Diamond Fret Dressing Kit

In stock
SKU
TL-015-011
$254.00
Contents 1 x Diamond Fret Levelling File 1 x Offset Diamond Fret File/s (Please select option above) 1 x Fret End Dressing File 1 x Fingerboard Guards - Set of 2 1 x Ultra-fine Steel Wool 1 x 180 Grit Sandpaper - 140mm x 220mm 1 x 240 Grit Sandpaper - 140mm x 220mm 1 x Detailed Instruction This professional-grade kit contains the all the equipment needed to do fret dresses at a special bundled price. It is available with either 150-grit, 300-grit or both Offset Diamond Fret Files. You can use only one of the Offset Fret Files and get an excellent result, however having the choice of the Coarse and Fine makes dressing frets quicker and easier. (see below for more detail) The quality diamond-coated files will last for dozens of guitars. Diamond coated files cut quicker and give a smoother cut than standard files. The Fret End Dressing file is used to smooth the sharp corners of each fret and the Fingerboard Guards are used to protect the fingerboard while sanding and polishing the frets. The kit is suitable for dressing frets of all sizes and will work on standard Nickel, EVO and Stainless Steel fretwire. Coarse vs Fine Offset Fret Files -The Coarse (150 grit) file is best for rapid recrowining, especially when a lot of levelling was needed and they are very flat. Fine tuning and scratch removal can be done with sandpaper or a 300 grit file (see below). The Fine (300 grit) gives a smoother result, requiring less scratch removal, but it takes longer to crown the frets than the Coarse does.
When frets are installed into a fingerboard they are never completely straight even if great care was taken in installing them. Therefore the frets must be levelled or 'dressed' so that they are straight and the guitar will play with minimal fret buzz.

The fret levelling file is rubbed over the tops of all of the frets to grind down the high frets until they are level with the low frets. Long oval-shaped strokes will give a more even result than a straight up and down action.

You can tell when the frets are level when the tops of every fret are scratched from the file the whole way across. It is handy to draw a line across the top of every fret with a back permanent marker pen, so you can see when the levelling file has scratched the top surface.

Once the frets have been levelled they need to be crowned so that they have a nice round profile on top so the strings will play clean and in tune. A fret file has a concave edge which is exactly the right profile to shape the tops of the frets back into this curved shape.

The fret is rubbed with the fret file until it is rounded off. It is a good practice to leave a very narrow flat-spot on the top of the frets to ensure you don't go too far with crowning them.

After crowning with the fret file, various grades of sandpaper and steel wool are used to polish the fret. Usually 180-grit sandpaper, followed by 240-grit, then 0000-grade steel wool is sufficient to get the scratches out and bring the frets to a nice polish. The fingerboard should be taped or a fingerboard guard used to avoid scratching the fingerboard.
More Information
Material Diamond Coated, Stainless Steel, Steel
Tool Type File, Guard, Sanding Block/Leveller