Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Fret Wear

#21

It is not a must to adjust action after leveling. However, the nut action is affected by fret wear, so if you were trying to get everything perfect, you would often bring the nut slots down a bit with the level. I would level, dress, and then check the nut action to make sure it is still acceptable. My guess is that it won’t be enough off to bother you.

You can use a triangle file for shaping the crowns. However, I find a crowning file is much quicker and easier to get consistent results. As I mentioned before, if you have a flat fretboard, a file or a flat sanding block will work for leveling.

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#22

Shoot, my GoldStar is way worse than that and still plays fine. If you’re not having any issues, keep on picking! :slight_smile:

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#23

I’ve been putting off doing mine while it still plays OK. But I am beginning to notice a bit of string buzz on some pulloffs now and then. As you say Archie, SS is something we have to do ourselves as Luthiers over here in the UK dont want to know. They will only replace nickel.

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#24

Hi Jon, You may find a Guitar Luthier willing to do a SS re-fret. Apparently SS is used on many electric guitars. So these Luthiers are more likely to have appropriate tools. Regular tools wear out too quickly because SS is so hard.

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#25

Mike R, I haven’t started the leveling yet as I am waiting for the files to arrive. In the meantime, I’ve tried to measure my frets for a starting reference, i.e. to know where my 50% would be. I seem to get different heights on different frets. Do I measure until I find the lowest fret and call that my benchmark?

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#26

I measure up high on the neck on a low string to get a reference for how thick the fret wire is. I use the tail end of a micrometer. That gives you your unworn fret height. Typical on a guitar is around .040". So unless your low points are getting down in the .020" to .025" range, that is ok for my preferences.

One thing to note: when I leveled frets more often, I didn’t take all the frets down to whatever was the lowest point. There would be less removed from the higher frets. So,let’s say I had .042 frets and to remove the wear (by leveling) required me to take that fret down to .034. The frets around the lowest one would be pretty close to .034, but the fret height would blend and gradually increase as you got further away from those frets. I might not even touch the higher frets. In theory, that isn’t ideal, but it suits me fine. That is why I ended up with partial refrets. The leveling takes more off of the lower frets.

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#27

Another question, I’ve got the fret board taped off and noticed the 5th string nut is higher then the frets. It is not coming out easily, do I file it down with the frets, or work on removing it?

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#28

Yes thats true Archie, I do have a diamond fret crowning file for SS and some fret pulling pliers and have practised on an old Banjo and it didn’t go too bad. The only problem I found was getting rid of the sharp fret ends. I had the neck taped to protect the binding when leveling the fret ends and after removing the tape it needed more filing as I could still feel it a little. Anyway, I will practise a bit more before attempting replacing frets on my goldstar. It’s definitely worth practising on old bangers first I think.

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#29

Hi Jon I used a Dremel tool. with a stone to take most of the burr off then a polish pad to smooth off

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#30

Well folks, I did it… I successfully leveled and recrowned my frets and didn’t screw anything up… the banjo still plays better then me. For the first time doing something like that, turned out pretty good…the next time will be even better… hopefully a while from now!!! Thanks for everyone advise and encouragement. The banjo community is very impressive, always open to help with information and advice… Thank YOU!!!

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