved the changing seasons.

That's interesting Randy... I'd be curious to know how it happened. If you ever feel like 'dumping' the story', email me on samdeeks@gmail.com ;-)

it is interesting, a friend was sent a Katana system to review on his channel (boudreau guitars) and I said something to the affect I might change something, plus it was a crock the Katana people wouldn't answer my friends email about the system, and man, Katana people showed up and blew up on me in the comments, he has since removed his comments and I deleted the one that upset him so bad. heres a link to that video. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rJiBZamr08ezn58.html

+Metallix Thanks Metallix :-) Glad it's useful

Thanks Ken :-) your feedback much appreciated!

Nothing so clever... my stepdaughter gave them to me for Christmas and I like twinkly lights. Once they were up, too much trouble to take down!

Oh yeah.. Doc Martin - set in Port Isaac :-) I'm just over the county border in Devon but Cornwall (including Port Isaac) is in easy reach for those windswept cliffs and wide bays. I spent from age about 5-10yrs old down in Falmouth (the original one) :-) The smell of the sea mixed with diesel and the sound of gulls crying is in my blood.

Lol thanks Thomas. I decided that I didn't want to promote his tool by using it (and still being the target of his anger!) so I simply improvised :-)

Reject! :-)

Hi - I refret only when there's too much damage or the frets have been worn so low that they're uncomfortable to play (you feel more wood than string) and when sideways bends become very difficult. I almost always need to level frets to get the guitar to play at the action my customers want - but as you pointed out its usually the first time the frets have been levelled on that guitar. The reason I use the fret levelling approach that I do is to limit the amount of fret metal needing removing to get the action playing freely.

I need to work on my bow-huntin' and nunchuck skills...

No matter what, where or when, there will aways be critics and nay-sayers… which I suppose there will always be a need for bows and nunchucks even if they're only figurative and imaginary. Keep up the good work Sam!

+Tony Flesher You're so right Tony. Will remember for the next time - thanks!

Land's End probably has one in 18% grey... :)

Nice one!

Lol, yes know what you mean...however, it's 'wide-angle' all the way because it saves me having to point the camera all the time. Prefer my concentration to go into setting up the guitar rather than worrying about the camera shot :-)