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  • Partscaster / learning project (doesn't need to be strat)

bluefinllama
No Idea..I got mine online, and waited months for it,
Cant even recall seeing one locally online.
Cheapest and easiest and Quickest is to get a steel straight edge ruler, mark out where the frets are and grind/file/cut out that area. alternatively you can have one laser-cut

this Is one I made to check my bass necks,

    Yup.. agree with Tedi. If you absokutely postively need an etched one, as above. I dont bother with the etches.. i either eyeball it or measure using the string.

    Or even just use a straight edge laid over the frets

    Edit. Where in PTA are you? I have a jack input if you want

    7 days later

    Thanks for the help guys, decided to go with the un-notched straight edge. I also got the input jack thanks, Thursday was driving all over Gauteng day, got the jack, pots, Dimarzio 5 way switch, caps, resistors and conductive spray paint.

    The new pots seem scratchy when being turned though, do you guys have a cheap fix for improving it, read about deoxit, but seems expensive and would have to be imported.

    The frets on the guitar is tiny, struggling to re-crown them, also unsure if there's enough left after leveling (there were some harsh divots so had to take off a bit).

    • V8 likes this.
    • V8 replied to this.

      bluefinllama The new pots seem scratchy when being turned though, do you guys have a cheap fix for improving it, read about deoxit, but seems expensive and would have to be imported

      Yes! If there's a builder's warehouse near ya, they stock this. You'll find electrical contact cleaner at a range of places, sure RS have a brand of it too.

      There's a tiny trick to cleaning pots, find the 'maintenance' hole, be liberal with your usage and turn the shaft while doing it - I think of it as: washing the pot out using the spray to dislodge any gunk in there., It can be iterative, so a couple goes might be need - not all pots can be saved (80-90% of the time it works for me) and occasionally you'll find the pot's shaft might loosen up a bit.

      bluefinllama The frets on the guitar is tiny, struggling to re-crown them

      I hate re-crowning. Even with appropriate tools I suck at it. Though I do like low frets, medium to small fretwire, but I'm weird like that. Never did get the jumbo fret thing, even though I'm told it's easier to play.

      As long as you don't get much fret buzz you're okay for now. Were it a guido shreddy special, you might struggle to get a super low action though.

          Ah, thanks a lot! Since the pots are new I'm hoping it should work - all 3 brand new bourns pots being scratchy is a tad strange, so hopefully just needs a cleaning.

          And regarding the crowning of the frets, I seem to also be terrible at it, but with low I mean lower than 1/2mm low if my measuring is correct.

          • V8 replied to this.

            bluefinllama all 3 brand new bourns pots being scratchy is a tad strange

            Very weird - I'd get them to replace...But a can o contact cleaner is useful to have - I've used it on more than guitars!

            bluefinllama lower than 1/2mm low if my measuring is correct

            under a half a millimeter? That's lowww (I think - I'm not really well versed on fret's) I don't have accurate gauge at home (a digital caliper with a depth thingy would be perfect) - so I can't say what mine are.

            I do have stewmac medium/medium frets on my strat which -new- started out at around 0.99mm crown height (Stewmac have metric and imperial measurements - bless them!). They're still good for a few fret level's.

            My bass is a touch lower than that - don't think I've much lfie left in those frets.

                  Okay, got the contact cleaner thanks, also picked up a bigger triangular file, think the little needle files I was using might have been a bit small to do the job properly, hopefully this will work better.

                  Yes, the frets are tiny, but apparently there was a fender which came out of the factory with 0.33mm frets, which is insane.

                  Did you replace your frets yourself? Dit seems a bit stupid to pay more than what I paid for the guitar to have it done, but would probably go with stainless steel frets either way as I would prefer never doing it again - even though it will probably be worse doing it the first time if going stainless.

                  bluefinllama

                  I'm About to replace my frets, I have 3 guitars that need fret replacing and at the pricing I've seen it pays to get my own tooling, I'm Just still deciding on which fret size I'm going for, I've also asked for some adult supervision when I do as It'll be my first time.

                  as to the Needles, I'm looking for a finer diamond file set, as I think mine are a little on the rough and cheap side

                    Yes, contrary to popular belief rough and cheap isn't always the best. Diamond files do seem like a better idea, sadly getting proper ones isn't in my budget atm, so I'm just going bigger and hopefully it will be easier to handle at least, my needle files are also cheap and flimsy.

                    Are you going for stainless frets and in what ballpark would it cost for refretting by a luthier, I saw about 4-5k for stainless steel frets, is this the going rate?

                    bluefinllama

                    OUCH 4-5k, I'll get a new guitar happily for that..
                    I saw R1.5k towards the end of last year, can remember where, but that was just plain frets, complete with setup, which is not so bad for 1 guitar, x3 and suddenly it all becomes worth spending the money

                    I'm thinking of getting Jumbo Frets basically replacing like for like, its what I'm used to and on my Guitars.

                      1.5k sounds a bit better ye, but as you've said for 3 it becomes expensive, also on a guitar which cost me 1.5k it sounds a bit much

                        bluefinllama what ballpark would it cost for refretting by a luthier, I saw about 4-5k for stainless steel frets, is this the going rate?

                        That's about right for SS frets - I'm told the tooling is the pricey part - SS frets are tough (will last the lifetime of guitar though) and apparently go through tools faster than you'll go through std frets...

                        Tuckstir saw R1.5k towards the end of last year, can remember where, but that was just plain frets, complete with setup, which is not so bad for 1 guitar

                        Very reasonable price that! Traut Guitarworx is around that pricing, though it depends on the instrument - his last refret was a work of art (high end Warwick bass).

                              bluefinllama just a thought. If you go stainless steel and plan to work on your own guitar.. be aware theyre a complete ballache to work on.. not to mention the beat down they out on your tools.

                              I went stainless on 2 guitars... no more for me... they do last forever though ?

                                bluefinllama diamond files arent an absolute necessity. The only diamond file i have is my crowning file. For leveling i use a straight bar with 320 grit.. then i crown them with the diamond file... then i go 1000, 1800... and then i use nail files for the spit and polish.

                                  Regarding refrets.. i have seen 1.5 to 2k as the normal going rate. That was a good 3 yrs ago though. For stainless. Add 1k. But also.. if you opt for stainless steel... make sure the luthier or tech is a wizard... all the extra effort it takes also means more opportunity for things to go wrong during the process

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