Please help me out!

[Anders]

It seems kinda bad when I look at frets, and I thought it's best to get it done! After all I guess it's about 12-15 years old and probably played quite a bit!

Sully is correct, I live in Sweden.

What is compound radius, Sully?
So the radius is not 12", 14" or something like that...? I guess if it's that complicated maybe I should take it to a tech!

It's just that I got the impression that this was something you could do yourself, with the correct sanding block, crowning file and some patience.

Of course, I would have to buy the block and file, but I thought it might be worth it...

But I'm no expert in this area, so watching while the tech does it probably would be a good start then?

Thanks for the replies!

Anders

[sully]

Re: Please help me out!

you're on the right track as far as the radius goes, the first few frets are probably 10, moving up to 16 by the higher register.

i personally think anyone interested in working on guitars should learn how, but i'd start on a neck that you may not care about, because you will make mistakes.

sully

[pro-fusion]

Re: Please help me out!

Compound radius means that the radius is different at each end of the neck. Typically, very flat at the high end for better soloing, and rounded at the low end, to facilitate chording. Essentially, the radius 'morphs' from one measurement to the other as you go down the neck. Much more complex way to build a guitar, and undoubtedly more complex on which to do fretwork.

And I would also say that a Mirage Custom is far too nice a guitar to use as your first fretworking job.

[MountainDog]

Re: Please help me out!

Anders, Vwall guitars just posted a thread in the Tech section about crowning/filing. Does your guitar look like his did? Perhaps he can give you a few pointers. Check out the thread:
http://www.jcfonline.com/ubb/noncgi/...c;f=7;t=001537

[Anders]

Please help me out!

Hey guys!

I recently bought an ESP The Mirage Custom, and I need to level and recrown the frets! I'm going to do it myself!

It's the old nice Mirage, neckthru, ebony board, ESP lic Floyd, pointy jackson-type headstock, 1 hum, 2 single.

Now does anyone know what the fretboard radius is?

And I'm guessing it came with jumbo frets, sure seems like it anyway.

I need to know the radius in order to get the right sanding block, and the fret size to get the right crowning file!

Hope to get some answers!

Thanks
Anders

Edit: Sorry, I put it in the wrong forum - admins please move. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[j2379]

Re: Please help me out!

if youve never done one before a neckthru isnt the best choice to try one. how bad is it, i doubt a guitar that young needs a level crown & polish. it maybe something else causing your problems.
send it out to Kevin easton.....BTW by the time your done buying all the crap you need you could have paid to have it done or PRACTICE on a cheap bolton neck......good luck

[sully]

Re: Please help me out!

i believe that anders isn't in the states, so sending it to kev would be way costly! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] it more than likely has a compound radius, so one block isn't going to work out for you. i'd recommend taking it to a tech, but see if you can watch and learn while he does the work.

sully

[RacerX]

Re: Please help me out!

A more detailed thread title may attract more posts

[Anders]

Re: Please help me out!

Thanks for your replies guys!

Sully: Ok, then I get it! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

pro-fusion: Thanks for the explanation, and yes it is a very nice guitar, actually not too far from my Soloist!

MountainDog: Thanks for the link, my frets aren't that bad though. Well, the 3-4 first are pretty worn, but I'll just restring it when I receive my x2n and see how it sounds/feels.

RacerX: Yeah, you're right! But I was a bit tired when I posted it, and the only thing I cared about was leaving out "ESP" from the title in order to get a single reply! [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]


As I said, I'm probably going to restring it and play it for a while to see if the fret wear affects the playing in any way. If it does, I'll take it to a tech!

Anders

[j2379]

Re: Please help me out!

hey it probably wont need anything. ive got some pretty old guitars here & i think ude be surprised how much fret wear it takes to make a guitar play like crap. unless it frets out. little divits in frets 1-4 have little effect on playability

[MountainDog]

Re: Please help me out!

Anders, if your frets aren't as bad as the link, you might want to just smooth out the fret dents with sandpaper instead of the fancy fret tools. I routinely do this and have no troubles. I put masking tape on the fingerboard (like the link pics) and then start with 320 grit sandpaper (I have used 220 grit for a bigger dent) and go back and forth and also follow the 'roundness' of the fret. Once the dent is gone, then I dress lightly with a couple swipes of 400 grit, again lightly with a couple swipes of 600 grit, then finally polish with #0000 steel wool. Besides fixing the bad frets, you'll also have to sand (using roughly the same number of strokes and the same technique) the next 5 or 6 frets higher up the fretboard (since the sanding lowers the height of the fret, you'll have to lower the height of the other frets too so the string won't 'fret out'). I usually just do every fret all the way up the guitar so the frets all have the same similar/shiny appearance (naturally if the higher frets don't have the dents, you won't have to sand very much with the 320 grit). I can routinely do this in about an hour to an hour and a half, and my results look like the finished pics in the link I posted earlier.

[BigDaddyD]

Re: Please help me out!

Very fine Steel wool and some never dull can make frets come to life if there isn't too much wear. As far as the radius is concerned, I think stew mac sells gauges for that.