rough frets

[taypeng]

I just put together a strat with parts from ebay. I sought out good parts except that i decided to scrimp on the neck. I decided on a cheap vintage tinted Eden maple neck and now im kinda regretting it.

the neck looks great IMO but the frets are rough and feel gritty when im doing bends. does anyone have experience with these? are the frets made of a different metal or is it just a matter of polishing it to get it to be smooth?

anyway, just to share, i put the strat together with wilkinson hardware, sonic blue highway one body, all-parts pickguard and fender CS 69 pups. (should have bought a better neck to go with all this)

[uOpt]

Polishing will improve them a lot.

Be sure to cover the fretboard so that you don't get metal polishing paste into the pores.

[b-squared]

If you don't have the proper equipment, take it to a tech for fret leveling/crowning/polishing (and whatever other -ing verbs you can think of)...it'll play like a different guitar; in a good way!

BB

[Liam]

Originally Posted by taypeng

I just put together a strat with parts from ebay. I sought out good parts except that i decided to scrimp on the neck. I decided on a cheap vintage tinted Eden maple neck and now im kinda regretting it.

the neck looks great IMO but the frets are rough and feel gritty when im doing bends. does anyone have experience with these? are the frets made of a different metal or is it just a matter of polishing it to get it to be smooth?

anyway, just to share, i put the strat together with wilkinson hardware, sonic blue highway one body, all-parts pickguard and fender CS 69 pups. (should have bought a better neck to go with all this)

All above info is good. I did the same as you with a Telecaster a few years back. This year I bought a genuine Mexican Fender neck for it on ebay. Very cheap, and I am so much happier with the guitar now. Worth doing at some stage in the future.

When I had the cheap neck the frets were on the low side by the time I had got them levelled, crowned and polished. But it really wasn't a nice neck anyway.

Liam

[uOpt]

Just don't go overboard.

You'd be surprised how much better the guitar feels after you go over each fret with a good metal polisher. Maybe some steel wool first. Cover the fretboard.

It won't be a fret level but it is likely that you neck has reasonably level frets and that it's just the rough surface irritating you. Just give it a shot.

I wouldn't think that a full fret dress makes sense if this is a cheap neck. The wood and the quality of the frets themselves might not warrant the expense. It would be better to get an old MIJ neck instead.

[taypeng]

agreed, im going to go over the frets with a steel wool first. I don't think I'll put anymore money into this neck since at some point im going to replace it. the frets could do with some pro fret work but seems reasonably level.

Its a real pity though. they did the vintage tint very well. (ill post some pics)
and i went with a tusq nut. the neck heel also seems to be too thick. The 22 fret overhang is about 3mm or 0.12 inch above the pickguard (is that too much?).

I raised the bridge saddles as high as it can go, made sure the neck was straight but theres still some slight fret buzz.

if theres anyone reading my post and thinking of getting an eden neck...i hope you'l think twice.

[uOpt]

Well if there's buzz you need more than polishing.

However, more often than not you can visually identify the offending fret and either file it down a bit or hammer it in more if it isn't flat on the fretboard.

On a cheaper neck that is near new you really don't want a full-blown fret level. Because that neck's wood will work somewhat in the next two years and then the frets are all over the place again. Waste of money.

[Paul]

i'v your not getting any fret buzz all you need to do is take the neck off or just take the strings off tape off the fretboard except the fretts, then use a piece of fabric and some metal polish paste (don't use a liquit it gets everywhere and make a mess) and give each frett a run over a few times (don't go nuts otherwise it could affect the height metal polishing paste is a light ebrasive) feel the frets after about 4 runs over each fret and see of your happy with the feel if you need to keep going go over them 2 times more and then feel them do this untill your happy with the result but don't do it to many times.