Spot leveling one fret at a time with the Fret Kisser
V-3771
Spot leveling is difficult, especially when you need to level just one high fret on an otherwise level fretboard. Erick Coleman shows us how to use the Fret Kisser to pinpoint a high fret and level it with no danger of affecting the neighboring frets.
Video Transcription
[on-screen text reads: StewMac tools + ideas for guitarmaking. Leveling One Fret at a Time with the Fret Kisser]
Erick Coleman: A single uneven fret can be a real bummer on an otherwise clean playing neck. This fret is seated well [on screen text reads: Fret Rocker], but it's a hair higher than its neighbor and is causing the buzz we are hearing. This is the Fret Kisser. It's a tool for leveling high spots on frets. It's got four sides of different lengths, just like our Fret Rocker, but it's thicker and each side has a small patch of 300 grit diamond abrasive. It spans the frets on either side of the problem spot, while the diamonds go to work bringing the fret down level with the others. The long sides are for leveling frets 2 through 11, and the short sides are for frets 12 and up.
With just a few passes, the high spot seems gone. I'm going to check it with my Fret Rocker to confirm what I'm seeing. Level. Now I just need to re-crown and polish and this one's good to go. And now the note rings clearly and without a buzz. Nice and clean.
