Quote:
Originally Posted by GuitarDean
BB has got more talent than us that's how. Sanding down edges is risky business though folks, be aware that accidents do happen and using a sanding block to make a uniform, consistent path would be advised. Having a full-blown wood shop means I would be comfortable and familiar with with doing this kinda work, but please don't just get any old sandpaper and whack away. Sanding away too much might also expose fret edges.
Ash, what was the grit of the paper that you used, and was it slightly wetted or dry? Also did you use a sanding block or bare hand? How uniform was the end result?
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Very risky. I've done the R8 and now my R4 (the photos above). I didn't deal with each fret individually. Both times I used an 8 x 1.5 x .5 inch piece of wood and wrapped 150 grit dry sandpaper around it and then sanded length-wise up and down the neck. This helped keep the rounding effect consistent.Tempting as it was, I only kept the paper on the board for one or two passes at a time. Then I'd check how it was going by looking and playing. I did the initial passes on roughly one third of the neck at a time. Like frets 1-5ish and then 6ish-16ish and then 3-9ish. baby steps are the only way to be safe. Then I used 0000 steel wool to smooth it up, and finally some mequiars #9.
I did not touch the fret ends at all. I didn't sand into the fretboard either. There is still a little wall of the original height binding all around. I would have liked to keep the nibs but they went away and I'll take that loss for the gain in feel any day.
On the r4 the 4-7 fret area felt thicker than the rest of the neck and I kept retouching there on the underside to even out the feel. I eventually overboarded and took off some neck finish around fret 5. Oh well. I got it feeling good and that little bit of wood isn't seen anyway. remember, baby steps, baby steps, baby steps.