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I've fretted my first neck, and was leveling the frets and I believe I made a terrible mistake. I used the wrong sandpaper (150 Grit) and ended up flattening the frets toward sides of the fretboard. Effectively, there is no roundedness to the frets about 1/2 inch in from each side of the fretboard. The issue is worse on the upper frets than the lower frets, but there is some flattening on all the frets.

What can I do? Is this going to make a playability difference? Can I reshape these with a concave fret file? Should I just pull all the frets and re-fret? If so, anybody know what type of fret wire Martin put's in their kits?

In the annals of stupid mistakes this one has to be up there?

Thanks,

Joe

It is a lot of (tricky) work to re-crown frets if you are not quite experienced, and when you are done, you still have very 'low' fret profiles.
If it were my project, I'd pull the frets and re-fret.
With the existing frets removed, you can re-true the fingerboard surface. I use a 'fret rocker' (overpriced but useful, from Stewmac) when installing frets, checking 'as I go', and it seems to help getting the frets quite level. I really hate having to 'grind down' new frets and I don't think it's necessary if you can do a really good job on the fingerboard truing and fret installation.

Check with John Hall (Blues Creek- link at the top of this page) for fret wire- he's a 'Martin guy' and can supply advice and wire at a fair price.

Cheers
John

Sorry, Joe! This one doesn't even make the 'entry standard' for the 'Stupid Mistakes' list!

'Line up starts around the corner..........'

Indeed, this is far from a big mistake.

Can you post pictures? You might not have to replace frets after all. It is totally normal to end up with flat frets after leveling. This is why recrowning files exist.

_________________
Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)

In the annals, this is a pretty common one. Not to worry.
Unless they are really flat, you will probably be fine. Crown 'em & see how they look / play.
If you need to re-fret, be sure to check your fingerboard once the frets have been removed... You may have a rise in the FB extension that you can dress down, once the frets are out.

Really? Then I must be doing okay. Or do I need to get into the 'Stupid Mistakes Club' to call my self an experienced luthier?

Joe

Same thing I did on my second neck fret - I guess I paid better attention on my first but the second was flattened so low I had to pull them and refret.

Turned out not to be as hard as I expected.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Hi Joe...I can't help too much with the fret work on your first...You have some work to do and the advice given above is good stuff...However I can help you on your second build...The secret to a good fret job is to make sure you level your fretboard so that it is perfectly level...Cover your fret board with pencil marks and sand using a fingerboard leveler until all pencil marks are gone...Keep checking your radius...Install frets and if you do it properly you should not have to do any leveling at all...(neck should also be supported so that there is no movement when sanding)...Larry

I've read that numerous places, such as this forum, and I did level the fretboard using a radiused sanding block working through 4 grit sizes. Made a really nice radius on the board, which was probably already established by Martin this being a kit and all. That's why I'm a bit mad at myself. I just robotically proceeded to level the frets, before checking. If I had checked I probably wouldn't have needed to do anything other than spot leveling.

Thanks for the advice.