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.