Buzz Cut

Now that I have the proper tools it's time to level my frets and eliminate all the fret buzzing.

To level the frets you don't have to remove the neck of the guitar, but I wanted to error on the side of caution, so I removed the neck.

Continuing with being cautious, I protected the fingerboard with blue painter's tape, putting extra pieces of tape covering the nut.

The best way to know if all your frets are at the same height after sanding is to first cover the top of the fret with black marker.  Simply continue sanding until all the black marker is gone.

Next I attached adhesive 220 grit sandpaper to my fret leveling bar. This leveling bar has been machined so that the narrow sides are perfectly level.

 I placed the leveling bar, sandpaper side down, on top of the frets and moved the bar up and down the length of the fretboard.  I didn't apply any additional pressure, the leveling bar is pretty heavy so I let it do most of the work.  After a few passes it was pretty clear that the frets were not even.  The "silver" frets were the high frets and the "black" frets are still the lower frets. 

 I kept sanding until all the black marker was removed.

Now that all my frets are at the same height it is time to round the edges. Right now the frets have a bit of a ledge to them. I will use the fret file to round off the ledge.

The fret file is designed to be smooth and rounded on it's tips so that it will not damage your fingerboard.

The file is placed on the fingerboard right next to the side of the fret. I work the file back and forth on both sides of the fret until they were rounded.

Once all frets are filed. I used .0000 steal wool and polished each fret until it shined.

Looking back I probably should have used a very light cleaner and a cloth to remove some of the remaining grit, but the fret leveling process is now done.  So I removed the blue painter's tape.

Attached the neck back on to the guitar body.

Added new strings and ran it through the tuning and setup process.

The fret buzzing is all gone and the string action is much much lower than it was.  The guitar plays wonderfully now.

The process isn't difficult, but having the right tools is very important.  If anybody stumbles across this posting and has some questions please feel free to post a question in the comments.

 

Don't Fret it? Do Fret it!

I'm back with another update. The setup process was not going well for the Black Strat. I have been struggling with it for some time. I even used a Guitar setup DVD from Gibson for assistance and it confirmed that something wasn't right. I did some reading on the internet and started to learn that the Might Mite necks, as nice as they are, do require some attention to the nut and frets.  The problem I was experiencing was random fret buzzing indicative of unlevel frets .  The only solution I was able to do was raise the bridge until all the buzzing went way.  The action (distance from the strings to the fretboard) on the Black Strat was atmospherically high (ideally you want this to be as low as possible).  I started to suspect that some kind of fret work needed to be done. I have zero experience with fixing frets on a guitar but thankfully, I have connections to a professional luthier at Nordstrand Pickups (www.nordstrandpickups.com).  I packed up the Black Strat and headed over to their shop for help.

The Carey gave me a wonderful crash course in guitar setup and access to proper tools, for example nut files.  Nut files allow you to cut the correct spacing gauge for each string.  A set of 6 files can run well over $100.  Using these files in about a minute, the nut of the Black Strat was correctly adjusted and lowered my string action by almost 50%.  Next I learned how to properly level all the frets of the guitar neck. This is a time consuming project and not overly difficult so I scribbled notes so I could try this at home. I also made a short list of some tools I would need.  Now, with a ton of confidence and an email address and phone number in case I had any questions, I was off to do some tool shopping.

I needed a fret leveler but there are 2 schools of thought; 1. level the frets with a file and 2. level the frets with sandpaper.  I decided to level the frets with sandpaper since this was the advice I got from Nordstrand Pickups.  So my first item was a 16" precision-ground heavy steel tube, along with 220 grit roll of adhesive sandpaper. The second item was an 8" fret dressing file, this is used to shape the frets after they all have been leveled.

Here's a photo with most of the tools I'll be using on this adventure;
From left to right; Screwdriver, 8" fret dressing file, Exacto knife, black sharpie, blue painter's tape, 220 adhesive sandpaper, 16" steel level tube, toolkit specifically for guitars, laser level.

String it Up.

Unfortunately I didn't take a lot of photos during the final setup phase because it was very tedious. Making adjustments at one end would through something off at the other end. But I did finally get it into tune with proper intonation (which means all the notes up and down the fret board are all in tune as well).

Here is an image of the strings installation, remember I'm using locking tuners so you don't have to wind the string around the tuning peg.  It takes some faith and getting use to, but it does work and it works well.

Here are a few images of the guitar strap buttons, more of a before and after shot.

And here it is completed.

Installation of the Tension Coil Springs

In this posting I will install the coil springs. The tension from these springs will offset the tension from the guitar strings. More fine tuning will have to be done during the setup phase to make everything work perfectly. But for now let's get the components installed.
This small metal plate holds one end of the coil springs. There are 2 wood screws that help adjust the overall tension of the coil springs. During final setup these wood screws will be tighten to increase the tension or loosen to decrease the tension. Right now I'm just getting them install.

Notice that there is a wire coming off the plate. This wire needs to be grounded or else your favorite rock star will get quite the electrical shock when he plays his guitar. I drilled a small hole that connects the back compartment with the front pickguard compartment. I feed the wire through and fasten it to the cooper tape that is grounded (shown here).

I connect the 3 coil springs to the bridge and to the metal plate. There are multiple locations you can place these springs but this is the most common location for the springs.

Before I install the back cover plate for the coil springs, I want to cover up the white that is visible in the plastic. I want this guitar to be visually all black as possible. To do this I use a black Sharpie and color it in.

Then I drill some guide holes and screw the plate on. Note during the setup phase I will have to remove this plate to adjust the wood screws to increase or decrease the spring tension.

Sixth Purchase: Pickguard Mounting Screws $4.99 (Total: $704.05)

Are you kidding me?  The David Gilmour pickgaurd arrived but it didn't include any screws for mounting.  So I had to purchase some for 5 bucks putting me just over the $700 mark.  BAH!!

I'm drilling the holes for the screws.

All Screws are in.

Time to finish this project off.

Fifth Purchase: Pre-Assembled Pickguard $249.99 (Total: $699.06)

Based on all the overwhelming feedback <end sarcasm> I decided to go with the pre-assembled pickguard.

Here is an image of the top

 And here is a image of the back.

 

This should be the finial piece.

Dilemma

I'm in a bit of a dilemma. One of the goals, although minor, of this project was to build the pickguard with individual pickups, based on David Gilmour's Black Strat. However Seymour Duncan makes a replacement pickguard containing all the correct pickups, switches, potentiometers and control knobs already assembled for $249.

I priced out the componants if I were to buy them indiviually and this is the cost I would be facing;
Fat 50 pickup                                  $80
69 pickup                                        $80
SSL 5 pickup                                   $53
black fender pick guard                     $18
White volume/tone knobs                  $6
Fender 5 way wiring kit                      $30
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Total (before shipping and tax):          $267

The primary goal of this project was to keep overall cost down.  But If I purchase the per-assembled pickguard that would be the last purchased piece for this project.

Anyone care to voice an opinion?